A Daring Narrative That Tests The Limits of Film

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2017)

Zack Snyder's Watchmen is an extremely ambitious movie that seemed as if it would be impossible to make into a feature film so even if this film hadn't worked and had fallen apart I would still have to admire the effort of trying to bring such a complicated narrative to film but luckily I can do more than just admire the effort, I can marvel at a truly fantastic superhero film that I happen to love. One of the things I love the most about this movie the fact that it is first and foremost a character piece, we have constant flashbacks to our main protagonists, giving us backstory to them and how it shaped the people they are today. These flashbacks never feel forced or distracting, they never stop the pace but flow naturally and feel organic to the film. All the characters are uniquely different and entertaining in their own right with my favourite easily being Rorschach played to perfection in an amazing performance by Jackie Earle Haley, the character is such a wounded and violent soul which makes him entertaining and investing he by far has the best arc in this film. I also loved the character of Nite Owl, he seemed like such a real person weighed down by the legacy he feels he cannot live up too and I loved his chemistry with Silk Spectre. The defining trait of these characters are that they ultimately see themselves as doing the right thing and are fighting for something if the greater good but characters like The Comedian balance out the characters creating for a much more colourful and entertaining cast. While the characters do make this film something else I loved about this film was its realism, despite being set in an alternate history this film seemed close to how events like these would occur in real life, the way the public and government react to the whole idea of heroes seemed to be a close telling of how people would react should we be faced with similar obstacles. A common error in superhero films nowadays is a lack of a truly compelling villain but this film doesn't have that problem because all the characters are built up so well he is given crystal clear motivations and while you never quite see yourself agreeing with him you can see the place he is coming from which gives him a better opposition to the heroes. My only flaw with the film is Dr Manhattans sub plot the character in my opinion just was the only character that never made any kind of impression on me, he came across as dull and spends much of the film in solitude that never gives him the excellent interaction that the other characters have making him a fairly forgettable part of this film.
Watchmen is a film that leaves its viewers thinking, it mimics real life and it's amazing cast of characters make this film not only entertaining but intriguing to watch, it's an ambitious film and most of its ambition pays of creating for a film that I will not soon forget.
92%/A