In America, over a third of the population read Comic Books, most of them follow them religiously. If you ask anyone who has reads comics or graphic novels "what have you read?", a majority will say Watchmen. The novel has redefined Comic Books as a graphic novel, including delicate themes of responsibility and choice, elements of philosophy and a deep examination of society. Among its many achievements, is the inclusion on Time's "all-time greatest novels list". All of this aside, it was a testament to comics as writer Alan Moore wanted to prove just how powerful a graphic novel can be.
Set in 1985(alternate timeline for the noobs) in America, Vietnam and Mars. It follows the misadventures of a vigilante group of Heroes called The Watchmen. After the government and public have spoken, they are branded illegal and under government property. The film follows the death of one of the watchmen who was killed in one of the best shot fight sequences since the Matrix duel between Mr Smith and Neo. One of the heroes, Rorschach, tries to uncover a conspiracy theory, while the others dissuade him.
One of the best parts of this film is the acting and the portrayals, especially Jackie Earle Haley(Rorschach), of each of the heroes. When reading the novel, I tried to think of what their voices sound like and how they would really react. The use of a mostly unknown cast brings a sense of realism to this. The only actor I thought was quite underwhelming was Malin Akerman as Silk Specter/Laurie Juyzpekle. Everyone else was, pretty good, but I just felt she didn't really know what to do with this role. As I said before, Rorschach is just a complete bad-ass(in fact I think I should have put him on my list of top ten Bad-asses).He is the common saving grace for fans, that he was what made the film so great. But there is so much more. Each fight sequence(yes each of them have a little bit of or is complete slow-motion) is shot in such a style it flows and feels like this is how and why these guys did the whole superhero shtick. Another is the locations and bringing the comic to life, seeing the stretch of Mars and the filthy night life of New York(Note: New York is a lovely city with lovely people). In the extended cut, which I assume most haters of the original cut have avoided, includes adaptions of the voyage of the black trader(voiced, in animation, by Gerard Butler) and has extended scenes with the every men of daily life. I also love this soundtrack, especially the opening montage(one of the best forms of film-making in a long time) and during the funeral of the Comedian.
There are some things that are wrong though. There is a lack of subtlety in who the villain is(no really guess?). The actor who plays him just didn't give off the trusting, philanthropic businessman that was in the comic, in fact he cares for little to nothing during the entire movie. It's only at the end that he really cares and even that seems forced. I won't say that slow motion is bad, but it is certainly overused in this movie, I wouldn't mind the mix of fast and slow pace or just fast pace. I would certainly like to have seen more of each characters philosophy or political or religious opinion. Each one had a certain standpoint of ideals(eg. Rorschach is a left-wing nihilist, comedian is a right-wing patriot).
But these are only some minor points. The film has its own sense of time and patience. It went at its own pace and it brought to life memorable characters, with a memorable story on what it really means to be a superhero. It is elegant, stylish, well portrayed and this sights number one guilty pleasure and one of my 15 favorite movies of all time. In my opinion, see this film, its one of those strange oddities of film that is not usually seen, like fight club or Donnie Darko. In fact it's not even guilty to watch it, you will feel renewed watching it.
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