Watchmen

There can be nothing less encouraging for a director setting out to turn an unfilmable book into a successful movie than said book's author deriding the very notion of turning it into a film. That's the situation that faced Watchmen director Zack Snyder. Alan Moore, the original book's author, was effectively quoted as saying that his dense, dark and brilliant graphic novel wasn't designed to be anything other than a graphic novel. As a result Snyder's already seemingly impossible task, to make a competent film out of difficult source material that also appealed to the populace despite its brutal subject matter, while also appealing to fans of it such as himself, now had the added pressure of proving Moore wrong. And to this end Snyder comes through almost unscathed.

If you've read the book then you'll know how difficult a task making this film must have been. The vast, complex story unravels over multiple time lines and Moore uses various methods to tell it, moving beyond mere comic with an autobiography, newspaper clippings, police case files, academic writings and a comic within the comic that works on an allegorical level. Add to that that it's an ensemble piece containing some deep, brilliantly drawn out characters who inhabit an alternative 80's where Nixon's still president and the Cold War is reaching crisis point leading to a society in absolute meltdown. As a result there's a bleakness that could rival the grimiest torture porn/Noir hybrid yet to be made. Not really the ideal basis for the year's first big blockbuster is it?

Credit has to go to Snyder for even creating something coherent out of this source material. Many of the decisions he has made are not only daring, but at times are quite simply brilliant. Obviously with such a dearth of source material some things had to go, while others had to be incorporated in other ways. This is where Snyder and the writers should actually take most credit. Some things are easy to do without (Tales Of The Black Freighter) but the brave decisions mainly relate to the back story of the earlier superhero group the Minutemen. Their story is pretty much covered in a breathtaking opening montage set to The Times They Are A-Changin'. It covers a lot of important information in little over three minutes. Another brave decision relates to the endgame. I won't ruin anything but the changes mean that it ties to one of the characters and actually explains some actions by him better. Plus it cuts out a whole subplot from the book. Personally I think it's actually a bit better than Moore's original ending.

Choices like these prove that Snyder has a love of the source material that helped in making these decisions, but his fandom also works against him at times. As much as the changes help Watchmen as a film it means that some aspects are lost. The biggest problem is with Rorcshach, a character so brilliant the film could have been entirely about him. Sadly it feels as if the reasons for his state of mind are only touched upon, but then if there was an in depth look into his childhood that the book affords the movie would come to a grinding halt. The problem is that on other occasions he chooses to stick too closely to the book, meaning that the pacing starts to suffer anyway. It's as if Snyder became too fearful of changing too much, maybe thinking about the fans, maybe thinking about Moore's comments. At times it feels a little bit like he is trying to prove him wrong, that Watchmen the movie can be as great as Watchmen the book.

There are other problems beyond pacing. Some of the effects aren't great, the whole Mars sequence looks particularly X-Box-y. Dr. Manhattan's another problem. After Gollum and the newest Kong he feels a bit more Jar Jar, although his big, blue penis is absolutely stunning! Those boffins really crunched those ones and zeroes to get that thing flapping just right. I jest of course. Some of the non-CG performances are a little suspect as well. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian) and Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach) are both great and Billy Crudup does his best behind the CG as Manhattan but Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre II) is nothing short of dreadful. One has the suspicion that she was cast because of how she looked in the costume. Her only good scene is the sex scene and that's down to what she brings to it visually. Funnily enough it's the opposite problem with Matthew Goode (Ozymandias) who brings a smugness to the role that feels right. The problem is that he's meant to be this perfect specimen of man yet looks like the kid at school who would get repeatedly battered for being "a bit small" and now he's went and gotten himself a big muscle suit, a la Batman And Robin, just to show them. Shamefully he looks like a man mountain with a wee head.

Watchmen is a brave film, and one that to a large extent works. There are some major problems with it but on the whole it's a pretty enjoyable romp. The problem is that it should be more than that. Snyder has done a commendable job of bringing a very hard project to the screen, but, much like in his previous films, things are a little too shallow once you get beyond the brilliant visuals. In the end Watchmen does work as a film, but one that can't live up to its brilliant source material.