Who watches the Watchmen? Unfortunately, I did.
Last Saturday, my wife, sister-in-law, best friend’s wife, and a couple other girls had a sparkly-boy party. So a bunch of us guys (myself, two of my brothers, my best friend, and Tyler) got together at my house for beer and video games.
After a few rounds of Street Fighter 4 (in which my past expertise at Street Fighter 2 failed to translate into present-day fighting prowess), a few rounds of Soul Calibur 4 (destructible armor FTW), and some Halo 3 on Slayer (Hammerzeit or Rockets, anyone?), we decided to go catch a late showing of Watchmen.
I didn’t review the movie right away, because I wanted to make sure my “first reactions” were valid. Sometimes, when I’ve had a chance to mull a movie for a few days, my opinion changes. Also, I haven’t read the graphic novel (I’m more of an Elseworlds guy, since I like the iconic heroes of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the rest of the original JL team; also, The Tick!).
My opinion of Watchmen hasn’t changed much.
Watchmen is not the cinematic triumph that the professional review and criticism society would have you believe.
I can understand its appeal to that group, though. Watchmen is morally ambiguous at best. The heroes are villains and the villains are heroes. Moral relativism plays a big role in Watchmen.
I’m not going to do a thorough review of the movie here, because honestly, I think I’d rather take the time to do that with a movie I actually liked. I will discuss a few things, though, that made the movie ultimately unpleasant.
And the movie is gritty. Dirty, like the real world. Filled with familiar places, sights, and sounds. But nothing is right. The rules of right and wrong don’t seem to apply; at least not in the same way they apply to other superhero movies.
I suppose that’s some of the appeal. Asking the question of “what would superheroes do in the real world?” But that’s why we love superheroes. They don’t live in our world. they help us aspire to make our world better than it is.
Also, for a superhero movie, the only hero whose powers are ever really discussed is Dr. Manhattan (who is a Green Lantern + Captain Atom I think) . This is somewhat annoying, as we are left to “figure out” what the other superpowers are in the movie. Night Owl (2?)= Batman. Silk Spectre (2?) = Catwoman + Canary + Wonder Woman. Comedian = Punisher. Ozymandias = Rahs al Ghul + Vandal Savage. Rorschach = ? (but just WHAT is his superpower, anyway? The ability to move stains around on a white cloth? Ooooh!)
In any case, I’d suggest skipping Watchmen. I wouldn’t bother renting it either. It might be worth watching on television, but only once.
As always, this is IMHO, and YMMV.
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