Watchmen

I'd gladly spend 163 minutes reading Rorschach's diary. The occasional voiceovers we get during Watchmen in which that character bluntly spews his not-so-optimistic views on the human race are a delight to listen to, and they pale in comparison to most of the other material that the film's script has to offer. Early in the film, Rorschach says of Manhattan that "the city reeks like an abattoir full of retarded children," and all I could think was, "Wow, can we hear more, please?" Many would agree that the mere presence of the word "abattoir" in there is, like... intellectually orgasmic.

I approached Watchmen with a little trepidation because the consensus appeared to be that you'd be completely lost if you weren't familiar with the graphic novel it's based on. So, I went in making sure to be as attentive as possible, and surprise of surprises, it wasn't hard to do so. Watchmen isn't nearly as confusing for the uninitiated as some are claiming it is. It just demands attention, which should be the case when a film of this genre tackles more adult themes and has more complexity than the average comic-based diversion. The purpose of the R rating isn't simply to allow the characters to say "fuck" as often as they do, but to allow it to explore darker areas of violence and sexuality that are largely absent from most movies of the genre. For most of its first two thirds, I found Watchmen to be engrossing: an expertly-made credit sequence that serves as a great prologue, followed by solid plot and character development.

It's in its final act that Watchmen loses its ability to connect the dots (or rather, it becomes difficult for audience members to connect the dots). This might, indeed, be where the complaint comes that people unfamiliar with the graphic novel will have no idea what's going on, and there are those who will say that you can't criticize that, because maybe the film was intended only for those who have read it. However, it's entirely inevitable that people unfamiliar with the source material were going to want to see it and comment on it, and the filmmakers should've been more than aware of this. There's been many occasions in which, while discussing a movie based on a book with someone, I've said I didn't like the film, and the person will then respond "Ah, well, you should've read the book! If you'd read the book, you would've totally been able to appreciate it." But that's a mistake. A movie is an individual work of art that should stand on its own, and I'm not the first or the last person to say this. The good news is that Watchmen, the film, mostly pulls this off, but loses its way towards the end, and it appears that the filmmakers realized this, too, as the climactic scenes feature a heavy dose of explanation that seems to be trying to fill in too many holes.

Now, if the confusing last segment of Watchmen were the only flaw to be found here, I'd still gladly give the film a recommendation, but sadly, there are other problems. While the movie is generally very well-shot and engaging, the fight sequences are incredibly generic, particularly for something of this genre. One of the biggest problems to come from this is the moment when the film intercuts between the television interview that Dr. Manhattan takes part in and the fight sequence involving Dan and Miss Jupiter. Dr. Manhattan's interview is one of the most dramatically effective moments in the film, and the decision to intercut this with that stale fight sequence proves to be a very bad one. The only exception to the mediocrity of the fight sequences takes place during the prison scenes in which Rorschach, whose real name is revealed to be Walter Kovacs (Jackie Earle Haley) kicks some major ass. Interestingly enough, Haley also proves to be the exception in terms of the quality of the performances, seeing as he's the only one who gives an authentic one. As Dan, Patrick Wilson (whose work I normally admire) is curiously artificial in many a scene. Malin Akerman gives an uneven performance as Miss Jupiter; sometimes she's good, and other times, particularly during the last scenes, not at all. Matthew Goode gives us a blah villain in Adrian, which is the opposite of what you can say of his deliciously evil work in The Lookout.

One can't help but notice the film's desire to identify itself as an unconventional story by having Adrian say towards the end that he's "not a comic book villain." This is somewhat reminiscent of some of the final lines spoken last year in the superior The Dark Knight, but it just doesn't work as well in Watchmen, because the words were spoken with more poignancy in the former film, and because the climax of Christopher Nolan's film was far stronger than what we get here. While I applaud the fact that Watchmen delves into deeper, darker waters and that it manages to be both complex and involving for most of its running time, there are too many elements that keep this from being a complete success. One of the last few lines spoken in the film is "Nothing ever ends," which I suspect may reflect the frustration of some viewers who will feel the strain of sitting in a theater for so long. While I didn't find the Watchmen experience to be painful, it doesn't end up providing the satisfaction that a film so heavy should deliver. As I said, I'd rather spend 163 minutes relishing Rorschach's acerbic musings instead.

5/10