Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009)

A little while ago I included Watchmen in my bottom 5 of 2009 and whilst I now think I may have been a little harsh, this does not mean my opinions have drastically changed. Watchmen is an interesting film and nothing more. As a piece of art it's muddled and as a piece of entertainment it bores.

Snyder's heart is definitely in the right place and for the first hour or so the film kind of works. There are some extraordinary moments: Dr Manhattan's back-story, THAT opening title sequence, and its with the precision and dexterity with which these parts are executed that save the film. However, I don't understand why Snyder couldn't have kept this level of brilliance throughout. For example: Dr Manhattan's back-story is an enthralling masterpiece of cinema, a work of art that is beautiful and heartbreaking. Why then is Rorschach's prison break choreographed like a bad Matrix rip-off-cum-music video (industrial rock-music included)? I hate, HATE that speedy-up-slowy-down camera work. It wasn't necessary in 300, a piece of juvenile cinema that works as such, and it most certainly doesn't work here.

The levels of violence are unnecessarily extreme and often throw any sentimentality we have for the characters completely out of whack. Why spend time showing us that Night Owl and Silk Spectre as hollow shells without much connection only to have them brutally murder a gang of thugs minutes later? Their sex scene is also laughable.

Question: if all these guys aren't genuine superheroes how come they're able to throw people twice their size across an enormous room without breaking a sweat? I don't remember that being in the novel.

There is a great movie in here somewhere but this is not it. I will certainly watch it again but out of interest more than anything else. Who knows, one day I might realise I'm being stupid and see it as a modern masterpiece. For now, the good stuff has warranted an extra star.

3/5