ViewGuide

Created Mar 07, 2009 05:26AM PST • Edited Mar 07, 2009 05:26AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   People will call it the first adult comic book movie – but sidestepping that and all the other chit-chat, Watchmen is a sprawling, visual feast of intertangled stories and interesting performances – which only happens to be about superheroes.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   The Watchmen themselves range from passable to impressive, Matthew Goode’s Ozymandias the former and Jackie Earle Haley’s Rorschach the latter. With no truly big stars, the film benefits – this ensemble piece allows for the actors, many of whom are very underrated, to push through onto the mainstream, and their performances are on the whole excellent.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

   Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl/Dan Dreiberg, alongside Jackie Earle Haley’s Rorschach, provide the lead male roles here, and both men are able to disappear into their roles. NIte Owl is a Batman imitation, but you can’t say that Bruce Wayne is human – particularly when he’s Christian Bale, who can’t seem to be anything but angry. Wilson is great here, mixing a sense of nostalgia with the resignation of a man who has left an old life behind, hoping never to go back whilst pining for it. Haley is the best actor in the film though – acting through a full face mask for most of the film, he convinces entirely as the murderous vigilante, even managing to remain sinister in the moments where his mask is removed.

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

   Malin Ackerman plays Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II – the effective female star of the film. And damn if she isn’t good here – it’s so much better to have a new actress than someone we recognise, which obviously goes for the rest of the cast. Ackerman is more than a match for the guys, and manages to carry off the ridiculously exploitative costume of her character without distracting too much.

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

   Carla Gugino plays Silk Spectre I – Laurie’s mum Sally, and the actress provides the film with some of the more interesting scenes in her descriptions (and cover-ups) of her and her daughter’s pasts.

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

   I’m placing the remainder of the Watchmen in supporting cast – simply because they don’t get as much time as Dan or Rorschach. Billy Crudup is the distanced, God-like Dr. Manhattan, a superbeing who lacks empathy despite his endless powers – Crudup infuses him with a sense of complete detachment, and acting as a big blue naked guy, he does actually make the character believable. Matthew Goode, as Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt, is the intelligent, rich member of the troupe, and Goode is, well, good in the role. He doesn’t seem to get enough time though, and his role is pretty integral to the plot – I just felt like something was lacking, but then in a film this long it’s no surprise that some stuff might have been cut.

   Jeffrey Dean Morgan, playing the Comedian/Eddie Blake, is our entry into the world of the Watchmen, and his performance (particularly his looks) will remind many of Javier Bardem or Robert Downey Jr.; he looks like the former and acts like the latter, and gives that sense of imbalance and danger that the character demands.

10. Film

    Really Great 4.5

    I’ve read and do own the graphic novel, but in all fairness I’m no geek – I just wanted to watch this great story onscreen, and sod the changes or whatever the fanboys moan about – the film is expertly directed by Snyder, whose command of effects, actors and visuals are becoming unparalleled in Hollywood.

11. Direction Really Great 4.5

    Snyder, jumping from zombies to Greeks and now superheroes, seems to have really begun to etch out a visual aesthetic in his movies that is both stunning and innovative. His handle on the actors isn’t as great, but then in choosing a more unknown cast he shows (as with 300) his faith in those who aren’t expensive but have more talent. Every single angle of this film from a directorial perspective seems difficult, but he’s arguably pulled it off perfectly – and I look forward to seeing what he manages to get next.

12. Play Very Good 3.5

    Lots of the dialogue is taken straight from the novel, so much of the film’s outstanding interchanges or comments are in fact from that. However, the film obviously doesn’t adhere completely, and in making the necessary changes, whilst retaining the dialogue that works so well, the scriptwriters and Snyder present a movie that flows despite its detail and expositionary scenes.

13. Music Perfect 5.0

    The soundtrack is perhaps the best part of the film other than the visuals – music from the 60’s to the 80’s infuses the film with a sense of time and place, foregrounding the audience in the past, alternate America that the film is set in whilst also matching some amazing songs to some amazing imagery – watch the opening credits to see EXACTLY what I mean. Hendrix, Dylan, Nena (99 Luftballons!) and various others crop up in surprising places whilst still working perfectly in the narrative – who would have thought a comic book, superhero movie would contain such a diverse soundtrack!

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0

    Snyder bests even the exploits of 300 here – New York, Antarctica, Mars, Vietnam – they’re all created realistically and depicted with a grim, realistic tone that harks back to the Cold War days. On top of this, the action loses some of the slow-mo that haunted 300 and increases the harshness – some of the fights are BRUTAL. All in all, the film shows that whatever has been drawn or written in fiction, however immense, can be replicated on film in such quality now – Snyder seems to be leading the charge in this regard, and it’s exciting to think where he might go next.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.3

    The film more than lives up to its adult certificate – everything’s there, but the violence is perhaps the most edgy, with some truly disgusting visuals to witness.

17. Sex Erotic 3.0

18. Violence Savage 4.5

19. Rudeness Salty 2.3

21. Reality

    Fantasy 5.0

    The vigilantes themselves are pretty grounded in reality, but when it comes to Dr. Manhattan, the same problems arise as with any super-powered individual – he’s a complete invention of fantasy.

22. Circumstantial Fantasy 5.0

23. Biological Fantasy 5.0

24. Physical Fantasy 5.0