Where is this movie going and when is it going to get there?

Rating: 8/10 (24 May 2009)

Movie adaptations, no matter the source material, are always risky endeavors. Filmmakers have to stick to the roots of whatever it is they are adapting, while trying to make it enjoyable by someone not familiar with the source material. This is ultimately where Zack Snyder fails with Watchmen. He adheres to the source material so faithfully that he alienates all but the hardcore fans. He didn't have the guts to tamper with it and make it into a movie. After all, things that work in books don't always work in movies. The Harry Potter series of films are successful because they take careful consideration when making the movies, but always remembering that some things in the books will have to be tweaked if they are to be used to full effect on the big screen. Watchmen is sure to be loved by people who are already familiar with it, but for people who don't know the difference between Night Owl and Dr. Manhattan, it's a frustrating experience.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Snyder and his team didn't still make cuts to the story in order to shorten it into a motion picture length (still a robust two hours and 43 minutes). Many acclaimed directors (Terry Gilliam, Paul Greengrass, and Danny Aronofsky) have tried to make this movie before but ultimately gave up because they considered the source material "unfilmable". Many felt it would be served better as a 5 hours miniseries. It's weird to find out that Snyder and his team found a way to make it into a motion picture when other, more experience filmmakers, couldn't grasp it.
Instead of spending a lot of time going into story specifics, I'll just layout what I feel is important. It's 1985 and the US and USSR are still heavily going at it, with the threat of nuclear war very much on the minds of everyone. The "Watchmen", or superheroes, helped in World War II and have been our protector's since the 1940's. There are newer members of the Watchmen and the original members, who are still alive but very old. Superheroes have been outlawed and asked to lay down their secret identities and go back to living normal lives, but one of the original members of the group, The Comedian, is thrown through the window of his apartment and murdered by an unknown assassin. Meanwhile Rorschach, not laying down his alter ego, is living out the life as a vigilante and believes someone is trying to take out costumed heroes and feels he needs to warn his fellow members. What they don't know is that the plot is far beyond what they originally thought.
The cast of Watchmen is a mixed bag. Jack Earle Haley plays Rorschach well and makes the character his own, while Patrick Wilson does a solid, but somewhat bland job as Night Owl. Malin Akerman on the other hand, is pretty detached from her character and just doesn't nail the emotional moments of Silk Spectre. She's all sex appeal and little else. Jeffrey Dean Morgan does a great job as The Comedian, but his screen time is very limited and ultimately his talents are wasted. Billy Crudup plays Dr. Manhatten as detached from emotion and reality as possible, the complete opposite of the character in the graphic novel. Those are the characters that take up most of the screen time, while the rest of the cast is serviceable.
One thing Zack Snyder does very well in Watchmen is built spectacular set pieces and brutal action sequences. They dazzle the senses like he did with "300", but there aren't as many in this movie as there are in other adaptations. Watchmen is more about exposition and story than it is action, which is another reason I don't think Snyder was the right person for the job. He spends far too much time on the less interesting characters, and not enough time on the ones people will care about because of the performances (Rorschach needed fleshed out better). The pacing is very sporadic and needed some tweaking. Watchmen also isn't for people who can't handle blood, guts, and sex. The movie is very graphic (including male nudity throughout thanks to Dr. Manhattan and a prolonged sex scene that is 2 minutes long and awkward to sit through).
One of the aspects I think that was done very poorly was the music. It all felt out of place and just plain weird in some spots and throughout the movie several people made comments to me about how bad it was. The visual effects are top-notch though, but that is too be expected of a big budget motion picture like this. It's become something that's less an accomplishment and more obligatory in this day and age.
Watchmen was never boring and since it's almost 3 hours long, that's a testament to its entertainment value. The point though, is that I was frequently detached from characters and frustrated at how hard the story was to follow. This is a movie that will reward multiple viewings, but since it is 3 hours long, some won't have the patience for that. It's a disappointing, but still entertaining adaptation that would have benefited from someone that had the guts to take liberties with the story. Caveat emptor.