Cynical mirror to the world in a dazzling visual style (for those with patience)

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2012)

In 7 years, director Zack Snyder has proved himself as a director who can deliver entertainment that meets the expectations of modern audiences in terms of pacing and spectacle, without making compromises to decent scripting or performances from his cast. Granted, his 'Sucker Punch' may not share the sophistication of his former work (and I still haven't tried 'Legend of the Guardians'; owls speaking in British accents almost screams 'Monty Python' to me), but every great director has a dream project waiting to get made after a firm reputation has been established, and it can leave us either in awe (Inception!!), or wondering "what the hell was he thinking?" (but even 'Showgirls' had its merits). Having thoroughly enjoyed the inspired carnage of 'Dawn of the Dead', and '300', I really consider 'Watchmen' to be Snyder's Mona Lisa.
I never read the novel, but I know that Watchmen is dear to a lot of people, that many thought it was unfilmable, and many were convinced it was unfilmable after seeing the result. I guess it is understandable that a story of such thematic and character-driven complexity would be narratively overwhelming, yet disappointing as an action movie for those superhero junkies expecting something like "300 X-Men". There is always a pitfall when one wants to combine jolly good popcorn-fun with sincere drama. An uneven mix is what made 'Hulk' fall flat on its face. However, Christopher Nolan showed with 'The Dark Knight' that a comic book adaptation can be a genre movie transcending that very description. Snyder goes a step further: this is a work of art, subtly and carefully laden with symbolism, metaphor, tales of morality, allegory and even satire, blended into an exiting mix of doomsday thriller, stylish detective drama and superhero movie. 'Watchmen' asks a lot from its viewers, dissects human nature to its core. Is mankind evil? Can we be saved from ourselves? Are we even worth saving? Ambitious, certainly, and a recipe for disaster, were it not for an excellent script from (amongst others) X-Men's David Hayter, that shows us a parody of our world, on the edge of moral and physical destruction. There is no Good or Bad, only Bad and Worse. In an ideal world, superheroes would represent the best traits of mankind; in this world, the heroes are so messed up that they are hardly distinguishable from the bad guys they used to fight. The people don't even want them anymore, needing no reminder that each society gets the heroes it deserves. But the flawed vigilantes merely embody what is right and wrong in humanity itself: Rorschach is cynical and has lost all hope for mankind, yet he refuses to give in to apathy; Ozymandias seems genuinely willing to make the world better, but himself most of all; Nite Owl is honorable, but lacks drive and initiative; the Comedian, who sees mankind's black soul, and decides to be just a bit darker; and Dr Manhattan, a man of logic, who can only see the world in its physical proportions, making him all-powerful, yet without any passion or love for his fellow men. Together they are confronted with a world on the verge of annihilation as the Cold War moves closer to Armageddon. Is it in our nature to destroy ourselves? Or do we still possess the strength and will to survive? At what cost?
It is a rare thing these days that a director takes ample time to let this story unfold, and that he gives each player a thorough background and motivation. Lesser directors might have put Dr Manhattan's origin story in a montage during the opening credits; yet Snyder creates a wonderfully effective comic book collage that brings us up to speed on the alternative history of this universe, and allows Dr Manhattan almost a subplot worth of time to show why he is who he is. One of my friends who didn't like the movie labeled the scene where Dan and Laurie beat up a couple of thugs in an alley as unnecessary action. I knew I didn't agree, but it forced me look again, and notice that those shots are inter-cut with Dr Manhattan's interview, in which he is accused of being a danger; his detachment from humanity becomes painfully clear, as he claims that there is no difference between a living person and a corpse. Just as the fight scene suggests that Laurie and Dan went into that alley knowing full well it could lead to trouble; they seem to relish the violence they can unleash, and savor the felling of excitement that even culminates into sex, making all the more apparent that these heroes are far out of touch with the human world.
The world of the comic book is wonderfully captured, and both classical and contemporary music is used to great effect to enhance the feeling of a world that is drifting towards Armageddon. Yes, the movie is long, complex, pompous and slow, but it is well worth it that the viewer is completely immersed in the setting, and the characters are firmly established, since character-driven action plays a major part in the finale. It is also one of the reasons why the ending, although bleak, plays out so satisfying, both narratively and emotionally, and in line with the overall tone of the movie.
I see an interesting parallel with 'Blade Runner', a movie also under-appreciated as slow and simplistic by many in its time, but multiple viewings allowed its audience to peel away all the layers and absorb the complex matter it represented. 'Watchmen' already faired way better at its release, but I still hope that doubters will give it a second chance, and that it might make its way back into the IMDb Top 250 one day again.