The end is nigh  Watchmen

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2009)

After twenty years the ultimate graphic novel, a tale many hold to be amongst the greatest stories ever written, illustrated or not, has finally been brought to cinematic life. Warner Bros. needs to be given a lot of credit for taking the chance, rolling the dice, and ultimately paying the price (Fox sucks) to allow it all to be told on screen as it should. With Zack Snyder at the helm and co-creator Dave Gibbons along for the ride, Watchmen becomes a visceral assault on our sensibilities, our morals, and our existence in just the same way the novel did with its dark and cynically written prose. Yes, there are changes, in both the details and the big events, but in the end it all comes down to the same question. What is an acceptable price to be paid for the continuation of humanity? It's a question that one hopes will never be alive to watch the results of, but in a time of aggression, paranoia, and fearnot knowing whether the enemy would strike first, but always ready to strike backwhere oblivion was an inevitability, it begs for an answer, no matter how atrocious the truth may be.
The beauty of the novel lies in the details. With immense scope and mythology, each character was given a complete history, an origin to the man or woman each became. Snyder and company don't turn their backs on this fact, allowing the film to proceed with its disjointed narrative, going back and forth between the present and the past that came before. We catch glimpses of how each evolved into the people they've become, whether that be even more invested in his convictions, (Rorschach), living a lie that the best times of her life were forced upon her by a mother who's limelight was fading, (Silk Spectre), lazy and out of shape from the fear that replaced the confidence when the costume was shut away in the basement, (Nite Owl II), or a self-made millionaire with a grip on business and government, (Ozymandias). Everything shown leads up to the climax in which each member of Watchmen rejoin with the fate of the world on the table and the impossible choice to either be made or stopped.
Unfortunately, the cinematic version is flawed because of the exact same issue. With so much detail and intricacy of plot and characterization, something has to be left on the cutting room floor. Personally, I believe the filmmakers made the perfect maneuvers to solve the problem of overkill. However, for someone to come in, without any knowledge of the story they are about to experience, it can be very daunting, very inaccessible, and ultimately unworthy of their time. What becomes a masterpiece of tone and literary adaptation for those familiar with the mythology ends up just a boring, bloated, action-less superhero saga that causes more laughter and headshaking then fervor or intrigue. As a result, Watchmen is more of a companion piece to the novel, something to view in conjunction with what is one of American literature's finest works.
But enough of that small point of contention; there is just too much more to love. You cannot deny the sheer brilliance of the special effects work, from the glowing blue body of Manhattan to the flying Archie to the beauty of Mars. The fight choreography is superb, just the right mix of sharp cuts and extended sequences to show the actual hits and not just the contact. Action fans will not be disappointed with the quality here, just the quantity. And as for direction, Snyder uses the novel as a guideline/storyboard pre-destined for the Cineplex, breathing life into the two-dimensional page. So much is almost exact to Gibbons' drawings and so much is crammed into every frame. Just watching the opening credit sequence shows the care for detail that was taken, showing so much to make the fan cry for joy and the newcomer scratch his head in confusion. I don't even fault the decision to alter the ending, allowing the climax to be more relevant for the real world yet still maintaining the same ultimate end. To stick to the book here would have alienated even more people into dismissing the story as a misguided farce rather then the biting political/social commentary it is.
The one thing I believe everyone can appreciate, though, is the stellar cast. With Malin Akerman being the only weak link, (sorry my dear, you look the part, but just don't quite have the acting chops yet to pull it off), there is little left to be desired. Billy Crudup's passive monotone is exactly what you'd imagine from Manhattan, Matthew Goode's affluent inflection and precise delivery of his words just the right amount of ego and genius Ozymandias contains, and Patrick Wilson's bumbling loner-geek brings Dan Dreiberg to life, showing all the insecurities that vanish when inside the Nite Owl suit. Where the true brilliance lies, however, is with Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Comedian and Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach. Morgan's unceasing grin and amorality shows both the loathsome nature of his existence as well as the ultimate mirror showing the world its true face of greed, corruption, and selfishness. He truly is the embodiment of the American Dream. And Haley's Rorschach becomes our entry-point and guide to the tale. His skewed sense of reality and justice makes him a villain, a murdering criminal, yet you can't help but wish you could have his conviction and fearlessness to do whatever it takes. The ultimate badass, his Walter Kovacs might be the most flawed role of the bunch, but that just makes him even more likable and relatable because, in the end, we are all flawed creatures pretending to be righteous and good.