Watchmen

WATCHMEN (18)

D: Zack Snyder

Paramount/Warner Bros/Legendary (Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin & Deborah Snyder)

US 2009

162 mins (extended version: 186 mins)

Action/Adventure/Fantasy

W: David Hayter & Alex Tse [based on the graphic novels by Dave Gibbons & Alan Moore]

DP: Larry Fong

Ed: William Hoy

Mus: Tyler Bates

Malin Åkerman (Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II), Billy Crudup (Jon Osterman / Dr. Manhattan), Matthew Goode (Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias), Carla Gugino (Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre), Jackie Earle Haley (Walter Kovacs / Rorschach), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Edward Blake / The Comedian), Patrick Wilson (Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II)

The majority of comic book movies manage to appeal to a wide audience demographic whether they've read the original source or not. Watchmen goes against the grain, so it's almost imperative to have read, or at least be familiar with, the original graphic novels before watching, since the narrative is much heavier than others which share the sub-genre.

Set in an alternative 1985, the days of superheroes is over, and a masked vigilante named Rorschach investigates the murder of a former colleague, uncovering a deep-rooted scandal that could even spell destruction of the superhero and the rest of his kind.

Though the visuals are faithful to the original source, this is very much style over substance, with a meandering, convoluted narrative with too many characters to possibly keep track of if you're not savvy.

It will have its legion of fans, who'll hold it dearly as the best of all the comic book adaptations, but for everyone else this will be far from satisfying.

The theatrical cut, at 162 minutes, may make a few people balk at its running time, which is perfectly sufficient. The extended version of 186 minutes is best left for the fans. A 215 minute version (the ultimate cut) of the same movie is simply ridiculous.

5/10