The insurmountable barrier of expectations - an excellent film, but never the graphic novel

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2009)

How to film the "unfilmable"? The ever recurring question, cycling through decades of development on adapting Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's cherished graphic novel Watchmen, into a motion picture, including several defeated attempts by directors as prestigious as Terry Gilliam, Paul Greengrass and Darren Aronofsky) appeared to have finally found an answer in director Zack Snyder. Fresh off a similarly vigilantly faithful comic book adaptation of Frank Miller's 300, Snyder's vow to cherish the graphic novel as his bible throughout film-making appeared the crucial solution to the incredible difficulty of transferring the staggering variety of thematic, social and political content of Moore's dark exploration and subversion of the superhero myth: keep as much of it intact on screen as possible to satisfy the die-hard fans, without alienating those uninitiated with the source text. However, Snyder's slavish dedication to the graphic novel ultimately proves to be both Watchmen's greatest strength and most profound failure, resulting in a film which is within earshot of greatness, and yet is never quite the Watchmen of expectations.
For any familiar with the graphic novel, divorcing awareness of it is simply never an option, as the substantial replication continually begs a comparison which it would seem could ultimately never prove satisfactory. And yet Snyder gives it his all, showcasing the aesthetic sensibilities honed in 300 to an astonishing degree, crafting a world of dulled hues of vibrant colours, lavish costuming and sets with an alarmingly pitch perfect professional gloss. However, as laudable as his respect for the text is, as the film unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear that Snyder was simultaneously both the best and worst candidate for the directorial position. For all of his passionate adherence to his text, Snyder remains principally a visual director, and such passion does not carry through to properly mining the lusciously rich dimensions of Moore's work. Beyond the pristine exteriors, there lurks a haunting lack of depth and substance, a surprisingly hollow absence of the real feeling and emotional core of the graphic novel a director such as Aronofsky or Gilliam may have sunk their cinematic teeth into. As such, despite the meticulous recreation of nearly all the narrative and political subtexts of Moore's work (apart from the famously altered ending, which admirably accomplishes nearly the same intent as the text's), the underlying passion and emotional undertones which made them light up with such vibrant urgency are mostly lost. Nonetheless, there are moments... fleeting moments of such inspired, spot-on power and poignancy (Rorschach's backstory and an inspired use of the textually quoted "All Along the Watchtower" song across the arctic, among others) which spike above the film as a whole and hint at the masterful adaptation which might have been.
And yet, even such a comparatively pale shadow of the original proves an utterly exhausting experience, particularly for those unfamiliar with the text itself. While Snyder accomplishes a valiant job of retaining the narrative while truncating it into a palatable fashion for the uninitiated, viewers may still find the length, pacing and sheer mass of information presented daunting and somewhat of a struggle to ingest. Snyder's overly trendy cinematic sensibilities hardly help the matter, attempting to punch up the excitement factor of an extremely long, mostly narrative and character driven superhero film with sporadic slow- motion inundated and frenzied, garishly violent fight scenes, which, though enthralling and often gruesomely engrossing, prove so tiresomely in tune with recent action movie conventions such sequences adapt a look sure to appear incredibly dated within a short matter of years. A musical score which proves incongruous and jarring as often as subversively fitting and occasionally frustratingly clichÃ©d similarly reinforces the uneasy veneer.
Despite admirable attempts by the cast, many struggle to fully capture and convey the essence of Moore's convoluted characters. Jackie Earle Haley proves the triumphant exception as psychopathic, stoic yet perversely honourable vigilante Rorschach. Haley's grim, caustic performance grows on the viewer like a festering sore, triggering exactly what Rorschach is, and bringing to life a character for the ages. Patrick Wilson similarly proves perfectly attuned to his over the hill Nite Owl, charismatically channelling the character's nerdiness, heroic impotence (in more ways than one) and eventual rebirth through embracing potentially out of date heroic norms. However, they prove the exceptions, as Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre II is essentially reduced to gratuitous eye candy (which, given her infuriating deprivation of character development, is about all the character's inclusion seems meant for) but does not rise to her rare occasions to shine, showcasing a troublesome lack of dramatic ability or screen presence during crucial emotional scenes. Billy Crudup also struggles to balance godlike Dr. Manhattan's near robotic detachment and muted emotion (but, to his credit, retains impressive dignity for a consistently naked blue man), and Matthew Goode proves too watered down to fully nail the arrogant superiority of superhero entrepreneur Ozymandias. The most noticeable is Jeffery Dean Morgan as the nihilistic 'Comedian' - Morgan simply lacks the necessary spark of acerbic energy to make the Comedian work as a character, his muted performance failing to properly channel the ferocious, subversively charming snarl the narrative's series of flashbacks revolve around, perhaps resulting in the film's emotional punch remaining vaguely elusive.
The fact that Snyder's Watchmen is as strong a film as it is is an incredible accomplishment in itself, yet it consistently leaves one yearning for the deeper, more rich film glimpsed only in tantalizing moments. If anything, the conclusion can be drawn that if such an overall incredibly strong adaptation can still be found to be lacking the necessary spark of the text, than the idea of a universally satisfying Watchmen film may remain forever a pipe dream. Perhaps "unfilmable" proved a more fitting epitaph than expected - but, having been filmed, the enormous dedication and quality of Snyder's work cannot be ignored, and his Watchmen is without question accessible and well worth watching for fans and non-fans alike.
-7.5/10