Watchmen (2009)

Director: Zach Snyder
Starring: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson

The world will look up and shout "Save us!"... And I'll whisper "No."

Watchmen is something to behold. It is a movie that is full of faults but yet completely stunning despite all of these faults.

It is the story of an alternate 1985, where costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of society, and the US sits on the brink of a nuclear winter with the USSR. One of the heroes, The Comedian, is brutally murdered and one of his former colleagues Rorschach sets out to uncover a conspiracy against costumed vigilantes.

I don’t want to give away too much of the story; it is really very interesting. It does feel like the movie could use another hour or so to really flesh out the story; of course the movie already comes in a robust 2 hours 40 minutes. Even without a story, there is enough there visually to make the movie a must-see. You might want to brush up on your US history from 1940 to 1985, however, otherwise you’re going to miss a ton of cultural references.

Visually the movie is just a stunner; the alternate 1985 looks great. Zach Snyder is quickly becoming the king of green screen filming after Watchman and 300. He may not be a great director but he really knows how to work with the medium.
There is really much more to this film than meets the eye; there really are layers to the film. It is a beautiful allegory about human nature. This is not your traditional superhero movie; it is not the feel good type of movie where the good guy catches the villain, and wraps up nicely. It is something much more interesting.



Editor's Note: Watchmen is a film adaptation of 12-issue serialized comic book written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons and colored by John Higgins. DC published the limited series between 1986 and 1987. After the series concluded, all 12 episodes were collected and sold in paperback format.