Faithful to the Novel, but not as poignant

Rating: 8/10 (19 March 2009)

This movie, The Watchmen, has been a long awaited entry in theaters and for a good reason. It adapts the greatest (if not, the most ambitious) graphic novel about superheroes to be released.
I was very thrilled, but also suspicious upon viewing this movie. Will they do it properly or would it be another grand entertainment failure? In fact, proper would be the term for The Watchmen, as Zack Snyder and his team played safely in adapting the novel. The film was shot using the book as a storyboard. Not a bad idea, and every scenes are highly recognizable.
But, they didn't manage to recreate the ambiance, the tension and the poignant feeling the novel did bring to the readers. And it is certainly the major flaw of this movie, because it is overall a great work. The fact that the movie "only" lasts for about 3 hours plays a major part in this matter. The ending suffers greatly from being cut and we miss all of the feeling and importance it had, even though the crucial moments are still there.
Visually, The Watchmen depicts correctly what has been done previously. But, too much scenes still have that cold color correction that ruins all the attachment to the image a viewer can and wish it would have had. The novel color treatment is mostly in the warm tones and that plays a major role in that feeling of absorption in its universe.
The casting is probably the greatest success of the film. Every actor manages to get the right tone for its character. The most notable performances are Jackey Earle Haley as Rorschach and Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg. A very good note is given to Billy Crudup for his Dr. Manhattan, a very though role due to the characters constant objectivity.
Finally, The Watchmen manages to bring a faithful portrait of the novel which he's based on. Faithful, but too cold to recreate the multiple emotion that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons put in place 20 years ago. Maybe it is because of that feeling of Cold War urgency we do not have anymore, but more probably because the film does not have a personality of its own.
A final advice for the musical score (and not only for this film): Learn to shut that music off sometimes! It kills the moment.