Synopsis A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the watchmen?
Watchmen will be directed by Zack Snyder (300) and produced by Lawrence Gordon (Die Hard), Lloyd Levin (United 93) and Deborah Snyder (300), with Herbert W. Gains serving as executive producer.
Playing the film’s core group of “masks,” the masked adventurers at the center of the story, are Malin Akerman (upcoming The Heartbreak Kid) as Laurie Juspeczyk, aka Silk Spectre; Billy Crudup (The Good Shepherd) as Jon Osterman, aka Dr. Manhattan; Matthew Goode (Match Point) as Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias; Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) as Walter Kovacs, aka Rorschach; Jeffrey Dean Morgan (TV’s Grey’s Anatomy) as Edward Blake, aka the Comedian; and Patrick Wilson (Little Children) as Dan Dreiberg, aka Nite Owl.
Watchmen was originally published by DC comics as a 12-comic book series between 1986 and 1987, before subsequently being collected into a trade paperback. It is the only graphic novel to win the prestigious Hugo Award or to be named among Time magazine’s “100 Best English Language Novels from 1923 to the Present.”Movie Reviews:
It looks fabulous, this striking comic book fantasy with themes as
massive as its extravagant special effects. Set on a backdrop of
impending nuclear war in the 80s, the characters are an intriguing
collection of troubled superheroes whose back stories we learn in the
course of the film's 160 minute running time. Strokes of brilliance
are coupled with often garbled storytelling and in the same vein, our
interest for the various characters rises and falls like a massive
wave about to crash upon the shore.
Graphic violence with buckets of blood is contrasted by sensual
sex scenes and the emotional pathos of unexpected relationships. The
music (both Tyler Bates's original score and the selection of covers
such as Nat King Cole's Unforgettable and Simon and Garfunkel's The
Sound of Silence) is exceptional as is the use of opera in the
dramatic lead up to the finale. Billy Crudup's Dr Manhattan is a
constant source of fascination, an awesome visual effect of a
blue-tinged naked macho super-man with bright white eyes and a
bullseye symbol on his forehead. He knows how everything in the world
fits together - except people. Hence his troubled relationship with
Carla Gugino's Sally / Silk Spectre is the film's most compelling
factor. (Foreplay has never been as kinky!) The story is told by
Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach in the form of journal entries and it
is in the narration that some great lines are delivered, like 'A
burial in the rain; only your enemies leave roses' and 'The night
reeks of fornication and bad consciences.'
The film begins with a murder, when walls are smashed, furniture
is broken, knives are flung, glass is shattered and a body is tossed.
David Hayter and Alex Tse's screenplay struggles to condense the
graphic novel into coherent storytelling - much of it is garbled.
Matthew Goode is imposing as the world's smartest man, Jeffrey Dean
Morgan delivers plenty of pathos as The Comedian and Patrick Wilson
is almost unrecognisable as Dan, who harbours feelings for the black
latex wearing Silk Spectre. Albeit too long, the film is a wham bam
of a cinematic visual effects experience, and storytelling hiccups
are partly forgiven in exchange for the mind-blowing visual
experience.
