Watchmen (Snyder, 2009) does not understand watchmen.
For Context, Alan Moore’s Watchmen was a 12-issue run of comic books produced from September 1986 to October 1987. The comics, which would later be collected into a single graphic novel, are widely regarded as being downright incredible pieces of literature. Writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons expertly weave a narrative rich with subtext, hidden themes, political ideology, satire of the genre and they take full advantage of their medium to get one of their numerous fundamental messages across, that being that the very idea of the superhero is flawed.
The book is set in an alternate version of New York City in 1985, where nuclear holocaust is imminent. World War III is creeping closer and closer as tensions rise between America and the Soviet Union. In this reality, superheroes are very much real. Costumed crimefighters emerged in the 1940’s and again in the 1960’s and it was their presence that meant that in this timeline, America won the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal was never exposed. Nixon is still president in 1985 and the Superheroes in Watchmen have no powers, besides one - the all-powerful Dr Manhattan. He is an extremely complicated character - a former nuclear physicist turned God that perceives past, present and future simultaneously, and can rearrange atoms to do literally anything.
Watchmen is a film adaption of the book by Zack Snyder. Released March 6, 2009 on a budget of approximately $130-138 Billion the film made a (relatively) disappointing $185.3 Billion at the box office. The superhero/psychological horror film was in development hell for years before Snyder came on board, moving from studio to studio and director Terry Gilliam was brought on board, but later quit and called Watchmen “Unfilmable”. It moved from director to director before returning to Warner Bros, where Snyder was hired.
In short, Snyder’s film misses the wit and completely fails tonally. The book has no heroes, yes, it has superheroes, but they are all deeply flawed people who should not be looked up to as heroes. Rorschach, for example, is a satire of characters like DC’s Batman and The Question, a faceless noir-like detective who speaks in a gravelly voice and has a clearly defined moral code - people are either good or evil, the world is black and white, just like his constantly shifting inkblot mask. In the book, Rorschach is a vigilante, and he is a violent, unhinged, racist, misogynistic, homophobic, pathetic man who everyone despises due to his terrible ideologies, brutal methods and bad hygiene. In the film, Rorschach is toned down heavily. Snyder keeps what people like about the character - the cool costume, the Nolan batman-esque voice and the brooding narration, but aside from a few hints here and there his character flaws are not present. This is just one example of Snyder missing the point of these three-dimensional characters and opting instead to turn these satires of heroes into the very thing they are parodying. The audience is coerced into rooting for Rorschach, following him for most of the film and turning him into a typical superhero movie protagonist by removing or neutering his defects. Another example of this is the character of Ozymandias. Adrian Veidt in the comic is a retired crimefighter who capitalised on his iconography and made a fortune selling merchandise based on his superhero persona Ozymandias. As the story progresses, it is revealed that Veidt has created, through the use of genetic engineering, a (and bear with me here) giant psychic alien squid. His plan to permanently end the threat of nuclear war is to teleport the squid into New York City and have it explode, killing millions and unting the hostile nations under the illusion of their being an extra-terrestrial threat. This part of the narrative is genius. It creates one of the most truly morally grey characters in fiction, and puts the other characters in an extremely difficult moral dilemma - do they reveal what Adrian has done to the world and restart the nuclear war, or do they keep quiet, knowing the world is believing a lie that millions of people had to die to create?
In the climax of the film, the reveal that Ozymandias is a twist villain will come as no surprise to anyone. Matthew Goode plays him as a typical moustache twirling villain, and his giant alien squid in New York is replaced by explosions all around the world, rigged to look like they were caused by Dr Manhattan. The point is the same, the world is united under threat from an extremely powerful being, but the original abstract horror is lost. It simplifies the story and perhaps makes it easier to digest for the general audience, but that sudden horror, that looming, otherworldly-yet-totally-fabricated terror is lost from page to screen.
The fact that in this world the heroes do not have powers is extremely important in the Watchmen book. Dr Manhattan is the only superpowered individual, and because of this he is completely apathetic to humanity. He does not care for our species as he is above us in every way, he can be anywhere and everywhere all at once, and knows exactly what will happen in the future yet is powerless to change it, so why should he care? It is impossible to state how important this is to the meaning of Watchmen. Manhattan is Moore’s take on Superman, and it is clear that if a person were to gain this power, they would not use it for good. Or evil, for that matter, they would just… grow tired of earth, of these people. “I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives” Manhattan eloquently puts it while in self-isolation on Mars.
In the movie, it is still true that the heroes are not superpowered in terms of narrative. However, during their fight scenes, they perform moves purely for the spectacle of it that they should not be able to physically, and it breaks the immersion by reminding the audience that yes, this is a Snyder film, and you will watch these regular, retired heroes fight like super-soldiers. Again, the subtext is lost. The costumed hero is supposed to be ridiculous in watchmen, the idea of an ordinary person thinking they can take on the world because they have a colourful outfit, and a catchy name is silly. The film, however, presents them as serious superheroes. Real heroes with real ability that are not to be taken as a joke.
On a technical level, Watchmen does not disappoint for the majority of its run time. Some out of place song choices aside, namely ‘hallelujah’ during an uncomfortably shot sex scene, the film can be quite visually and audibly powerful. It opens with a time lapse of the alternate American history previously mentioned, giving the audience the general backstory necessary through a slow-motion montage to the sound of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. This scene is possibly where the movie peaks, as it is a great way of introducing the audience to the world and catching them up to speed while also serving as a tonal indicator that this will be a truly dark superhero movie, as signified by the brutally murdered costumed heroes shown when the “glory days” are over. The film is unfaithful in terms of themes, but visually, it is as if Gibbon’s artwork was ripped straight from the page. Snyder’s style over substance way of filmmaking is perhaps at its best/worst (depending on how you look at it) in this film, as the shots are beautifully translated visually but the meaning is lost. Snyder misunderstood what people loved about Watchmen and took the superficial elements and amplified them tenfold, while the genius between the lines was unfortunately left unread.
You may be surprised to find that despite all this, I am a fan of the Watchmen movie. It is a good superhero movie in my opinion, a good action film that is deeper than most. As an adaption of one of the greatest pieces of contemporary fiction, however, it fails. As a film, it is alright. But as Watchmen? No. Not even close.
留言