Do the ends justify the means?

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2009)

The Watchmen is not just another comic book movie. It is the story of a group of men and women who, for various reasons of their own, decide that they want to make America, and the world, a better place. While most lack superpowers (with the exception of one), these men and women have developed courage, determination, and the strength to face the daily evils that surround us. The moral story behind the Watchmen is not the defeat of some super villain and how the heroes are better off. The real story behind the Watchmen is whether or not the ends justify the means and if heroes can live with the legacies that they create.
The year is 1985. The hero known as the Comedian/Edward Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is dead. Thrown from his condo window, the once famous hero belonged to a former team of vigilantes known as the Watchmen. His death is seen as a robbery gone bad though one who knew him better think otherwise. Rorschach/Walter Kovacs (Jackie Earle Haley), the only member of the Watchmen who still believes in what he is doing, is determined to discover why the Comedian was murdered and who did it. A dark and brooding individual, Rorschach's black and white view of the world and human nature suits him in his personal journey of vengeance and justice.
His task, however, will not be an easy one. The surviving members of the Watchmen have little interest in the fate of the Comedian who they all knew as a violent man who may have finally reaped what he sowed. Nite Owl/Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson) has buried his costume and his equipment beneath his apartment, Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) is busy as CEO of his own corporation with plans of creating a new source of energy, while Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) is busy trying to save her relationship to Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup) who has the ability to exist outside of time and space.
The Watchmen, as noted above, isn't a normal comic book about heroes saving the day. The movie focuses not only on the present mystery of the Comedian's fate but also the history of how the Watchmen came to be who they are. These are men and women who discovered that their place in society was no longer wanted due to politics and social anger over their actions. The sense of bitterness in all of them, with the exception of Dr. Manhattan, is felt as a betrayal. Why work so hard to defend the people when the people have turned on them? What about their lives? What about their sacrifice? Why be a hero when it only takes your own life away?
Rorschach discovers that the conspiracy behind the Comedian's death is traced back to one of their own. Adrian knew that the Comedian, as well as the reset of the Watchmen, stood in his way to bring real world peace. However, in order to do so, it means the death of millions and the framing of Dr. Manhattan. Rising American and Soviet tensions makes Adrian believe that now is the time for a united world even if it means sacrificing the Watchmen, and millions, to do so. In a normal comic book story, this would seem straight forward but this is not a normal comic book plot.
In fact, Adrian gets away with his plan and millions do die. Dr. Manhattan leaves the Earth once more in exile so that the world can believe that he was responsible and thus prevent a nuclear war while Nit Owl and the Silk Specter realize that Adrian cannot be stopped. Rorschach is the only one who chooses to make a stand and declare that Adrian is a murderer even if he saved billions from nuclear war. The tragedy is then that Rorschach must die so that the lie can remain a secret. Adrian may be a murderer, but he actions did prevent a nuclear war and the deaths of millions more.
Thus this is the question the Watchmen asks in the end. Do the ends justify the means? Hero or not, we all face the question. The moral story behind the Watchmen is that these were men and women who choose to live a life of great sacrifice only to discover that the sacrifice wasn't always worth it. They couldn't save everyone and they couldn't even save themselves. Adrian brought world peace but at the cost of any morality he once believed in and Rorschach lost his life trying to live what he believed. The question of who watches the Watchmen is then answered.
They watch themselves..... And don't always like what they see.
The movie follows closely to the comic book in almost every way despite the exclusions of some character back stories, side plots, and a change of the details leading to the conclusion. In the end, though, the Watchmen is one of the most faithful movies to follow source material, and is a foundation for comic books movies that will come after it.
8/10