Review: Watchmen (2009)

Director: Zach Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead)

Cast: Malin Akerman (The Heartbreak Kid, 27 Dresses), Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, Public Enemies), Matthew Goode (The Lookout), Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children, The Bad News Bears), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey's Anatomy, P.S. I Love You), Patrick Wilson (Hard Candy, Lakeview Terrace), Carla Gugino (Spy Kids, Sin City)

The Deal: Set in an alternate universe circa 1985, America and Russia are on the verge of nuclear war, with the "Doomsday Clock" fast approaching midnight. The glory days for costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close due to government crackdown, but when The Comedian (Morgan) is murdered, many of the heroes reunite to prevent the same thing from happening to them. Determined to discover the killer, Rorschach (Haley) discovers a wide range of conspiracies that could pose their doom, as well as threaten the planet.

Thoughts: It's hard for me to rate this, because I really enjoyed the film, but it was far from perfect. There were a slew of bad-ass scenes, and the characters were interesting and fairly well-developed. Unfortunately, having not read the graphic novel, the plot seemed clunky at times and it took me almost half the film just to figure out where the plot was going. Don't get me wrong though, it was fun along the way, even when I was a bit lost. I've been assured by friends that did read the novel that these stem from the close attention payed when adapting the novel. Though they stand out to me, I'm willing to treat these issues less harshly after hearing this.

The performances in the film ranged from good to sub-par. Jackie Earle Haley shined in his role, and I believe his character is the one that the viewer will like and understand the best. On the flip side, I though Malin Akerman struggled to deliver many of her lines convincingly. Much of the male audience will overlook this fault seeing that she wore skin-tight leather or nothing at all during the entire film. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was solid in his limited role, and it's a shame his character was the one to be murdered early on. Crudup was acceptable as Dr. Manhattan, coming across fairly detached from the world and people that occupy it, which is how the character should have been. Goode, Wilson, and Gugino all become somewhat forgotten. Their performances were fairly average and are overshadowed by the better and much worse performances.

The one thing that most people tend to agree on is that the opening sequence was exceptional. Set to the song "The Times They Are A-Changin", it shows a montage of pictures depicting the glory days of masked vigilantes and then showing them slowly fade away into troubled times. It was one of the best opening sequences in recent memory, and I can watch it over and over. Unfortunately, the remainder of the film's soundtrack didn't hit so close to home. Many of the songs seemed out of place, though a few that were hilariously awesome for the scene.

Verdict: This film is not for everyone, but for the viewers who tend to really like this genre, the film strikes home. Though not perfect, it is highly entertaining and visually pleasing. Most will be left impatiently anticipating the director's cut, which contains an additional 25 minutes. ☆☆☆☆