A fascinating misfire

Rating: 6/10 (9 March 2009)

Some of "Watchmen" is brilliant. Set in 1985 in a world where Richard Nixon was elected to multiple terms and men and women with super powers helped us win the Vietnam War, the US is on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviets. Those with super powers have not made the world better--we see this in "The Dark Knight" as well--and, in fact, have helped make it worse. In this plot point we see an argument against the still going weapons race--it leads to escalation, increased danger instead of safety--played out on screen. The development and eventual weaponizing of the the super powerful Dr. Manahattan, able to reconstitute matter at will, raises tensions with the Soviets leading us to the brink of annihilation.
This is the game and stakes as "Watchmen" opens. A costumed hero will be murdered sending the Travis Bickle-like Rorschach into action as he sets out to solve the mystery. Rorshcach sees the world in black and white--mostly black--and he the avenging angel giving no quarter to the "scum" of the city. His investigation leads him to interview other costumed heroes and in this way we witness a host of origin stories and learn the dark secrets of many of the superpowered. Unfortunately, the film telegraphs its villain a little too clearly so then we are only left with trying to discern motive.
Snyder's theme, by way of the Alan Moore novel, seems to be that the superpowered are not heroes and so much ability consolidated into only a few individuals is good for none and leads to the emergence of a fascist class. Snyder seems to be be bringing this theme to the fore as he shows heroes mangle the bodies of the unjust. They burst limbs open and hack into villains with seeming ease and glee. The scenes are repulsive and I'm willing to go along with the director if the harrowing violence is meant to show how depraved these heroes actually are. It's an invigorating, if not pleasant, reimagining of the super hero genre.
But then Snyder tips his hand and it becomes clear that the bloodbath and wallowing in the gore is, as in the ridiculous "300," meant to be violent ballet. And it's not so much the violence that bothers me--I loved Snyder's unsentimental "Dawn of the Dead" remake--but how its inclusion lays waste to all the nuance that has come before. This fact crystallizes in a prison scene where Rorschach, the Silk Spectre, and Nite Owl escape from a prison riot and are clearly having fun as they hack off limbs with power saws and beat enemies to a pulp. The movie then tries to return to profundity, but it is now clear that Snyder's slo-mo, bone crunching is the point of the film. The Moore novel provides Snyder a pretext for heroes beating the snot out of their inferiors.
There is brilliance in the film, however. The opening credit sequence is a wonder as it lays out a dense backstory in just a few minutes. It reminded of DeVito's incendiary opening monologue in "L.A. Confidential." The set decoration and costuming bring the world of the classic novel to life and this is sure to please its most ardent fans. Jackie Earle Haley, unsettling in "Little Children," nails Rorschach and Billy Crudup as the god-man Dr. Manhattan is sufficiently cold and distant. Dr. Manhattan's transformation from man to weapon is tragic and the movie's high point.
So much works in the film, but its stylized violence undercuts its themes. A fascinating misfire not for the squeamish.