Wading In On Watchmen

Watchmen has had an interesting effect on movie audiences. I'll get to it in a moment, because I haven't blogged in a few days, so I will begin with Andrew Davies. He is the second person I saw at Cultural Exchanges. As an aspiring writer, I desperately looked forward to listening to him describe his inspirations and creative process and how he goes about successfully adapting novels such as Bleak House and Pride and Predjudice. He was a very interesting person to listen to, I encountered the same feelings when I saw Lemn Sissay do his thing. Andrew Davies could have talked for hours and held my attention and I have been trying since then to get a copy of his television miniseries A Very Peculiar Practice.

Anyway, onto Watchmen. It is very rare that a movie seems to be made especially for me, but this was. I have tried my best not to let that effect my evaluation of this film. It is 1985, and the world is on the brink of nuclear war. We begin with the murder of former masked hero The Comedian. The near insane vigilante Rorschach investigates the murder, and begins to uncover a much more sinister plot, whilst trying to convince his former allies that they are in danger.

This film won't do as well as it could at the box office because of it's 18 rating, and by toning down the gore it could have gotten away with a lower rating and pulled in more of a teenage audience. However its maturity works well and this is the first real attempt to explore the darker side of masked heroes. The graphic novel is viewed a fantastic piece of literature and I really want to read it to see if it has been adapted well by Zack Snyder. The run time for this is just over two and a half hours, and I didn't feel it, which for me is a first. It kept me gripped throughout and I liked the way the film looked; the cinematography was incredible.

In terms of performance, the cast pretty much delivered on all fronts. I found Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre) a little too one note, but that aside the casting was fantastic. Jackie Earl Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan were mesmerising as Rorschach and The Comedian respectively, whilst Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode gave good performances and Nite Owl II and Veidt. Billy Crudup gave a very interesting take on Dr Manhattan, one of the highlights of the film was the exploration of his back story. Indeed, the exploration of the characters' pasts was where the film really excelled, in particular those of Rorschach and The Comedian.

The ending, which has been changed from the graphic novel, has divided audiences. I feel that it was a solid adaption which brought a lot out of the characters and brought the film to a satisfying climax. The only things I would have changed were the second to last scene, which was pointless, and the score. Aside from the opening credits where Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A'Changin'" was played, the song choices were clumsy and failed to add to the atmosphere. An orchestral score would have been far superior. Also, I would have liked to see more of Moloch. This is a film to watch at the cinema, so far it is the best film to come out this year.

I recently purchased a book of graphic novels about zombies in an effort to be more of a "comic" person. The ones I have read so far have been amazing. I think the next thing I get will be the Watchmen graphic novel, so I can compare.

On a negative note, all has gone quiet on the short film front. Oh well...