Watchmen
(dir. Zack Snyder)
So, after some 20 years of waiting to see if Watchmen would really be made into a film, here it finally is. And, well, hmmmm.
I've probably read the graphic novel about once a year since it came out, so I'm only able to see it from that perspective - which is kind of the problem. It feels like a very faithful rendering of one of the all-time greatest moments in pop culture. And as such, you kind of walk away thinking that you might as well go and read the comic again. Yes, it's quite cool to share that experience with a lot of people (although the dude behind me wise-cracking his way through it was really bringing out my inner-Rorschach at times, lucky there were no meat cleavers to hand), and some of the scenes do look pretty great - but in terms of it being a great film, it seems to fall down. It's like technology has caught up with imagination, and now you can download something onto film - but that doesn't mean you necessarily end up with something that's worth putting so much effort into.
The pacing which works so brilliantly and elegantly in the comic - 12 chapters, all working around a strict 9 panel grid, beautifully drawn - doesn't work as a film. It feels more stop/start than it should - you get into one storyline, and then it takes a step back to fill you in on another. They cram in as much as possible, and you wouldn't want it any other way, so most of it's there - but you don't get the flow that you want from a film.
The other problem I had, which is only one you'll have if you've read it as often as I have, is that there's very little surprise - the lines are so indelibly stamped on my brain that I couldn't help but say them in my mind as the film went along. Must be what seeing Shakespeare is like if you're Ian McKellan or something, but it's pretty weird - especially when you then start thinking "hang on, he says that bit a bit slower..."
There's a lot of slow-fast-slow mo stuff as well, which is alright for a bit, and then a bit annoying. The acting's OK, occasionally clumsy, with some of the dialogue not quite working in the same way it does on the page.
But that said, lots of the details are really fun to pick out (Gunga Diner, the Top Knots, the Owl Ship interior), all the Nixon stuff works, and the tweaked ending actually makes a lot more sense for a contemporary audience so that's fine. It's also probably the most pessimistic blockbuster you'll see - everyone's basically pretty messed up, no-one's that much of a hero, and most of them aren't that likable.
2.5 might be a bit harsh, but the comic's a no-questions 5 star experience for me - and if you asked me if the film was half as good I'm not sure I'd even give it that.
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26th Feb 2009 - Tumblr
2.5
