My very brief take, since all my more specific issues with the film have been rehearsed at some length by others already: Watchmen is best thought of as the cinematic equivalent of a Super Powers action figure. As a freestanding work of art, it has negligible intrinsic value… but that’s almost beside the point, because it does the work of serving as an imaginative link to a beloved narrative.
This is obscured somewhat by reviews, which by their nature aim to answer the prospective moviegoer’s question: “So, is this a good movie?” Probably not, but really, who cares? Why would you want it to be? We already have an excellent work of art called Watchmen, and it was done some 23 years ago by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. It relieves the Zack Snyder effort of any obligation to be a great film. Wouldn’t it be pointless if it were? “Hey, let’s do that again, exactly, but with actors instead of drawings!”
I’d say ignore any good reviews that purport to consider Watchmen as a film in itself — these are silly. Ignore the bad reviews as well — these largely miss the point. Reread the original comic, which deserves its reputation as a brilliant and seminal work, and then enjoy the movie in the spirit of an accessory.
By the by, everyone’s seen the Saturday Morning Watchmen spoof cartoon, yes? High-larious.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Kevin B. O'Reilly // Mar 10, 2009 at 12:41 am
This post is silly. Why shouldn’t “Watchmen” be considered as a stand-alone film, considering that is how the vast majority of the people who see it will come to it? And why shouldn’t it be great? Unless the rule is that no adaptation of a great work from another medium can ever be great.
2 Julian Sanchez // Mar 10, 2009 at 12:50 am
Well, the vast majority of people probably aren’t reading my geeky blog analysis; I’m addressing folks who do know the graphic novel. Suffice it to say, Watchmen is not really a great movie in itself, and for reasons that probably aren’t worth rehearsing at great length here, I seriously doubt that the comic CAN be adapted well to film. Maybe someone could make a good movie with the same characters and broad plot outline, but the things that make the comic so highly regarded are very specific to the medium. So for the folks who do know and love the comic, I’m just trying to point out that there’s a level on which the film can still be enjoyed even though it (probably necessarily) fails as self-contained cinema.
3 ゴヤール // Jan 20, 2012 at 2:29 am
aren’t worth rehearsing at great length here, I seriously doubt that the comic CAN be adapted well to film. Maybe someone could make a good movie with the same characters and broad plot outline, but the things that make the comic so highly
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