WATCHMEN

Visual. Visceral. Violent. Intelligent. Absorbing.

I've been a fan of Zack Snyder since he directed the Dawn of the Dead remake back in 2004. I love how he re-made this zombie movie with more fury and tension. His next work came about in 300. A movie based on the graphic novel by frank miller. Again, Snyder was able to bring the pages of this novel to life. A movie full of eye candy and carnage.

So we come to his 3rd work, Watchmen. The graphic novel that could "never be filmed". The subject matter transcended its time to become a celebrated work. I don't want to get into the minutia of the story. This is a movie that will force you to open your brain to the ideas being laid before you. The opening sequence is brutal. A nice taste of the aforementioned violence that is to come. The opening titles will re-write history before your eyes but will you let yourself accept it. This movie will push people. There are boundaries that are seldom crossed within comic books films. We don't expect the heroes to be the villains but in life many of our heroes have done villainous things. The movie take the superhero archetypes that we have praised in comics for ages and tears them down to raw humanity. You have to look at it from a different point of view.

The cast is very good. The standouts for me are Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II. The only let down is Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre II. I didn't like her in 27 Dresses and I just don't like her here. The character needs more passion and more depth. She couldn't convey any of that well. There is the occasional CGI full frontal of Dr. Manhattan and a hot sex scene. There is also violence against women, rape, murder. This movie deserves the R rating it received. There is nothing left to the imagination. It was filmed perfectly and some scenes are just awesome. I have two gripes that affected my overall grade. 1: The music chosen can be good (Times, They are a Changin' during the opening titles) but sometimes the songs fall flat (99 luftballoons and All Along the Watchtower) because they have been used so much in film over the years. 2: I felt the movie could have been longer. There was so much to cover in 2 hours and 41 min. I didn't feel the running time at all. The story was so different that it kept me engaged the entire time. That said some scenes could have been shortened and others lengthened. This is the beginning of the event movie season and it is well worth watching. Even days after watching it, I can't really stop thinking about it. I will have to watch it again. My Grade : B+