In Continuum.

This is going to be the most honest review of the Watchmen you will read on the internet, I can guarantee you that. From a guy who has been an avid fan of the graphic novel for a few years now, I watched this film with as much objectivity as possible, unlike most of the other reviews you might find on the internet, either trying to defend it by giving fanboys a bad name, or vehemently trying to bring it down because Alan Moore didn't approve of the film in the first place. I am going to try to give fanboys a good name again by being the most objective and unbiased reviewer of this film, the film that I have been waiting for ever since it was announced. This is the second time in my life when complete fandom has taken over me, with The Lord of the Rings being the other time. You know, when you follow a movie so closely with every teaser or trailer released, and all those production pictures and videos. I followed them through it all, from day one of filming until the last day, everything. I was there, in a way, every step of the way, just waiting for the film to be completed. Now that it has been finished and screen in cinemas around the world, I myself managed to get my hands on a ticket to watch it this afternoon. Before we begin, though, be warned that it is probably going to be filled with spoilers. So, if you do intend to read the graphic novel or to watch the film, stop right here and right now. 

It is difficult to explain what Watchmen is about without going into details. But I suppose the basic story line is this: In a world where ordinary men and women dress up to be costume heroes, the lines of justice are often blurred and distorted due to the corrupted nature of humans. In this world, masked vigilantes of the society are retiring from their glory days, and living a life mostly of solitude and peace. Laws were passed to prevent these acts to run free in the society, and some calmly accepted that for a fact. Others, though, resisted vehemently, while others signed deals with the government to work for them in crime fighting and wars in faraway lands. This silent truce between the masked vigilantes and the government was broken when The Comedian died, and one of the old crimefighters were alerted of his death. Rorschach, the lone wolf on the streets, suspects a conspiracy behind the death of one of his old teammates, and his suspicions grown even deeper when the heroes of the past start to disappear from the city. Dr. Manhattan, the only member with real superpowers, was exiled to Mars, and Adrian Veidt became the target of an assassination. Rorschach, along with his friend the Nite Owl II, then attempts to uncover what begins as a simple murder mystery, to a conspiracy so great that it becomes too terrible to comprehend. 

The synopsis above all but scrapes the surface of the story itself. The real story runs deeper than that by all accounts. The graphic novel itself delves deep into every single character, on their origins, their characters, and their flaws as human beings trying to be more than who they are, and what they are. We tear down the masks of these "superheroes", and we see that they are no different than ordinary human beings, with the same human flaws that no one can deny. With that, the story goes into greater depth of greatness, incorporating a story within a story, and other fantastic aspects that you have to read the book yourself to find out. This graphic novel isn't the only graphic novel, or comic, to graze the list of Time's top one hundred novels in the last century for no reason. This is a true novel that just so happens to have pictures, and this novel is probably one of, if not the best, book on that list, and many other lists about books as well. Watchmen revolutionized the way the comic book medium works, and it elevated the medium to a level whereby it isn't for children to read any longer, and that it is no longer about strange men dressed in tights. Suddenly, the medium is also one that speaks of serious topics with heavy moral lessons to draw from. Watchmen changed everything about the industry, for its depth, its cleverness, and its brilliance. 

This graphic novel has been deemed to be "unfilmable" by many fans of the graphic novel and directors the same. It has gone through many revisions of the script ever since the late eighties, and gone through a couple of well known directors, though no one attempted it until Zack Snyder came along. A relative unknown to the list of directors who wanted to shoot the film, Snyder's fame from the movie 300 quickly elevated him to be the best man for the job. People had their doubts, because 300 wasn't exactly the best rated film of 2007, and 300 is no Watchmen. It lacks its depth, its brilliance, its ability to transcend heavy ideas to the audience. It is a completely different ball game, and not a lot of people had faith in Snyder, and people didn't know if he could pull it off or not. Then the production pictures and videos came in, then the teasers and the trailers followed suit. The faith of the fans was restored, and everybody started looking forward to the Watchmen movie all over again. I, on the other hand, remained skeptical about the idea, and have long settled for disappointment even before the film had a release date. I knew that I'd be disappointed if I go into the theater having any expectations. With a book like that, you just know that you'd be disappointed if you hope for too much. In the end, not having a particular expectation, probably saved the film for me. 

There are a lot of things that I liked about the film, a lot of things that I didn't like about it, and a lot of things I felt was just out of place altogether. Let's begin with the bits in the movie that I did not like that much. First off, the casting of Malin Akerman as Laurie Juspeczyk is completely off. When your repertoire includes a film like Heartbreak Kid, you really shouldn't expect much. Malin Akerman is one-dimensional, boring, and is really just in the film to be some kind of sex fantasy for the fanboys, dressed in her yellow and black tights and then kicking butt onscreen. Not to forget, the awkward sex scene between her and Patrick Wilson has got to be the strangest scene ever to put shown in a cinema. While I haven't seen it in the edited version of the film I saw in Singapore, vivid descriptions of it has already surfaced online. Let's just say that I am not interested in an extended sex scene that lasts for the entire length of a song, with everything in bloody slow motion. The slow motion breasts in 300 were pretty cool, but that one lasted for about ten seconds before they became boring. It's not like pairing the scene up with the song Hallelujah would make it less of a soft porn attempt. 

Next, Richard Nixon. With Frank Langella's portrayal of the ex-president fresh in my mind for Frost/Nixon, I cannot bring myself to believe that the actor used in Watchmen for this role is supposed to be more convincing. The make-up only served to make his looks even more ridiculous than it already us, and the fake nose made the character look like some wicked witch from the west in a suit or something. His role in the graphic novels was minor, and I cannot understand why Snyder decided that it'd be crucial to extend his scenes, when they could have been very well used elsewhere. Next, The Comedian - I don't think he is insane enough in this film. We see him burning up a few Vietnamese soldiers and shooting a pregnant woman. But his onscreen presence feel somewhat awkward to me, and the actor does not put forward the idea that this man is just doing his job and going along with the gag. He does not seem to see everything as a joke like the character should be feeling, and he just seems to be going through the script because the script says so. Slow motion were generally used to a comfortable degree, but definitely not in the scene involving The Comedian leaping off Archie and into a riot in slow motion - what for? It wasn't even particularly awesome in the first place. 

CGI Bubastic is pretty pointless, with the animal appearing in a couple of scenes for no reasons at all. Aside from that, we no longer get to see the origin story of Dr. Malcolm. We don't get to see how Dr. Malcolm becomes obsessed with Walter Kovacs, and we don't see how his perspective of the world becomes altered after his meetings with him. His role has been reduced to a mere psychiatrist in the prison, and appears briefly again after just one interview to point to Walter where his masks is. Another main character being given a lot less screen time is probably Hollis Mason, whose initial presence on screen was arresting and brilliant to say the least. I heard that the scene with him being murdered was filmed, but edited out of the theatrical cut. I suppose more is going to be seen with Hollis Mason, but the theatrical release has left a bad taste in my mouth because of that. What really pissed me off towards the end of the film wasn't even because of the fact that Snyder left out The Squid. The fact that the line "Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends" was given to Laurie instead of Dr. Manhattan infuriated me. I mean, the delivery was wrong, and it was a really pivotal scene at the end of the book. It shows that nothing ends, that humanity is going to revert to their old ways sooner or later. It was one last jab by Dr. Manhattan, and it was given to - Laurie? 

Moving on to the things that I felt were just OK, awkward, or just strange altogether. First off, it is the casting for Ozymandias. Now, I like Matthew Goode, but his casting doesn't seem to fit that of Ozymandias from the book. This version seems a little more metrosexual in a way, a little bit on the scrawny side and I hate the accent with a passion. Yet, by the time the film ended, I accepted him as an Ozymandias, but he still remains the strangest choice for the cast of the film, to me. Next, the Ozymandias assassination scene happened a little too slowly. In my mind, while I was reading the book, I expected the guy to just pop out of nowhere and plant a few bullets into innocent people around. But Snyder decided that it'd be cool to do everything in slow motion - again - showing us how everybody gets shot, other than Ozymandias himself. Speaking of slow motion, there were some scenes that clearly did not require slow motion at all. The rooftop rescue scene felt a little redundant, and it really could have been edited out of the film and not lose the meaning behind it at all. That is not to mention the strange moment of explosion when Laurie runs back to Archie - what was that all about? That scene felt very disjointed, and felt more like a scene from the extended version more than anything. 

Rorschach, is the most loved character in the entire graphic novel. I thought his origin story was rushed, much like many of the aspects of the film. You jump from his childhood to his adulthood in a few frames, and you don't really understand why he becomes Rorschach, like the way he described it in the books. The transformation of Walter Kovacs to Rorschach is the representation of everything that is wrong about the society, and the kind of twisted justice behind everything. Yet, very little time was developed to his character, and I felt a little letdown. Though, I must say, most of the materials that Snyder stuck with were really very faithful, though rushed. Speaking of rushing things, the pivotal scene with Laurie and Dr. Manhattan debating about the significance of mankind was also rushed. I mean, the first line Laurie utters in that scene was "Do it for me" - what? Suddenly, Laurie is OK with Dr. Manhattan being all detached and distant? Laurie begins the scene in the book with surprise, shock, and a lot of anger, and naturally so. The Laurie in the movie began that scene like a high school cheerleader. It wasn't a bad scene, because ultimately the scene ended off as how the scene should have ended. But still, it felt strange, like the way Ozymandias caught that bullet. Though, to be fair, I never liked that part in the book either. 

Moving on to the good stuff finally! Now, the entire introduction scene was fixed together almost perfectly. We have Bob Dylan's The Times Are A-Changing in the background, with a brief history of the previous and present group of masked vigilantes. It is like a very condensed version of what we read in the books, and I love how everything fitted together very well. It's difficult to explain the effects Snyder used in this part, but it looked like we were reading from a 3-D fold out book. You also have to give it to the set and costume designers of this film, because I seldom ever see such care going into the details of a movie. There are just so many layers upon layers of materials that you can pause the screen to discover more about, kind of like how the graphic novel works when you are reading it the second time. I didn't have any problems with the altered looks of the masked vigilantes, and I thought the set pieces really gave the city a very gritty look, much like the graphic novel intended the setting to be. 

The casting, for the most part of the film, is incredible. Patrick Wilson nailed it for Dan Dreiberg, shaping him into this awkward masked hero who has self-esteem problems for the most part. Billy Crudup did a great Dr. Manhattan, though his character was computer generated for the most part. I thought he nailed the voice, the emotions (or lack thereof) and many aspects of what Dr. Manhattan is as he goes on to explain everything on sub-atomic levels. The best casting, though, is probably Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, because he IS Rorschach. Everything from the way he sounded, to the way he walked with his hands in the pockets all the time, to the way he panicked when he was about to get arrested. Everything was right, all the way up to the infamous prison scene when he poured hot oil over another prisoner. Haley delivered every line of Rorschach's in the film with such dead on accuracy that you cannot deny that he was probably the best out of them all. He is truly an under-rated actor, in my opinion, and he really brought Rorschach to life on screen, and especially important with a pivotal character such as he. 

Speaking of Rorschach and the prison scene, I thought everything in the prison scene worked really well. The encounter with the Big Figure was particularly good, and I prefer the film's version of the guy's hands being sawed off. And this time, I also love the scene in the bathroom when the swinging door opens and closes, and you kinda see what Rorschach is about to do to him with his barehand - amazing shot there. By the way, the amount of violence in this movie is just nice, not too overly comical but at the same time, not enough to make you want to puke your lunch out. When I heard that the film got downgraded to a M18, I was worried that the violence would be edited out. Thankfully, I think all of them remained in this final cut, and it was only the sex scene that was cut out, which I cannot care less about. You see heads being chopped up, limbs breaking, and human bodies exploding into a pulp - very nice. Another awesome aspect of the film must be the film score and the choice of music. We have everything from Bob Dylan, to Jimi Hendrix, to Simon and Garfunkel - everything. They all slipped into the film really well, reflecting the emotions of a particular scene in that particular era. 

Now, in terms of origin stories, Dr. Manhattan's origin story is perhaps the most elaborate, accurate, and enjoyable one to sit through. It is partly because of the way Snyder elected to slice out a big chunk of that chapter, and also how he decided to weave various scenes into a more chronologically based sequence, rather than how they did it in the book. I thought the origin story was really well executed on screen, and it's just pretty amazing from the beginning till the end. Speaking of origin scenes, I love how the movie takes liberty in bringing in historical figures that were not mentioned in the book. In the book, we have Richard Nixon and JFK, for example, but this film brought in the likes of Andy Warhol, Fidel Castro, Annie Liebovitz, and so many more. I loved how everything was weaved into the introduction and the alternate history so seamlessly. 

Let it also be known that there is no squid. I repeat, no squid. Still, you can be rest-assured that the new device of destruction, so to speak, works. Instead of teleporting a giant squid into the middle of New York to fake an alien invasion, we have Dr. Manhattan's powers being unleashed on a couple of cities all around the world, killing millions at the same time. I thought the destruction scene was handled really well, the slow motion at  great effectiveness here, and I loved how even the people on the streets disintegrated in the exact same way as the graphic novel. The bit where Ozymandias mentioned that he had to sacrifice Dr. Manhattan's "reputation" to save the world was pretty convincing as well, much like how Batman had to take the blame for Two-Face in The Dark Knight, because peace wouldn't have worked otherwise. Which is also what made the death of Rorschach so awesome, and everything in that scene was just so perfectly paced that you being absorb into everything. 

I think generally speaking, the film has a lot of flaws. The pacing can be a little awkward at times, and having long extended breaks for characters works in a graphic novel medium, but not that of a movie. You can't stop talking about one character, and revisit him about twenty minutes later - it doesn't work that way. Yet, I feel that Snyder has stuck pretty faithfully to the book for the most part, and everything that he stuck to was brilliant, albeit with pacing issues for some parts. I think he did the best he could with the film, trying to fit everything in, though some people would argue that it is also his own undoing. The truth is, I think this film works better as a sort of complement to the graphic novel, rather than another version of it. It works kinda like the expository materials in between chapters in the book, like how it gives a more complete picture of what the story is like. I think for the effort that Snyder put into this film, I applaud him, despite the numerous flaws that I have mentioned. For the most part, I think this film was satisfying to fans of the graphic novel, and they will be treated to little details that will escape the eyes to those who have yet to read the book. Therefore, I do not recommend it to those who have not read the book, but to the fans of it - go watch it. Go get your copy of the graphic novel right now, and see what the greatest graphic novel in the world is like.

For those who haven't read the graphic novel: 6.5/10

For those who have read the graphic novel: 8/10