Watchmen (8/10)

Watchmen isn’t your average comic book movie. What’s interesting is that this isn’t a band of superheroes during their prime, but it’s about what happens decades later when they have been outlawed with each going their own separate ways. Apart from one that resembles an ethereal being, the rest of them don’t even have real super powers.

From the movie’s opening, it straight away jumped into its dark theme and violence, and why it’s rated R. Nothing in the fight scene between The Comedian and the mysterious assailant was watered down and the brutality of each punch was reinforced by an unrelenting choreography sequence.

Snyder is a visionary. Whether the result is appreciated, he is out to create something so cool and so different that no one has seen before. He’s done it in 300 and he’s doing it again here.

Watchmen, visually, is incredibly stunning. From the texture of the superhero costumes to the grime in their hair, from the colours you see onscreen to the meticulous production designs; Snyder’s knack – or obsession may be a better word – for details is one of the main reasons how this movie springs to life from a graphic novel.

But as stunning as the visuals go, Watchmen was still far from being perfect. From the ensemble, there were great performances like the supporting effort from Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and then there were the not-so-great from some of the main characters.

Unlike 300, where acting didn’t have to be the main focus, this wasn’t the case with Watchmen. The depth of each character required much psychological development in order to portray what the comic has so successfully achieved, and the adapted screenplay just didn’t have the luxury in time to delve into every individual. This left the actors an impossible task of showing any emotional growth on their part.

The writers also had to forego some of the important story arcs to recreate this story for the big screen. Balancing out a faithful adaptation and a crowd-pleaser meant having to sacrifice and compromise.

But it was Snyder who weaved all the fragments into one cohesive and progressive story that gripped at you right from the start. Where another visually pleasing adaptation, The Spirit, has failed; Watchmen has succeed in most parts.

Again to stress the point, this isn’t your average superhero movie. It’s a dark, dark story that awakens the intellectual, psychological and the philosophical. Amidst all the stunning visuals and smooth choreography, the topic of existentialism lies at its core.