Movie Review: Watchmen

The Cast of Watchmen

The most anticipated movie release of the year for many people was released on Thursday 5th.
Watchmen is a movie that is made for the fans.

Newcomers to Watchmen will have no trouble picking up the movie’s intricate plotline.
It is based on a 12 part graphic novel of the same name in the late 80’s and if you are a fan of the book, boy will you love the movie.
Set in an Alternate 1980’s, America had won the Vietnam war and the threat of Nuclear War with the Soviet Union is ever present,
costumed Heroes are also the norm, although only one man actually has super powers: Dr Manhattan.
Only one of these heroes is still active,
Rorschach, and the death of one of their own, reunites the Watchmen to discover who did it and also uncover a plot of global proportions.

The movie is very similar to the Graphic Novel, with many lines and even some shots from the book, occuring throughout.
Those who have read the book should be ever grateful that the director, Zack Snyder (300) is a huge fan of the book and stayed very faithful to it’s core.
Some less important information has, however, been omitted from the theatrical version of the film, most probably due to time constraints.
The movie is still 2 hours and 43 minutes long, but during editing, rumours were flying round that it could have clocked up over 3 and a half hours.
The omissions aren’t anything too big, not much has been changed (only small things which shouldn’t bother you, except if you’re Alan Moore of course),
the similarities are rampant throughout to keep the fans happy, but be sure to check out the eventual dvd and Blu-Ray releases.

Screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse have done an excellent job of delivering a script that manages to keep the viewer entertained and the story in focus while still providing the complexity of which the Graphic Novel was famed for.
The musical score is well above average.
It always adds to the movie and never detracts, though the choice of the 80’s classic, 99 red ballons left little to be desired.

The visual effects were incredible, Dr Manhattan in his ever blue omniscense, always lights up the screen.
There were definitely some corny moments during a few of the scenes and the sex scene dragged on a little too much,
but of the few criticisms I have for this movie, none ever detract from the overall enjoyment.

Watchmen is a movie you will absolutely enjoy,
even if you are not a fan of the book, you will definitely enjoy this for it is, without a doubt, the movie of the year.