Mental, ethical and visual overload?

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2009)

I wouldn't easily believe that yet another movie could squeeze a tear from me to the tune of The Sounds of Silence. In The Watchmen, a coffin of a murdered, unloved anti-hero is lowered into the ground. But the scene is juxtaposed with images of the U.S. in Vietnam, bringing to mind the terrific human sacrifice of that war.
What makes the song more poignant is the silent message. The film has rewritten history so that America achieves greater triumph in the war - with the aid of a super-being, Dr Manhattan. We are asked to mourn heroes victorious in death. But we know the reality to be much sadder.
Music is used throughout The Watchmen sparingly but always to great effect. Comfortably seated in the cinema, I thought I was still watching trailers as the film started. As an extremely unrealistic fight unfolds I make a mental note to avoid whatever film is being touted. But as the credits gather pace I struggle to come to terms with whatever is about to begin. In rapid succession, JFK is assassinated, Warhol heralds the pointless as fashionable, someone lands on the moon, Bowie ambles along outside a gig in a Ziggy Stardust mask and . . .
Masks. Always fashionable. In arts, literature and crime. Who can deny the lure of being anonymous? The flirtation for which you don't have to account. The character greater than yourself. For good or evil, masks are a liberation.
Suddenly Dylan's gritty, Times They Are a-Changin' cuts across the confusing tableau of history and fiction and we realize a joke is being played. The mask slips. We don't have to take it all so seriously. A grotesque ensemble of police officers pose for the camera. They will develop into a new breed of crime fighters to carry on where the police leave off. Eventually, as our story gets into full flow, they have evolved into 'The Watchmen' and one or two have picked up superpowers along the way. Dylan's compositions feature again later in the film with Hendrix's blazing All Along the Watchtower cover and end with a barley recognizable punk cover of Desolation Row by My Chemical Romance.
The film combines comic-strip with film noir. ¨The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood.¨ It's almost a Sin City with real people. It's a city that, ¨screams like an abattoir full of retarded children.¨ And the city is a pre- clean-up New York, though our tale will take us to Antarctica and Mars as the world hovers on the brink of nuclear war.
The Watchmen excels at defying expectations. If director Zack Snyder's previous offering, 300, was a little one-dimensional, The Watchmen almost suffers from the opposite. The film squeezes (with a few alterations) a dozen apocalyptically awesome comic episodes into a mammoth story, preserving much of the original's intention to question our assumptions about superheroes or the black-and-white nature of good and bad. Intellectually and graphically, it is comic-strip for adults.
But although Snyder has pulled off a remarkable achievement, The Watchmen almost suffers from the excess of its own success. The 'wow' factor is maintained for almost three hours and with little breathing space. Ham-acting is mirrored against genuine tear-jerking moments. Dialogue is edgy. Special effects are sheer brilliance. But after a couple of hours I was almost suffering from adrenalin overload. There were any number of moments when the credits could have rolled and I would have applauded an excellent ending. Not that any footage is gratuitous or wasted. Snyder hammers his points home as our sympathies are pulled by different arguments and different Watchmen. Can moral righteousness have a point if it doesn't work? Is there an alternative to a cynical view of man's animal nature? The questions are asked without once being patronizing or overly simplistic. But the experience may leave you somewhat exhausted.