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Film translation comes as close as possible to dark comic series; it's not for lighthearted
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 12:16 p.m. EST, Mar 04, 2009
Do not expect to applaud at the end of Watchmen.
Expect to be troubled. Expect to wonder if everything you have thought about costumed crime fighters is wrong. Expect even to wonder if you have just spent 2 1/2 hours sliding ever deeper into despair.
Expect, too, to be impressed at times. Watchmen has its dazzling moments, and fine performances by Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. But it is a generally uncompromising presentation of a grim, extremely violent comic book series; next to Watchmen, films like The Dark Knight and Iron Man look like lighthearted fantasies.
For those of you tuning in late, Watchmen is based on a series of 12 comics written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, and set in a fictional 1985 where Richard Nixon is still president, the United States won the Vietnam War and the once-admired masked crusaders of old are now outlawed.
As the movie begins, someone murders an aging crime fighter called the Comedian (played by Morgan, best known as Denny on Grey's Anatomy). Another crime fighter, Rorschach (Haley, Oscar nominated for Little Children), suspects someone is after the old costumed heroes. While trying to pin that down with help from some other old heroes, Rorschach ultimately finds that far worse things are in progress.
The plot, though, is a relatively small piece of the movie. Like the comic books, it ponders what makes someone become a masked crime fighter, and what sort of character is underneath the mask. In flashbacks, the movie presents some of the past of Rorschach, the Comedian; Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman), who is the daughter of the original Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a former scientist turned blue, mighty and deeply philosophical in a laboratory accident.
The character portraits are thinner than in Moore's comics (and still more of the back story is concisely presented during the opening credits), but that is just part of the movie's changes from the print Watchmen. At the same time, though, the script by David Hayter and Alex Tse, as well as the direction by Zack Snyder (who did very well with 300), strives to be faithful not only to the spirit of the books but their tone and style. Whole scenes look as if they were lifted directly from the books; even the movie's Nixon looks more like Gibbons' drawings than the real Nixon.
But what worked in the comic book does not always translate to the screen. The former hero Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) doesn't work well, although some of the problem may also lie in the performance. Philosophical debates slow the pace.
As was the case with the comic, Dr. Manhattan spends a great deal of the movie naked, and some people in the audience seemed uncomfortable with the view of his blue penis dangling. And, while the ending is modified from that of the book, it strikes the same basic chord, and people expecting an uplifting message are not going to find it here.
At the same time, the Watchmen movie is richly detailed, and I look forward to freeze-framing the eventual DVD. Snyder's musical choices — including vintage Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Simon & Garfunkel — move closer to the foreground Watchmen's pondering of '60s idealism. Other musical choices add to the current of humor in the film; I thought I caught a little bit of the thematically appropriate Everybody Wants to Rule the World as elevator music in one scene. Individual sequences, like Dr. Manhattan's visit to Mars, can dazzle.
If the movie fails to measure up to the print Watchmen, keep in mind that this is both one of the greatest comic sagas ever and one that has been considered unfilmable. The Watchmen movie probably comes as close as someone could without making a film that ran hours longer, and does not gloss over Moore's ideas in order to be more of a crowd-pleaser. As disturbing as the movie is, part of its artistry is its willingness to disturb.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
• Movie: Watchmen
• Cast: Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Ackerman, Carla Gugino, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Stephen McHattie
• Directed by: Zack Snyder
• Studio: Warner Bros.
• Running time: 2 hours, 43 minutes
• Rating: R (strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language)
• Theaters: Carnation Cinema, Cinemark Aurora 10, Great Oaks Cinema, Hudson Cinema 10, Huntington Street Cinema 16, Independence 10, Interstate Park Cinemas 18, Kent University Plaza, Macedonia Cinemark 15, Massillon 12, Montrose 12, Shaker Square Cinemas, Tinseltown USA, Tower City Cinemas, Valley View 24, Wooster Movies 10
Do not expect to applaud at the end of Watchmen.
Expect to be troubled. Expect to wonder if everything you have thought about costumed crime fighters is wrong. Expect even to wonder if you have just spent 2 1/2 hours sliding ever deeper into despair.
Expect, too, to be impressed at times. Watchmen has its dazzling moments, and fine performances by Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. But it is a generally uncompromising presentation of a grim, extremely violent comic book series; next to Watchmen, films like The Dark Knight and Iron Man look like lighthearted fantasies.
For those of you tuning in late, Watchmen is based on a series of 12 comics written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, and set in a fictional 1985 where Richard Nixon is still president, the United States won the Vietnam War and the once-admired masked crusaders of old are now outlawed.
As the movie begins, someone murders an aging crime fighter called the Comedian (played by Morgan, best known as Denny on Grey's Anatomy). Another crime fighter, Rorschach (Haley, Oscar nominated for Little Children), suspects someone is after the old costumed heroes. While trying to pin that down with help from some other old heroes, Rorschach ultimately finds that far worse things are in progress.
The plot, though, is a relatively small piece of the movie. Like the comic books, it ponders what makes someone become a masked crime fighter, and what sort of character is underneath the mask. In flashbacks, the movie presents some of the past of Rorschach, the Comedian; Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman), who is the daughter of the original Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a former scientist turned blue, mighty and deeply philosophical in a laboratory accident.
The character portraits are thinner than in Moore's comics (and still more of the back story is concisely presented during the opening credits), but that is just part of the movie's changes from the print Watchmen. At the same time, though, the script by David Hayter and Alex Tse, as well as the direction by Zack Snyder (who did very well with 300), strives to be faithful not only to the spirit of the books but their tone and style. Whole scenes look as if they were lifted directly from the books; even the movie's Nixon looks more like Gibbons' drawings than the real Nixon.
But what worked in the comic book does not always translate to the screen. The former hero Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) doesn't work well, although some of the problem may also lie in the performance. Philosophical debates slow the pace.
As was the case with the comic, Dr. Manhattan spends a great deal of the movie naked, and some people in the audience seemed uncomfortable with the view of his blue penis dangling. And, while the ending is modified from that of the book, it strikes the same basic chord, and people expecting an uplifting message are not going to find it here.
At the same time, the Watchmen movie is richly detailed, and I look forward to freeze-framing the eventual DVD. Snyder's musical choices — including vintage Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Simon & Garfunkel — move closer to the foreground Watchmen's pondering of '60s idealism. Other musical choices add to the current of humor in the film; I thought I caught a little bit of the thematically appropriate Everybody Wants to Rule the World as elevator music in one scene. Individual sequences, like Dr. Manhattan's visit to Mars, can dazzle.
If the movie fails to measure up to the print Watchmen, keep in mind that this is both one of the greatest comic sagas ever and one that has been considered unfilmable. The Watchmen movie probably comes as close as someone could without making a film that ran hours longer, and does not gloss over Moore's ideas in order to be more of a crowd-pleaser. As disturbing as the movie is, part of its artistry is its willingness to disturb.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Details
• Movie: Watchmen
• Cast: Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Ackerman, Carla Gugino, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Stephen McHattie
• Directed by: Zack Snyder
• Studio: Warner Bros.
• Running time: 2 hours, 43 minutes
• Rating: R (strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language)
• Theaters: Carnation Cinema, Cinemark Aurora 10, Great Oaks Cinema, Hudson Cinema 10, Huntington Street Cinema 16, Independence 10, Interstate Park Cinemas 18, Kent University Plaza, Macedonia Cinemark 15, Massillon 12, Montrose 12, Shaker Square Cinemas, Tinseltown USA, Tower City Cinemas, Valley View 24, Wooster Movies 10
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Barberton, OH
Posted 01:08 PM, 03/04/2009
I can't wait. This is going to be amazing.
norton, oh
Posted 01:59 PM, 03/04/2009
2.5 hrs my behind is going to be numb it better be worth it
Akron, OH
Posted 09:42 PM, 03/04/2009
I'll be there Friday night!! Interstate 18, showings at 7, 7:30 and 8!!
Akron, Oh
Posted 10:17 AM, 03/05/2009
Not a wait-in-line-for-days to see it person (okay once when I was little in 79) but I am excited to see the film. I wont be one to pass judgement or snide comments like many fanboy critics chomping at the bit. If the creators felt this film was ready, I'm totally ready for the ride!
Akron, Oh
Posted 10:24 AM, 03/05/2009
Not a wait-in-line-for-days person (not since 79' when I was little) but I am looking forward to seeing this film. I wont be passing judgement or snide comments like some fanboy/girl 'critics' already chomping at the bit. If the creators think the its ready for film. I am ready for the ride.
