Has its highs and lows

Rating: 5/10 (6 March 2009)

I would really like to rate Watchmen higher than I have, but there were too many stylistic choices made by Snyder that I don't think enhanced the movie. While true that there's no way to incorporate all aspects of the graphic novel into the film, there were too many character revealing moments left out in favor of extra action scenes. While many of the movie's scenes are virtual snapshots from the novel, in no way is the Watchmen comic an action-based comic. It is a plot and character driven story with deep and poignant dialog that exposes the human condition. Far too much of the important dialog from the novel was chopped down to fit within the 165 minute framework, which has left the film with weaker characters and a much weaker plot. This culminates in an ending that does not make much of an emotional impact.
The other aspect of the movie that I didn't particularly like was the music. There was one spot that I thought worked - the introductory montage set to Bob Dylan was a nice transition. Other than that, I found the rest of the music distracting. Too often, the music was set in the foreground, drowning out anything else happening on the screen. And while, on an individual basis, I like most of the songs that were used, they seemed discordant with the mood of the scenes and the movie as a whole. Honestly, one of the reasons I was excited about the movie initially was the first trailer that used the Smashing Pumpkins song. I thought that music set a much better tone for the story than popular 70's era rock and roll.
Having said all that, there is no doubt that Snyder can put together an action scene unlike anyone else. The movie is visually stunning and the action is so intense that you can almost feel the impact of the blows. Still, that hardly makes up for what is lost.
All-in-all, as my rating indicates, while there were many aspect of the film that I didn't care for, it could have been much worse. There are many redeeming qualities that keep the movie from being a waste of time, but it certainly wasn't what it could have been.