"Unfilmable"? Snyder proves otherwise, at least with amazing visuals

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2009)

Finally, the greatest and most "unfilmable" graphic novel of all time reaches the big screen. I can understand director Zak Snyder's hesitation in taking on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' "Watchmen": it's a golden example of a story that perfectly fits its medium, that doesn't need to be told (and maybe shouldn't) any other way. But Snyder takes the challenge head on, opting to stay as visually and structurally faithful to the novel as possible, crossing his fingers that the rest will work out. And "Watchmen"'s crowning achievement ends up how stunning and marvelous it is to watch. As for the rest working out, a bit of something is left to be desired--part of the impact of the characters and their struggles lost--but all flaws of the film directly correlate to the choice to stay true to the source. A tough choice, but the right one for this movie because the visual payoff is extraordinary.
The first challenge the film meets with incredible success is setting up the context for an alternative 1980s America where Nixon is in his fifth term dealing with the Cold War, Armageddon is looming and self-proclaimed vigilante superheroes walk the streets to try and do good (although they've been recently outlawed). The opening credits sequence does this masterfully. It is without a doubt the best opening credits sequence I have ever seen. Not only is it loaded with goodies for "Watchmen" fans but it drops information needed to understand the film and shows how famous historical events or iconic images and the like would have been altered if the "Watchmen" universe were reality. All this in the form of still or slow-moving images. I wanted to stand up and applaud when it was over.
The middle of the movie is the toughest part to endure in terms of pacing and understanding the characters. There's a lot to digest as we dive into the mysterious death of retired superhero The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and what it means to the ruthless vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Earl Haley) trying to solve it. Add the vital back story of the other characters: all-powerful Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), the lonely Dan Dreiberg once known as Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), the lost but beautiful Laurie Jupiter once Silk Spectre II (Malin Ackerman), her mother (Carla Gugino), and the powerful businessman who commodified his once superhero-dom, Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode), and you have just way too many characters to follow. Naturally, that means you take to the coolest ones (Rorschach) and find yourself wanting to know more, which the film could never do without either boring you or taking away from the story.
With so much character development going on, things can get slow, so there is action added to the film at parts or intensified by Snyder at others as only the "300" director would know how. Snyder amps up the violence a bit for this reason (and likely a bit for his personal tastes). In general, the sympathy I developed for all these characters reading the graphic novel isn't there as much in the film because too much is going on at one time. This is where doing a straight adaptation gets extremely difficult, because handling all this at once in a film is near impossible unless drastic changes are made. For the most part, the acting of these reputable but not A-list stars helps you get to the core of these characters more than you might otherwise.
Fortunately, the main idea of the story which creates an incredible two-view perspective on human nature comes across clearly in the end as the world nears its darkest hour, and you leave more satisfied than you thought you would through parts of the film's second hour.
But understandably, the dark, psychological aspect of film is not what will drive most people to see it. Snyder brings it to this film in terms of action. When you watch these heavy-hitting, physically exaggerated fight scenes, you recognize they're far from real, but gosh are they cool. In combination with great sound editing, Snyder's tendency toward slow motion is exciting and captivating. But what he deserves more credit for is the way this movie is shot scene by scene. It is sweeping and grandiose at times, intimate and tense at others, beautifully lit and colored by his cinematography team at every scene. Best of all, there are so many small details from pictures on the wall to other things you won't catch the first time if you don't know the novel that really do enhance meaning and comprehension. Honestly, his only poor choice is Leonard Cohen's "Halleluyah" for the soundtrack during the soft-core porn scene. Not having this film scored was a risky proposition. Having actual songs from the era help create a sense of realism, that this is a period film, but it does hurt the emotions at times.
Truth be told, no one else could do a better job than Snyder. He's the real deal, I truly believe it after seeing the incredible vision he brings to the project. Maybe others could do just as good a job or worse, but not better, because this film is very firmly an adaptation: a chance to see source material beautifully and cleverly re-created for the big screen. Nothing can help the fact that this story cannot be fully understood and appreciated as a 163-minute epic, but instead requires a slower digestion afforded by the novel. Without butchering the source material, there is no way to make "Watchmen" a perfect film, so Snyder and writers take the high road, aiming to please fans and terrifically execute every scene as if to say the parts are more valuable than their sum. Although a risky move as far as films go, it's the right one for such a treasured story.