Here’s my review of Watchmen. I won’t spoil more than some general ideas in the movie, so I’d say it’s safe to watch this small review before going to see the movie.
The Story
The Watchmen story is a complex one. As someone who never read the comics, it takes a couple of minutes to get into it. You can easily tell there was a lot of source material, and this is one of the weaknesses of the movie. They compressed so much story into one little movie. But if you get into it. You could say Zack Snyder filmed the story many deemed unfilmable. In the end, it all makes sense and it’s one of the reasons this movie deserves a second view.
The World
Another reason why the movie takes some time to get into is the Watchmen timeframe. The Watchmen live through the history we already know. They’re placed in historical events we know all about. In the beginning your mind is like. Well, that didn’t happen. And it takes a while to get over it. But once you do, the stylistic world is one on its own. A beautiful grim look with the comic book feel to it. But this comic book feel doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take this movie serious.
The Characters
This isn’t a movie for kids. It’s one where the characters philosophize about mankind throughout the entire movie. About the darkness of human nature. Most of the Watchmen don’t seem to have much fate in mankind. And here’s another reason it takes some time to get into. There are so many Watchmen, who all have something to say. And they barely have enough time to do so. I have no question the extended version of the movie will add to the experience. 2 hours and 40 minutes is just enough to tell the story.
Special Effects
To be honest, there aren’t any special effects that’ll blow your mind. There are a lot of slow-motion shots in the movie, naturally, but after movies like Max Payne it feels like we’ve seen them all. The movie does a better job at blending it all together. The money shots are in there, but they aren’t in your face like ‘hey, look at my 1 million dollar CGI shot.’
IMAX
This is why I’d say it’s worth seeing in IMAX. The big screen and sound add enough to the experience to justify the price. IMAX makes you step into the Watchmen world with your full body. O god, that’s like a line written by the IMAX marketing department.
The Verdict
For my first review, this was a difficult movie to rate. Most of the time I have my judgment ready right after the movie, but this is a movie that’ll take some time to digest. I’ll definitely watch it a second time and I’ll recommend it to most people. Just don’t expect an easy to swallow blockbuster. Focus!
4 out of 5 stars.
Watchmen review (3:00 minutes) added to the Cultjer video catalog on March 6th, 2009.
