A Dark Insight into the Superhero World

Rating: Null/10 (6 March 2009)

Starting off, I am just reviewing the film overall and not taking in account any of the written sources it's based off. Watchmen seems to be a complex film, and I'm sure and extremely hard to make an adaption of. It seems with dealing with material, such as this one, it's almost impossible to please everybody.
Watchmen is a about a team of superheros that look after or "watch" the world around it and society which is supposed to take place in 1985. Be warned: this is not your regular superhero movie. Watchmen seems to reveal a much darker existence and reality into their world, the world of these superheros that we have seen so many times before. This isn't teenage Peter Parker, running and flying through the streets of New York. This is a much darker piece of work including, graphic violence, murder, sex scenes and nudity between these heroes. This film could be described as controversial with all the history, themes and meanings it goes through. It expands through many historical events, such as the Vietnam War and the Nixon Presidency.
The film starts off with a murder and a mystery that surrounds it. (As it is said in the plot.) This side of the story was very interesting and entertaining. It kept my interest going forward, not knowing what to expect. Interesting, and suspenseful with a sort of realism to it. Then the film sort of gradually goes off into more of a fantasy setting, with a whole bunch of outer space, mystical objects, creatures, and end of the world hints. I didn't really care for this side of the story, but it is sort of a fantasy superhero film, based on the graphic novel, so I can't knock it for being what it is supposed to be. What I didn't like, was how long it took to actually discover what was going on with the plot, which turned out to be a bit confusing. There was a bunch of goofy and corny parts, which really wasn't needed or could have been done better. The sex scene for example, seemed kind of forced and awkward.
Now to the characters since its more of a character driven piece anyway. Oscar nominated actor, Jackie Earle Haley, completely stole the show as Rorschach. Every time he wasn't on screen, I just kept waiting for him to come back. I loved his character and his storyline. There's not enough good things I can say about him and his performance. Him alone, makes the film worthwhile, in my opinion. Just what if the others could be as good... Well for Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II, I can't say she was bad, but not all that great. It seems obvious that she was pretty much put in this film as eye candy, which she definitely succeeds at. Overall, I liked the rest of the cast and thought they did a pretty good job with a few weak moments (mainly Ackerman). Some of the action sequences seem like they could have been done better. Snyder's style made them look "out of synch."
The visual look and feel of the film is well done. The opening credits scene with the song playing is fantastic. The song "Times are a Changin' by Bob Dylan plays in the background as these credits really set the tone and mood for the film. Beautifully done. Not all of the songs seemed to fit though. Some of them seemed really out of place and even awkward at times. Interesting, dark cinematography with some great visuals. Most of the writing and dialog was great, particularly, Rorschach's scenes and lines. Maybe Haley just made it that much better? There is some weak moments as well mostly with Ackerman's lines. Maybe because some of her weak delivery of some of her lines. Don't mean to pick on her, but she seems to be the weak link in this one.
Overall, Watchmen seems like a dense, deep, complex look at the superhero world. It made for an interesting film, that I just had to see because I was so intrigued by the R rating with the dark graphic nature of this kind of superhero film. It's not perfect, and I'm sure some people won't like it, but a pretty good film nonetheless. If you go in looking for an interestingly done story about a new kind of insight to the dark world of superheros then this film should work for you. 6.5-7 out of 10