P.S.- more on Watchmen

I just wanted to spotlight a fantastic article by Dan Phillips of IGN in which he breaks down the adaptation from comic to film. I think he articulates most of my complaints a lot more thoroughly and efficiently than myself, and its definately worth a read if you've read the novel, or even if you havn't and wanna understand why people might have mixed reactions. I think Phillips was a little harsh on the Comedian as I think that was one of the better performances, but other than that its a spot on critique of the actual adaptation (without review the movie on its own merits). 

Also, below are some final notes that I want to add to my review:

-Once again, the biggest point of stress is in the portrayal of Ozymandias. The point was that he was supposed to be noble and whole-hearted and I think Snyder robbed him of that, and in effect robbed a lot from the story such as the mystery and the ending's emotional impact. Read the comparison article above for specifics!

-Another thing that hurts the film, though this is in no way really anyones fault or even correctable for that matter, is the nature of the graphic novel that allows the reader to go at their own pace and even go back to skim images once learning new details. The large plot simply moves too fast, even in its 2 hour 40 minute runtime, and while there's nothing that can be done about it, it's important to note

-Seriously, read that article, because everything he brings up is what I was thinking after I watched it and either forgot about or couldn't fit in my review.

Watching the Watchmen

Note: This review is spoiler-free except where otherwise noted.

Let's get to the point: Zack Snyder has created a very enjoyable and entertaining version of Watchmen in a medium which it seemed destined to be adapted to. The adaptation excels considerably in many key areas, but in some ways gets lost in translation in others. Overall it is a good movie judged on its own right and a succesful transformation of the legendary graphic novel.

First and foremost, Snyder utilizes the same method he used with 300 by essentially using the graphic novel as a storyboard. The cinematography mimicks the Dave Gibbons' drawings succesfully and this is one area where the highly literal translation succeeds tremendously. In particular the zooms and pans of the camera copy Gibbons' drawings perfectly and provide a strong cinematic emphasis in several scenes. Further adding to the sensoral prowess of the film are fantastic visual effects, CG, choreography, and lighting. Costumes are generally very good and very accurate to the comic, the exceptions being Nite Owl's sleek modernized suit and the epic fail of an attempt to modernize Ozymandias'. The soundtrack and score are also superb and very well-selected, adding a lot of emotion and power to the movie.

The general flow of the plot is once again mostly tied to the graphic novel again featuring an ebb and flow pace with constantly bulding momentum and utilizing a multitude of flashback cuts. Viewers must peice the movie together in an interesting way, though watching the movie after having read the novel gives you a certain insight that make the plot somewhat less interestering to try to connect since you already know where its going. If you are on the fence about reading the novel and seeing the film, I suggest watching first and reading second. 

The dialogue of the film is an interesting form of contention, since technically they are very accurate to the legendary comic and a majority of lines are in fact lifted straight fro Moore's pages in verbatim. Unfortunately, the execution is somewhat poor with acting being a little too obvious sometimes and the dialogue, which reads well on paper, sometimes sounds extremely awkward in spoken language. The casting is also top-notch, from Osterman to Rorschach to Laurie, with the only real weakspots being Moloch's ridiculous goblin ears and Veidt's tacky emo haircut and skinny face, not to mention overly-sinister demeanor. Oh, and let's not forget the twisted depiction of President Nixon, who lookes much older and more deformed than his real life self and somehow got way more screen time than he deserved. On the other side of the spectrum, Jackie Earle Haley is as perfect a Rorschach as Robert Downey Jr. a Tony Stark. 

There are also many details from the graphic novel that get lost in the translation into film. The Tales of the Black Freighter bits are notably completely absent, though personally not missed, but I also hear they will appear in animated form on the inevitable DVD and Blu-ray release. Also, the insight gained from reading the snippets between chapters is also completely lost and with it a certain further understanding and explorations of the subtleties of the story. Some sequences were slightly condensed to better work in an already-long film, though in most instances it is done well. 

Furthermore, although I completely understood the characters and direction of the story, someone who has not read the novel will not understand the extensive backstory of the two generations of masked heroes and the relationships within, nor the heroes from the past that were not featured in the main plot. Even when it comes to the characters that are featured, the filmmakers took it for granted a little bit; though Rorschach, The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan's names were repeated ad nauseum, "Nite Owl" was only casually mentioned in the beginning, named even fewer times than his ship "Archie". Silk Spectre is hardly referred to as such either,  Ozymandias is only off-handedly called by his masked name, and Hooded Justice's name isn't revealed once (maybe this was a conscious choice to reflect the lack of a reveal of his alter ego in the comic?).

Spoilers Ahead- Proceed with Caution!

Some changes relating directly to the twisting plot were a little more debatable. I found in particular that Ozymandias was too much characterized as a sly character even before revealed as the "villain". In fact, he is not really meant to be a villain at all, but I feel that the movie utterly failed in portraying him as an honorable hero truly believing he's saving the world, instead going for a sly manipulator with a twisted sense of justice. The importance of the "Ramses II" password is also shortened due to the lack of between-chapter reveal, it which it is explained that Ozymandias is the Greek name for pharoah Ramses II. The alien invasion was changed to an attack engineered by Dr. Manhattan, and while much more believable and easy to explain, I find it less likely to have forced a coorporation between the U.S. and Soviet Union. This change in plot device also muddled the reasoning for the mental breakdown of the comedian since he never discovered the island. Also completely absent was the drama between Nova Express and The New Frontiersman, and I feel like the very last scene loses some of its muster since it seems a lot more random than it really is.

End of Spoilers.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, Snyder's Watchmen delivers on several key fronts, such as visuals and accuracy, but fails in others such as background, delivery, and a couple minor thematic elements. The mixed success of the movie only confirms suspicions that the graphic novel is simply to deep and complicated to be perfectly adapted to a completely different medium, even when using such meticulously recreation of the pages of the comic. In the end, that is probably what hurts the movie most, as it seems it tried to follow the movie too much and didn't do enough actual adapting to render it a truly exceptional work of film, particularly in the area of dialogue. Then again, change much more than they did, stubborn diehard fans would be in a riot, which is why Watchmen is ultimately probably the best that could have come out of the project and also a film that is definitely recommended. To quote ign.com's review, "it gets more right than it gets wrong, but at the end of the day is not the masterpiece we were hoping for."

TRAILER

The End is Nigh

Today marked the conclusion of my adventure through Alan Moore's brilliantly imagined universe in Watchmen. I had never even heard about it until about 6 months or so ago, but gradually I got caught up in the hype train for Warner Bros.' upcoming movie adaption. The combination of an isolated superhero universe involving heavy thematic overtones originally written by V for Vendetta mastermind Alan Moore and directed by the 300 film's Zack Snyder were more than enough to pique my interest, and since then I have discovered just why it is considered to be the best graphic novel of all time (though I must admit, it is the first one I have read cover to cover). Finally finishing the book has only rendered me yet more excited about the first in a series of episodic games--starting with The End is Nigh tomorrow--and, of course, the debut of the film, which I will be observing in all its IMAX glory this weekend (stay tuned for a review/comparison!).

As for Moore's original masterpiece, I must say the first thing

that struck me was Moore's talents as a writer. Even in a medium where you'd think descriptive writing would fall by the wayside (due to its accompanying illustrations) Moore utilizes an astonishingly proficient command of all aspects of language in presenting his world. It was very humbling, being a prospective writer myself, reading the words of a true master of his craft, comparable in his command of rhetoric only perhaps to J.K. Rowling. The universe he has invisioned is equally astonishing, and its not really until you get near the end that you appreciate just how carefully crafted the details of the backstory really are. Moore captures your attention right from the very beginning, and the ride only picks up speed until it screaches to its sudden and unexpected finale. Though the main ending itself left me somewhat disappointed, no other ending would have supported the themes quite as well, and the overall end sequence was superb. Overall, the story is expertly written and envisioned, and even though there are a couple quirks with the presentation, this is definitely not one to miss. Check back next week for impressions from the film and an analysis on how Snyder's vision stacks up to its source material!