That Guy Reviews Watchmen

Whenever a piece of literature is made into a film, some collateral damage is to be expected. Films like Lord of the Rings have proven that too us, and while they usually keep the general plot intact and maybe include some fan service, they almost always fall short of their source material. So obviously the stakes were pretty high for Watchmen seeing as it’s based on what is rightfully considered the greatest graphic novel of all time. And I have to say, Zack Snyder and his crew nailed it.

There is some of the aforementioned collateral damage and some alterations were made to facilitate the cinematic experience and keep the movie shorter than five hours. Even so, Watchmen is a three hour seminar to film makers on how to make a Hollywood movie from a literary source that fans can be proud of.

In the theater, it's visible...

Each character looks and acts their parts beautifully and the makeup and direction were so spot-on that I wouldn’t have given them a second thought had I not been looking for them for the purposes of this review. A plethora of iconic visuals from the graphic novel play perfectly on screen, and the soundtrack almost single-handedly takes you back to the cold war era (Hendrix FTW).

It’s been almost two years since the last time I read Watchmen, so I was a little rusty on my nitpick-caliber details. So while certain dialogue bits might have been tweaked, I was amazed to find that the film as a whole stayed so true to the book that it actually reminded me of portions I had since forgotten.

There are a number of lines that instantly swept me back to how the scenes originally played out in my mind while reading; Moloch saying “You know the kind of cancer you eventually get better from?” or Edward Blake saying, “Can’t a guy talk to, y’know, his old friend’s daughter?” all sounded on screen almost exactly like they had in my imagination.

....just to stay true to the book.

Of course, it wasn’t all perfect. But then again, what is when it needs to be reviewed? There was one scene that just seemed out of place and unnecessary that I felt should have been either cut down or omitted.

After two of the characters throw their masks back on to engage in some police scanner heroics, they decide to celebrate by a bit of mid-air ugly-bumping. Not that I can blame them, if given the opportunity I’d be all about having kinky super hero sex suspended over New York (besides, the scene was in the book).

But the film makers probably should learned from Alan Moore’s example and cut away. Instead of giving the two characters a brief, passionate moment, they gave the audience a full scene from the inevitably upcoming adult voyeur film You’re Watching the Watchmen, complete with flamethrower cumshot joke.

It was gratuitous in a film where people explode.

But I have to say that that scene was the only issue I have with Watchmen. Even with a massive change in the film’s conclusion, the show remained true to form and captured the awe of the novel unlike anything seen out of Hollywood to date. I just really hope that those other film makers were taking notes.

-That Guy

PS: I literally had to change my pants when I got home from the theater.

PPS: I’m not joking.