Watchmen

Rating: 5/10 (4 August 2011)

I saw the trailer for this superhero movie in the cinema, I thought it looked really cool, I imagined it was going to be rather dark as well, but I also spotted how long it was, but I willing to sit through it, from director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300). Basically this is set in an alternative America of 1985, where President Richard Nixon (Robert Wisden) has been reelected, John F. Kennedy (Brett Stimely) was not shot, the Americans won Vietnam, and there is another more significant Cold War, but more prominent are the costumed superheroes who exist in the world. While there is tension in the Soviet Union, and these superheroes are part of the fabric in the everyday world, masked vigilante Rorschach (A Nightmare on Elm Street's Jackie Earle Haley) is investigating a plot to kill and reveal identifies of many of these superheroes, many of whom are now retired. This includes the murder of Edward Blake aka The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who was planning to bring down the superhero group the Watchmen some time ago, so he tries to warn his former colleague. The fellow comrades include former partner Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), the truly powerful Jon Osterman aka Dr. Manhattan (Big Fish's Billy Crudup), and Dr. Manhattan's lover Laurie Jupiter aka Silk Spectre II (The Heartbreak Kid's Malin Akerman). Throughout we see Dr. Manhattan trying to find some kind of resolution, the long retired and identified superhero Adrian Veidt aka Ozymandias (Matthew Goode) nearly assassinated, a framed murder by Edgar Jacobi aka Moloch the Mystic (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' Matt Frewer), and of course the other heroes coming out of retirement. Dr. Manhattan is no longer interested in helping or spending time in humanity, Silk Spectre finds out she is the daughter of The Comedian and former Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), Rorschach and Nite Owl II find out Veidt is responsible for everything. He explains the plan was to prevent a nuclear war between United States and the Soviet Union, but he did want to destroy the main cities, and the reactors are set in motion, Dr. Manhattan is seen as the main enemy, and Rorshach asks him to vapourise him, and Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre return to the ruins of New York City, being rebuilt to continue fighting crime. Also starring Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason aka Nite Owl, Laura Mennell as Janey Slater and Rob LaBelle as Wally Weaver. I will be completely honest that I found it rather difficult to keep up with what was going on, it is quite hard to understand almost all the way through, also, I wasn't expecting a big blue bald muscular man to be naked a lot of the way through, you don't see many films with naked superheroes LOL. Putting aside the complicated plot, the dialogue is relatively cool, and the acting is alright, but of course the real star are the amazing special effects used to create the powers and look or Dr. Manhattan, and excite you with explosions and stuff, so overall, not a bad action fantasy thriller. Worth watching!