Watchmen Film and comic review

People probably won't like me for saying this, by people I mean Zack Snyder, but I didn't see the watchmen film in the cinema. Why you may ask, if you happen to be reading this which I don't think anyone does, it was because I didn't have the money. I knew I was going to get the DVD so there wasn't much point. I'm going to do the same thing with the GI Joe movie. I'd like to see it in the great big screen but I don't have the money or the free time.

So a quick review of the original graphic novel:- It's stunning. (Quick enough for you?)

It is well written and structured fantastically, not just from a literal standpoint but artistically. You can't just read it once, there are visual clues throughout the book that call back to previous pages. Events for one character mirror events elsewhere that have no real connection. There's a whole sub-plot revolving around pirates and a marooned cannibal that just comes out of nowhere. To be honest I don't know why I'm telling you all this, if you don't already own a copy I can't implore you enough to go out an get hold of one.

Read it, there's a good reason why it's the first "Graphic Novel" and not a comic book collection.

There are two main themes at the heart of this story. The first is reflection. Everything involved, everything you see and read, is a reflection of something else. A reflection of the past, of the future, of the script, of a blood splatter, of the cold war, of ourselves. I could just go on, but I won't, you get the message.

The second is it's moral, spoilers here but Adrian's plan is designed to save the world from itself. He does this by, believe it or not, by faking an alien invasion from another dimension on the eve of global nuclear war (this comic does not do things by halves!) He does this by getting rid of all the superheroes (or "Masks") so that they can't stop him from teleporting a genetically engineered Squid into the the centre of New York. Killing everyone there. The outrage and fear of attack unites humanity.

This plan amazingly works and we end with the moral, finally. Is it morally right to let the ends justify the means? Think about it. This guy kills millions in one fell swoop, but the result is saving billions. Did he do the right thing?

In the end this moral quandary it's far too big an issue for the surviving Masks and they just fall into shock and apathy. All but the anti-hero Rorschach, who is killed for his refusal to compromise. This is a difficult question to describe let alone answer, so it's no wonder we don't get one. Instead it's left to us to answer. A nice twist, the ending is left to us with the final frame of Rorschach's memoirs, will they reveal the truth? Do we want them to? Should they? Geeks still debate this today and while most like to think Rorschach wins you have to ask what will be the repercussions.

In all this is a stunning book and if you do own it you should re read it NOW.

So what of the movie? Well there's a large problem from the outset. There is no way you can fit everything from the book into a two and a half hour movie. You have to leave bits out. The loss of the pirates is fine, it's a narrative indulgence we can survive without. But what is lost with that is half the really good imagery, the stuff that made a movie a good idea.

Narrative short cuts are also strange, there is a lot dramatic licence taken with the original. I could buy that it was to remove some of the more graphic brutality from the film, but then there's nudity and bloodshed everywhere you turn. They also go into great detail with the rape sequence, which could have been handled with care but instead is handled with a brutality that is needless. When it's rape and I think it feels overly brutal that's worrying. compare that to editing out Hollis Mason, the first night owl. In the book he is killed by an uninformed street gang high on drugs. In the film he just vanishes.

This is my real problem with this film, too much was lost. Almost all of the more cerebral elements were also thrown out. The point of re-reading the book even years later is you see something new, or old from a new angle how it does that I don't know. I've tried watching Watchmen three times now and I don't really get anything I didn't the first time.

However there is three things that make this film bad. and I wish I didn't have to point these out. First, slap bang in the middle of the film we have President "Nixon" (who looks nothing like Nixon) in a big black studio room with a round table and giant screens around the over lit heads of government departments. Everyone has a phone and they are discussing nuclear war. Sorry that's Dr Strangelove, one of the best black comedies ever made. I don't care if it's based on actual records or a homage, use the classic people gathered around a computer screen trick. It's better for the plot and not reminding us of a much better film.

Second; the director slavishly follows the art of the comic book, going as far as to frame every shot perfectly. Sorry I've read the comic book, I know this, I've seen it before. If I wanted the Comic in video form I'd scan it into my computer and do a Powerpoint presentation (that might be fun actually). As much as V for Vendetta was unfaithful to the original comic (again by Moore, what is it with Hollywood missing the point of his comics and pissing this genius writer off?) you could separate it from the source material and call it a good movie on it's own merits. Unlike Watchmen that is far too faithful to the original, to the point that it is utterly pointless and you should just READ THE BOOK!

Third is a paradox. After slavishly following the story, what it shows of it, it's like they lost the last act and just read the end of the plot from Wiki. Making Manhattan appear to be the bad guy is just stupid. What are the governments of the world going to do? Attack a man that can rearrange matter on the atomic level? No they think he is a God and will punish them if they are bad. So they live in fear... Fear of a faceless entity that could attack anywhere... and the centre of New York is destroyed ... I can't think what that's reference to... (all right yes I can and I ain't touching that with a barge pole)

The plain fact is at the end of the day this film is just ridiculous, it could have worked. New angles and fresh perspectives years later. It wouldn't have been the original but it would have been an interesting take. This movie was made pointless because it brought NOTHING new to the story. Unlike, as I mentioned earlier V for Vendetta. If you want to see Watchmen read a graphic medium, don't spend millions recreating something that has already been done brilliantly the first time.

Did we learn nothing from the 1998 Psycho remake?

Coming soon Part 2

Why Watchmen's ending just doesn't work...