Watchmen: Definitely Watchable

If you are or ever have been a fan of Lost, Heroes, The Incredibles, or basically any super-heroic entertainment created in 1990 or later, you owe a subconscious debt of gratitude to Watchmen. Published in the late 80’s to scores of acclaim and the love of scholars and fanboys alike, it was one of the first comic books to truly warrant the trumped up moniker “graphic novel.” It is a sprawling tale of cold war dread, the psychology of costumed heroism, and the value of human life. In the two decades since Watchmen’s release, Hollywood has been clambering to get an adaptation onto the big screen but it took director Zack Snyder’s consummate passion for the source material to make it happen and now after toiling through years in development hell and a massive inter-studio legal battle, it’s playing at a theater near you. But has it been worth the wait?

At the center of its multilayered plot, Watchmen is a murder mystery. The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was a nasty little amoral vigilante who put on a mask and rose to fame in the 1940s before cashing in with some very black-ops government work. But now it’s 1985 and someone has made him dead. It’s up to his old costumed frenemies to piece together whodunit and why, a journey that will take them to the farthest corners of earth and space. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) is an unflinching badass ideologue who sees justice in especially stark shades of black and white. Ozzymandias (Matthew Goode) is infinitely rich, vain, and powerful. Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) is a bored middle-aged schlub who used to live a Batman-esque life until a government act made heroes illegal. Silk Spectre (Malin Ackerman) is at a similar place, but at least she fills her days keeping an eye on Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) a physicist who, with the help of a Hulk-esque lab accident, can transcend time and space. Also, he’s bright blue and stark naked—a fact that the movie’s R-rating has no shame in depicting. A lot.

The actors are, for the most part, impeccably well cast. It’s great to see Morgan as anything other than a pesky ghost on Grey’s Anatomy, Cruddup impressively emotes through his digital veneer, and Jackie Earle Haley commands the screen both in and out of his ever changing mask. If Heath Ledger deserved an Oscar, Haley should conceivably merit a nomination. Wilson and Goode do their thing effectively, but Ackerman’s unfortunate tendency for wooden line readings derail the emotional impact of several moments and make a Silk Spectre and Nite Owl subplot drag like nails on a chalkboard.

Snyder worked to put every ounce of his considerable talent and creativity into this movie and it shows. The Watchmen’s world is full of vibrant color, impeccable stylishness, and a terrific eye for detail. The fight scene choreography is slick, satisfying, and brutal. A wide selection of era-appropriate classic songs punctuate many key scenes to great affect. And the CG work, including such marvels as a glass clockwork castle in space, is realistic and dazzling. The film’s only technical flaw is its pacing. A story as deep as Watchmen certainly warrants a solid chunk of screen time, but the 2 1/2 + hours feels like five, and in retrospect I can’t help but feel like the saga would have been much better served as an HBO miniseries.

If you’re a fan of superhero movies who doesn’t mind dense plotting and copius amounts of sex and gore, go see Watchmen. If you’re in the mood for a creative dissection of American history in the 20^th century and an intense probing of human nature, go read Watchmen and then rent the movie later to see some key scenes come to life just for fun. Either way, you’ll be enjoying a worthwhile cinematic adventure that will stand up as an artistic and technical achievement for years to come.