- The Watchmen must be the most messed-up team of superheroes that anyone, even Alan Moore, could ever imagine. Where to even begin? How about with the uncompromising paranoiac Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), whose journal entries and flashbacks reveal a much more troubled psychology than his calm demeanor would suggest? There's also the caped gadgeteer Dan Dreiberg a.k.a. Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), who finds himself rendered somewhat...powerless when he's not in costume. Also doomed to be the second in a series is Laurie Jupiter a.k.a. Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), who lives in the long shadow cast by her retired mother, the first Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino). Of course, Laurie's life is even further complicated by her marriage to Jon Ostermann a.k.a. Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), whose godlike superpowers have caused his slow retreat from humanity. The so-called "world's smartest man," Adrian Veidt (Matthew Goode) seems well-adjusted by comparison as a businessman who has a line of toys based on his superhero persona, Ozymandias. Finally, there's the lethally sardonic Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who never resorts to violence since it is typically his first and only option. The Justice League they ain't.
- As the film opens, it is 1985 and The Watchmen have long been disbanded. Although their efforts, particularly those of Dr. Manhattan, were instrumental in ending the Vietnam War, the U.S. government (led by a prosthetic-looking Richard Nixon, naturally) has outlawed all unsanctioned superhero activity, leaving only Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian on active duty. When The Comedian is fatally defenestrated, however, the vigilante Rorschach concludes that a "mask killer" is on the loose. Although his theory is greeted with the appropriate skepticism by the other former Watchmen, a thwarted attack on Veidt and the mysterious circumstances surrounding Dr. Manhattan's sudden disappearance lend it some credence. While it is easy to imagine that the detestable Comedian had plenty of enemies -- he was a rapist, among other things -- who would want to kill the other Watchmen? Could it be the diabolical Moloch (Matt Frewer), their onetime nemesis? The government itself?? Could it even be that some of The Watchmen aren't quite the heroes they're made out to be???
- Zack Snyder's Watchmen is in many respects an outstanding adaptation of what was generally considered to be an unfilmable graphic novel. Frankly, it is impossible for me to imagine anyone else doing a better job with the material, particularly in the choices of what to keep and what to cut (fanboys be warned: inexplicable alien squids and unnecessary pirate stories are out). Furthermore, Snyder handles fascinating and difficult characters like Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan almost perfectly, which is itself an impressive accomplishment (there are lots of ways one could imagine a gigantic, blue, naked man not translating to screen). That said, one thing that the film lacks is the final, stark ambiguity of the source material. After "disaster strikes" in the graphic novel, there are several pages filled with nothing but desolation and littered bodies. While the film is all-too-eager to show the gratuitous sights and sounds of broken bones and sawed-off limbs, it flinches away from what is certainly the most brutal and significant event in the story. As such, it's a bit too easy to sympathize with The Watchmen at the end, when in fact the only clear message of the novel was that we should be watching them.
- The Vietnam montage contains a clear reference to Apocalypse Now.
- I think that Nite Owl I is punching out Joe Chill in the opening credits. That's outstanding.
- While Veidt's sexuality is hinted at through his cameo outside of Studio 54, I also note that one of his TVs is dedicated to lesbian porn.
