Heroes in Retrograde

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2009)

Only in the heavily-hyped buildup to the theatrical release of "Watchmen" did I sit down to read the graphic novel on which it's based. As ashamed as I am to admit it, Warner Brothers' persistent ad campaign (making sure to overstate its status as "most celebrated of all time"!) was the only reason I bothered. The teaser trailer premiered way back in July of 2008 (bundled with "The Dark Knight"), and my own reaction was a mix of bad laughter and undeniable curiosity. I had heard of "Watchmen," of course, but my own disinterest toward hero-based comics kept me at a distance.
Upon reading (and, at times, struggling) through it, I came to the conclusion that "Watchmen" must be much more gratifying to those already predisposed toward the Supermans and Spider-Mans of the comic-book underworld. To someone more inclined toward the personal, more subjective works of Crumb and Clowes, the end result came off as distancing and condescending (especially in the "Black Freighter" subplot, which is thankfully absent here); the interesting, complex characters, contemporary political allusions (Richard Nixon in his third presidential term; the onset of nuclear war at the hands of the Russians), and science-fiction tropes (the space-time distortions of Dr. Manhattan), while hinting at something greater, all stood in the shadow of writer Alan Moore's pretentious structure and dialog. Too often the narrative went off on tangents that failed to synthesize with the ongoing plot into a well-rounded whole. Illustrator Dave Gibbons did his best to elevate the material through sheer imagery, but his drawings were marked by a stiffness crossed with nostalgia for the old-school DC comics. In all, "Watchmen" came off as a dated piece of nostalgia for a paranoid era instead of a timeless classic of the medium.
With this laundry list of qualms, I approached the film adaptation with no small amount of skepticism, to the point where I questioned why I even wanted to see it. Yet, sitting in the theater as the opening credits rolled, my expectations brightened to the point where I was completely wrapped up and enthralled by "Watchmen." While film is notorious for compromising and, at worst, denigrating beloved works of literature, it has proved a fertile medium for enhancing the graphic arts: a few years back, Frank Miller's "Sin City" was turned into one of the most dazzling comic adaptations of all time. And this is why "Watchmen," as a film, succeeds where the novel did not: the flatness of the page has been given three-dimensional life by committed performances and a stunning visual imagination.
Director Zack Snyder is no stranger to this territory, as his Green-Screen adaptation of Miller's "300" proved. While I would be otherwise reluctant to call the guy a "visionary," "Watchmen" certainly advances his mainstream credibility several notches. Showing a keen attention for period detail (the film is set in 1985), carefully utilized slow motion, and a grainy, earthy color palate that appropriately mixes the unease of a world on the brink of annihilation with a Film-Noir mood, Snyder removes the barrier of Moore's pretentious pose and puts us on a field level with the characters, whose all-too-human problems (bad childhoods, impotence, apathy, age-driven obsolescence) are surprisingly relatable. As a result, it's hard not to feel implicated in and concerned toward the outcome of the proceedings. Screenwriters David Haytner and Alex Tse, who condensed the book into a tighter narrative that sacrifices little in the way of character detail, also deserve much credit for this successful translation.
The plot regards the titular characters, a group of masked crimefighters operating in the latter part of the 20th century, following in the tradition of an earlier group (the Minutemen). In a volatile sociopolitical climate, however, sitting President Nixon implements a ban on masked vigilantes, thus forcing our characters into exile as common citizens. There's Edward Blake, alias "The Comedian" (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), whose brutal murder sets the Watchmen back into action; Walter Kovacs, alias "Rorschach" (Jackie Earle Haley), is a street-smart psychotic who is nonetheless committed to his own brand of justice; Dan Dreiberg, alias "Nite Owl" (Patrick Wilson), an engineer who longs to re-connect with Laurie Jupiter, alias "Silk Spectre" (Malin Akerman); rounding out the group is Adrian Veidt, alias "Ozymandias" (Matthew Goode ), a suave corporate exec with influence in science, medicine, and merchandising; and Jon Osterman, alias "Dr. Manhattan" (Billy Crudup), a powder-blue, nigh-indestructible specter who can alter time and space at will. While some personalities are overshadowed by others (with Haley's Rorschach being a key scene-stealer), all are given a chance to shine, and are left to bode with questions that verge on the morally catastrophic (paralleling the looming threat of nuclear war).
Last year, "The Dark Knight" set a precedent for all comic-book adaptations to follow: it pitted a well-trod character against a villain who knew no boundaries (and, as a result, had nothing to lose), while grappling with his own inner demons; in the end, the victor of the battle seemed less important than whether or not our hero could rise above the damage that had inspired such a climate of fear. In very similar ways, "Watchmen" approaches the same issues, and winds up a compelling, intimate, and visually stunning tale of loyalty, tragedy, and the uncertainty of mankind's own desire to want to be saved from itself.