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Watchmen (2009)

Director: Zack Snyder

Time Out rating

Average user rating

77 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

The most celebrated graphic novel ever written, ‘Watchmen’ takes place in an alternate 1985 teetering on the brink of nuclear Armageddon, as a group of retired superheroes reunite to track down mysterious masked assassin. The graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was a self-reflexive comment on the entire genre and explored the fine boundary between the masked vigilante, the dirty civil servant and the dictatorial fascist. It has long been thought unfilmable: a direct translation, it was argued, would be overlong, punishingly bleak, bewilderingly convoluted and wildly uncommercial.

Which is exactly the film '300' director Zack Snyder has delivered. With the exception of an altered (and, it must be said, slightly improved) denouement, Snyder and his screenwriters have changed almost nothing from the original text. Costumes, sets, visual effects, the framing of shots and sequences, all the choicest lines of dialogue, even the music selections come directly from the novel. With all of these decisions taken out of the director's hands, what's left for Snyder to do?

Snyder's biggest impact is felt in the action sequences, which are also the film's weakest scenes: overstylised, repetitive and pornographically violent. Violence is the major theme of Moore’s book: it’s questionable efficacy in solving global problems, the conflicted, animalistic thrill of crushing one’s enemies. Snyder rides roughshod over such subtleties: 'Watchmen' may be the nastiest blockbuster ever devised. It luxuriates in snapping bones and literal explosions of gore. It's here that the gulf between comic and movie becomes most clear: Gibbons's drawings were often shocking, but they served a purpose. Snyder employs violence for the rush, and while this approach is sometimes brutally effective, it's also deeply crass.

The casting throws up mixed results: Patrick Wilson is agreeably vulnerable as Nite Owl, while Jackie Earl Haley makes for a supremely effective, unsettling Rorschach. But these two seasoned professionals stand out in a cast chosen for their physical similarity to Gibbons's drawings. Thankless female figurehead Silk Spectre demands an actress of real grace and vulnerability: Malin Akerman’s bland, soap-opera performance barely scratches the surface, while Matthew Goode's vacuous portrayal of the power-hungry Ozymandias suggests annoyed playboy rather than World's Smartest Man. But they can hardly be blamed: Snyder repeatedly fluffs the film's emotional peaks, blundering through on his way to another action setpiece.

But, try as he might, Snyder can't sabotage the sheer majesty of the source material. The breadth and grandeur of Moore’s globe-spanning narrative still astounds, and to see Gibbons’s iconic images writ vast and messy across the screen packs an undeniable sentimental punch. Like the book, there’s an impressive visual and narrative density here, cramming a bewildering amount of information into already overloaded scenes. The characters may be undermined by Snyder’s glib, hasty approach, but they still resonate, as do the overriding themes of power, corruption and human frailty.

But 'Watchmen' is still going to be the ultimate tough sell: there will be those who view the film as a bewildering mishmash of underexplored themes, thinly sketched characters and noisy, excessive violence. They're probably right: any work of popular art which demands prior knowledge must be deemed a failure. And yet, there’s something admirable about the entire enterprise: its ungainly size, its unrelenting weirdness, its willful, challenging intensity. Neophytes should probably steer clear, but for longterm fans of the source work this will be a hugely pleasurable, if ultimately unenlightening experience.

Author: Tom Huddleston 2009-02-26 12:03:53

Time Out London Issue 2011, 5 – 11 March, 2009

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User reviews of this film

blib said...

Posted on Sep 10 2009 12:31 Marc you go on about IQ and then spoil it by calling people "friggin retards" for not agreeing with you. Is "awesome" the only adjective you could manage aswell. Anyhoo as reviewed, the film IN MY OPINION was a mess, a hotch potch of ideas, thrown together. Couldn't decide what it wanted to be.a latter day "last ation hero" Lot of king's new clothes on here methinks.

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Godbluff said...

Posted on Jun 01 2009 22:52 Those that were bored with this film should instead watch films designed for people who have no concentrations span and actually enjoy predictability. Ha! You got taken in and found yourself in a cinema with an intelligent movie. That'll teach you to only look at the posters when deciding on a film. Go see Wolverine and Transformers 2 instead - you'll like those - they won't hurt your poor brain cells.

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Syd said...

Posted on Jun 01 2009 17:40 I believe that most of these people who thought that this movie is boring, have no complete thought about it what so ever. I think that if you actually TRIED to pay attention and TRIED to get to actually know what's going on in the movie, you'd enjoy it. But, from my personal opinion, you really have to read the comic to REALLY enjoy it. I have not read the comic but about one time, but my girlfriend had told me that she was a fan. So I shelled out 10$ for her and me to go see the movie. I sat there, and for the first, let's say...hour or so it was quite boring. But as I sat there, and I thought about what was going on, and thought about the complexity and characters. It started to get more and more interesting. Though it was three hours, by about half-way into the movie it was AWESOME. Rorschach (for all those idiots out there who don't know how to spell it cause you were too busy explaining to your boyfriend/girlfriend how much you want to leave so you can make a move on them...) was one of the most complexing and difficult characters to understand, and for me, the whole hour story of how he was meant to be WAS appropriate. But, to me, you have to know the whole story and the background of the story to be interested in ANYTHING. It just seems that most of the reviews on here were from people who won't take their time to pay attention to anything except themselves. I myself am not that patient either, (I have ADD) but i still sit there for three hours. But, boring is just what you don't like. (or in my opinion) Boring is just what you don't want to think about.

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andy said...

Posted on Apr 23 2009 13:49 this film was a load of ****. there was only a few good moments in it like the sex scenes. if you would like to sleep for 3 hours and pay for it watch this film.

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Treborus said...

Posted on Apr 07 2009 16:42 I dont know..mybe its me but from all the gen u get before a film hits the screen u know if its ur "Thang" well in in advance , u might be let down 4 various reasons but in essence its why u go & shell out ur dosh ...so I cant grasp why any wud go & moan in the most gormless brain dead way ...more fool u for not usin ur " brain" , ur eyes , ur ears before going ...such revues are are waste of MY TIME

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miles said...

Posted on Apr 06 2009 12:10 besides all the studio hype and all the made up good reviews -a miserable blue turd which has bombed badly in usa -not even recovered its cost -much less the marketing expenses and it is a total loss when it comes to any entertainment or artistic merit -just one big yawn-even the silly marley and me is better than this crap

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Johnny said...

Posted on Apr 03 2009 21:52 You only need to look at the other reviews listed here to know this is a love it or hate it film. The movie mirrors the source material so closely I can't believe any fan of the graphic novel won't enjoy this. I am (a fan) and I thought the film was great. Anyone else will probably wonder what the hell is going on. If you have not read the comic, don't expect 'The Dark Knight' or 'Spiderman'. The violence in this film is not quite as disposable as in those super hero movies you might have become acustomed to. Go and watch the movie - keep an open mind and you might even enjoy it.

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Ross said...

Posted on Apr 03 2009 11:23 I loved this film, i've never read any of the graphic novel and had never even heard of the film until it came out, my girlfriend is a HUGE fan of the graphic novel and was chomping at the bit (that means getting excited, for all you moron's and chav's out there) to see this film and we both thought it was fantastic. watch it in an IMAX cinema too as it's even better that way.

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Treborus said...

Posted on Apr 02 2009 18:07 From word of mouth to watching the promos , with increasing interest I read the extremes of view - love , hate - rarely indifference - I went with mixed feelings to see it - well - what ever I was expecting out of the usual super hero genre - I saw the unexpected - a very interesting attempt at a very unusual story , which kept me intregued to it,s end . I,d like to see it again & await the extended Dvd . I recomend it .

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Greg said...

Posted on Apr 01 2009 13:50 this film is pretty rubbish! go see mall cop or the knowing!!!!

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T said...

Posted on Mar 29 2009 14:52 This film drag on unnecessary, it was too long and extremely boring.
A lot of people left the cinema before it ended and when it did end I heard a lot of people, if not, everyone that walked passed me on the way out, say how awful the film was. I wouldn’t recommend it!

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Liam H said...

Posted on Mar 26 2009 20:33 This film is excellent. Sure, it requires a bit of thought but frankly, I'm dissapointed by some of these reviews. It was always going to polarise opinion but I found the sex and violence appropriate, especially when explaining why Rorschach is the way he is. This film deals heavily with political philosophical problems, such as the worth of human life, the nature an worth of power, the anarchic notion of society and how possibly to cure them. It created brilliant sociological considerations such as how we view what is essentially a God and how it views us. The fighting was great, if a little matrix-esque, and I'm sorry, but the first 20 minutes of this film make it clear that this is not the world we know without the condescending need to clarify it explicity - perhaps because this film assumes people aren't thick. This film verges on a nihlism at some points and sure, its not the most happy of films.But then this is a film that challenges that area of grey, in such an environment it was unlikely there would be concrete disney style endings. But the film left on a good note - that if we forget our differences we have the potential for sympathy, compassion and even peace. The fact this peace is forced upon the world is just another interesting talking point relating to peoples freedoms and their value. Go see this if you like a damn good film and have the IQ and concentration level required to get absorbed in such a marathon film with technical, muddied points

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Rachel said...

Posted on Mar 24 2009 22:09 I really enjoyed this film. Having never even heard of the Watchmen before this film came out, I came into it expecting nothing but an action film-the majority of me went and saw it because my fiance wanted to, with a bit of curiosity on my end. However, I left the theater very satisfied. There was a lot of violence, and I do think the sex scene was longer than really appropriate (although the spout of fire coming from Archie was pretty funny). However, the story of Watchmen drew me in and left me thinking. The characters in the film also struck me as complex-I appreciated the backstories given for each character because it made me appreciate their personalities and ideals even more than if it had not been there. And I think it was these backstories that drew out the film and made it hard for people to sit through. Overall, it was a good film. If you have the time, I recommend taking a look at the themes of the film and applying them to actual history (like the attack on New York compared next to Pearl Harbor). Maybe it will be more appreciated in that light.

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becks said...

Posted on Mar 23 2009 22:33 this film draged on too long and was pritty boring !

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songsforthedeaf said...

Posted on Mar 23 2009 14:16 Surprisingly, of all the things to think while watching a superhero film, I found myself very bored. The film seems directionless, the characters uniteresting and lacking depth (apart from maybe Rawshack) and ultimately the decisions and actions they take lacking explanation (which I am assured the comic does). My friends who've read it love the film. I think this is becasue they have the character and plot development in their heads that this film really doesnt have. As a result, the set pieces/ action sequences just washed over me. Its too long. Its a fanboy film. I really wish Id gone to see Gran Torino instead.

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