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The Watchmen – The Movie

What hasn’t already been said about “The Watchmen” that I can add? Nothing. But, that won’t stop me from chiming in. I saw the movie adaptation last night (3/7/09) and was right well pleased with it.

Of all the movies I have ever seen adapted from a novel or graphic novel, this was by far the most faithful. (Of course I’ve never seen “Sin City” nor “300,” both of which I am told are faithful to the story and the illustrations.) This is an important topic for me. Nothing irks me more then a motion picture author or director who feels they can improve on the story they are transferring to screen. There is always room for interpretation when going from printed media to screen, but it doesn’t mean one should feel free to rewrite, append, or change the source material if the intention is to bring the story to the screen. Peter Jackson, while producing some impressive films, took way too many liberties in his take on the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I don’t take issue with someone if they say they are making a film based on a certain story. But when you say you are making a movie of the same story, then make a movie from the same story. I’m pleased to say director Zack Snyder did just that with “The Watchmen.”

Honestly, there is no way to ever fully take a graphic novel and make a movie directly from it. They are two completely different media and each has it’s strengths and weaknesses. For one thing, movie going audiences will only sit through a movie for so long no matter how good it is. Of course in the old days, if a movie needed to be long, they would make it long and throw an intermission in the middle as was done with my all time favorite movie “Lawrence of Arabia.” That aside, compromises have to be made. Some subplots need to be removed as they don’t drive the overall plot. “The Tales of the Black Freighter,” a comic book within the “Watchmen” comic book, was a story that paralleled the main story and was removed completely from the movie without harming it. Additionally, some adjustments were made for flow of the movie that made sense and did not change the overall story. Some parts were missed, but it was clear why the decisions were made. Zack Snyder was a skilled surgeon as he adapted the story to screen leaving minimal visible scars.

Without spoiling the story for those who have and those who haven’t read the books, there is a very major change in the story. The funny thing is, when the movie was over and I started explaining the original story to my friend who hadn’t read the book, it became perfectly clear that what worked in the comic would not work as well on the screen. While it was a major change, it made perfect sense, didn’t significantly change the story and worked well on the screen. More to the point, the results were the same. I may be contradicting my original argument here, but I’m a realist; I know what I want and I know what I’ll get.

Back to the items left out of the movie. Zack Snyder, again, made good by fans of the book. He included references to items left out of the movie. For instance, “The Tales of the Black Freighter” always were told at a news stand while being read by a young man as the news stand owner tries to talk to him. Those characters showed up in the movie but did not have any involvement in the story. Another nice touch was the inclusion of shots throughout the movie which recreated the covers of the various issues of the comics. Overall, it was visually true to the comics and was transfered to the screen respectfully.

I actually look forward to the DVD release for all the extras I am sure will come along with it. For instance, it is already known that “The Tales of the Black Freighter” will be released on DVD as an animated feature. Hopefully it will be included with the film’s DVD as well.`

I do have some negative critiques however. Fortunately they have nothing to do with the comics or the movie. They have to do with parents. More particularly, parents of young children who they brought to see the movie. The comic and the movie are not for children. The advertisements do not say it is for children and the movie is rated ‘R’; a very strong ‘R’ for violence, sexual content, and nudity. This is a tale of troubled and violent people. Just because it’s about “super heros” does not mean it’s a fun movie for kids.

My friends and I were appalled to see a family sitting next to use with several children who appeared to be under the age of twelve. During some of the more ‘R’ rated scenes, the children could be seen covering their eyes while the parents watched the movie and made no notice their children. Those people’s judgment should be questioned. On coming out of the movie, several of us were on the phone with friends who saw the movie in other towns. We were pleased to hear one theater (in Baltimore) was not letting families with children under twelve into the theater at all. I applaud that theater for their choice. In my opinion they did the right thing.

I now plan to go back and read the books again as it’s clear there was a lot of nuance I missed the first time.

March 9th, 2009 Posted by Karl | News, Non-Fiction, Review | 6 comments