Watchmen: The Aftermath
So, I have had a few days to think about the movie and how it reflects the Greatest Comic Book Of All Time (TM). I'm not going to go on about the film in too much length - you'll need to listen to this weekend's podcast for that. I'm not even going to dissect the graphic novel too much here, rather investigate the relationship between the two and the impact the Watchmen phenomena has had over the target audience - geeks like you and me - and the more general public. I went to see the movie on Saturday night with my better half Denise, my best mate James and his lovely fiance Elis. I was the only person to have read the comic. Denise was pretty 'meh' about the movie, James and Elis didn't really like it. I'm still not sure how I feel about the film. I enjoyed it, I think, but it has flaws. This was unavoidable - Alan Moore's epic tale of how caped crusaders would actually affect the world we live in simply covers too much ground to please all viewers. Does Zack Snyder remain as true as possible to the comic but try and compress it into three short hours? Or does he simply aim more for the 'feel' of the graphic novel whilst remaining liberal with his literal translations of what went on? Anyone who has watched 300 and read the comic would know that Snyder has no problems with doing a direct lift but then again Miller's tale is relatively short and much easier to translate. In the end, Snyder tries to appease both the geek purists and the more general public, most of who consider Tobey McGuire kissing upside down to be a significant comic book movie event. And he kind of suceeds. The movie remains very reverant to Moore's vision whilst trying to challenge the average Batman / Spiderman 'fan'.
The early shots of Rorschach (superbly acted by Jackie Earle Haley) have him uttering a speech lifted straight out of the beginning of the comic as he starts his investigations into The Comedian's death. And yet it didn't feel quite right to me on screen. I couldn't help feeling that Snyder was aiming for pure fan service in those early moments. I felt the same way as Dr Manhattan moved through time as he chooses to depart from Earth. And yet some moments were obviously intended to make the film more inclusive (dumbed down?). The key evidence of this has to be the ending which Snyder evidently felt would just be too much for the wider audience. It's a testament to his craft as a director that he manages to largely maintain what Moore was trying to say as the comic ended. And this is the most important thing about the movie. Ultimately, come the end, the viewer is still fundamentally challeneged to think about what has happened. Rorschach is clearly a twisted, psychotic individual and yet we are supposed to hold him dear as an anti-hero who makes Bale's Batman look as frightening as Ronald McDonald. Yet at the end, he will not compromise, even at the potential expense of billions of lifes. For that he must die and he knows it as well as Dr Manhatten who carries out the execution with sadness but complete logic. Ozymandius ultimately was the good guy. He is once again a warped individual but he believed that the only way to save billions was to see a scant few million killed. Of course, he is proven correct and saves the world from nuclear destruction. There are many more examples which show Moore was at the top of his craft, painting pictures and scenarios where the traditional good guy / bad guy, right / wrong style of comic writing from years gone by was not the only option. He was desperately trying to sway those who see comics as 'cheesy' and for those who have taken on the challenge of reading Watchmen, he suceeded. Snyder manages to capture this on screen and anchor the film to that way of thinking. I just don't know. I need to see it again so I can try and straighten out the intricases of his vision. I need to look past the cringeworthy sex scenes and bizarre music placement. I recommend you all go see it but even more importantly, read the comic first. Ultimately, Watchmen the movie isn't as good as Watchmen the comic but it is probably as good a translation as we could have ever have hoped to see on the big screen.
