The Best Comic Book Film I Have Ever Seen

Rating: 10/10 (23 March 2009)

Watchmen surpasses entertainment. It is a punchy, gutsy piece that's not afraid of being horrible,or of being gaudily superhero-y at times. It is a plethora of stories all perfectly entwined together with slick confidence. It's well acted, beautifully shot and actually feels like it's from a comic book - something Marvel should be taking note of. No blustering around trying to make twenty year old comics more hip - Watchmen manages to be just as powerful as when the comic was released whilst still very much of a 1980's setting. This could not be more perfectly realised than by President Nixon, here with a comic rubber nose that wouldn't be seen dead in Frost/Nixon, but here fits in with lycra suits and night goggles perfectly. The superheroes themselves are all the favourite hero clichés; one with an obsession with retribution, the timid one with all the cool toys, the one who's lost control, the one who's turned bad, and the giant naked blue guys. But it outgrows any sense of cliché with its merciless satire on what these people have become and each of their fates are superbly fitting. Not a film for the faint-hearted but nevertheless, you can have all the X-Men, Spider-Man and even Batmans in the world if I can have four minutes of Watchmen. A triumph of modern cinema.