Just a quick distilling of my thoughts on WATCHMEN. We all know the score by this point anyway. Note: This is a SPOILER FREE zone.
The Good
- The opening sequence rocked. Cut to a brilliantly placed Bob Dylan tune, it managed to knock out a full 20% of the graphic novel and set a pretty solid tone for the picture. The editing was very good, made better by the careful syncing that bestowed upon Dylan's lyrics an almost narrative feel.
- In fact, much of the music of WATCHMEN was used wonderfully. The one glaring exception here is Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", which was dropped with all the grace of an open-faced peanut butter sandwich.
- Patrick Wilson pulled off one hell of a good Dan Dreiberg. Not one of my favorite characters from the graphic novel, here he was easily the most relatable of the pack and his time on the screen lent genuine gravity to otherwise ambiguous threats. Ditto Jeffery Dean Morgan's Edward Blake, even if the guy looks too much like Robert Downey Jr. for his own good.
- The departures/omissions from the novel were wise, especially in light of the already massive runtime. This is most clear with the modified ending sequence. It accomplishes the exact same setup as the novel without the need for two additional plot threads, 15 new characters, and a mask for the already-present sense of doom. I mean, given a choice between a dollar bill and 20 nickels, wouldn't you choose the dollar too?
The Bad
- Any hope of the awesome pacing established with the opening was squashed before Dylan's last chords faded to memory. If I hadn't just read the graphic novel and been keen to the painstaking reproduction, I'd have been bored out of my fucking mind. The flick could have been condensed into 70% of that length and probably would have ended up pretty exciting. Take a cue from Adrian Veidt and save all the details for the high-dollar director's cut merchandising phase.
- Rorschach had Batman voice. Hrmph.
- Dr. Manhattan had Russell Hammond voice - completely unprocessed Russell Hammond voice. Not to sleight the talented Billy Crudup, but it really crushed the imposing figure of the most powerful being in the universe. To illustrate, just imagine Darth Vader voiced by Crispin Glover. See? No good.
- And while we're on the subject: If you're going to go the full-CGI route to animate one of your most critical characters, at very least take the time to ensure that the lip-sync animation is spot on. Nothing says "bad call" quite like an effects-based flick that uses the same animation engine as Myst 3.
The Comments
- Zack Snyder has a definite style, rooted in slow-motion action sequences rewarded with excessive violent gore and gratuitous nudity. In short, he's a badass pop director with his finger square on the pulse of America's diminishing attention span. He's also caught in a bit of a conundrum in that he's attaching himself to projects with which he's too enamored to adapt into functional cinema. WATCHMEN, like 300, was crushed under the weight of its own devotion. I would love to see what Zack Snyder does with an original screenplay. If nothing else, it'd be pretty and fun.
- Rorschach is still the hardest badass ever to grace the paneled page. My kudos go to Jackie Earle Haley for not fucking it up. The presence, if not the voice, was a pleasure to behold.
- Walking out of the theater to the buzzing of offended nerds chattering about misquotes and blue Bubastis made the whole 4-hour event worthwhile. The Comedian was right: They'd all be laughing too, if only they got the joke.
What'd you think?