Watchmen : Les Gardiens

I don't believe that I can add anything further, when commenting about this masterpiece, apart from to say, that in my humble opinion, this is possibly the most underrated movie of all time.

Christopher Nolan was right. This movie indeed came out too early.

This movie not only shows us the pictures. But also the people behind them. What I love about Watchmen is that it's mature and basic study of how our society is structured. There's so many quotes that can be used in todays world. And with Zack Snyders visuals. It really blends well.

I gotta say. People calling this movie "boring" are the ones watching 4 movies a year. And they're all action heavy blockbusters.

The graphic novel source material is a masterpiece, bold, uncompromising, subtle, witty, imaginative with very unique characters and an immersive world. Albeit one that is near-unfilmable, with the themes, the huge amount of content and the amount of depth needed, a three hour film sounded nowhere near enough on paper. Plus Zack Snyder is nowhere near close to being a favourite of mine, but saw 'Watchmen' anyway because of my love for the source material, that it looked fantastic and because the cast are very talented.

'Watchmen' really is well worth your time. More the director's cut though than the theatrical release, though both versions have the exact same brilliant qualities. Of which there are many in 'Watchmen'. It is a prime example of how to transcribe a graphic novel to film, while not being as good and not having everything there, and still be near-great on its own terms. It is by far Snyder's best film in my view, as well as being his most mature and ambitious, being the only one to be above good and be more than style over substance. His other films left me mixed to indifferent.

Is 'Watchmen' perfect? No. It does feature one of the most uncomfortable-feeling and pointless love scenes on film, and Leonard Cohen (well certainly for the song in question, it is a great song that is not well used) has never been used more awkwardly in visual media in my view (partly because in my opinion it doesn't fit with the context of the scene).

Matthew Goode is also a bit too stiff and subdued as Ozymandias. Actually do prefer Jeremy Irons' more eccentric and all out portrayal in the recent series, despite the character being a lot less puzzling here. So it is easy to see why 'Watchmen' is a divisive film, though more for its heavy, polarising themes, the huge length (that sounds overlong on paper), that figuring out what's going on admittedly is not easy for anybody who is not familiar with the graphic novel and it seems that the ending has left people divided (the ending in the source material sparks much debate as well).

For all of the flaws mentioned, so much works in 'Watchmen's' favour. It looks amazing for one thing. Very stylish and imaginative with some incredible special effects, there is nowhere near as much gratuitous slow-motion here than seen in some of Snyder's other work. The opening sequence is absolutely amazing in as jaw-dropping a way as you can get, what a way to start a film. The music is nostalgic and atmospheric, with mostly inspired use of great songs. Only the Cohen song in the scene in question is questionable. Snyder's direction is some of his most ambitious and doesn't try to do too much to the same extent as his other films.

Moreover, the script compels, flows naturally and raises interesting ideas that provokes thought, managing not to trivialise its difficult content. A good deal of talk but not too exposition-heavy, even when focused on Dr Manhattan in the middle act. There is not much subtlety here, Snyder and subtlety never belonged in the same sentence, but the ironic wit translates well to film from the graphic novel as does the maturity. The length is a long one, but the source material is massive so the film really needed to be long. If anything, in terms of adapting it would be better a mini-series. The story makes the most of getting one immersed in an authentically rendered world, and thematically it is bold and executed in an unforgivably uncompromising approach as ought. The violence shocks but didn't come over as gratuitous and the action thrills. Didn't have much of a problem with the ending, but can see why others would, the climax is thrillingly staged at least.

A good job is done with the characters, though Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias is underused and a bit underdeveloped. Night Owl and in particular Rorschach being the standouts, though The Comedian is also a difficult role to pull off. Apart from reservations with Goode, the performances are strong. Jackie Earle Haley is perfect casting as Rorschach, and have no qualms with Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson and Jeffrey Dean Morgan either. The most difficult roles, pulled off beautifully.

Overall, very good and nearly great, with a lot done extremely well with a couple of misgivings. The polarisation is understandable but the appeal is even more so. The recent adaptation, despite getting a lot of over the top hate very prematurely into its run is also worth seeing. It is a slow starter and ends anti-climactically but there is so much brilliant about it, and if one sticks with it if put off by the first couple of episodes it to me and others got a lot better. 8/10

A group of ex-heroes now abandoned and limited by governments lives in the shadows until someone starts to eliminate them one by one. Rorschach is one of these heroes that begins searching for clues to his old colleagues' murders. The story is one of the most powerful aspects of the movie. Plot twists are good and complicated enough to make it interesting. I have watched the ultimate cut and it had another story in the story that was visualized by animation and somehow related to the main story.

The cast is another great aspect of the film. Good actors like Jeffrey Dean-Morgan, and Patrick Wilson along with a whole crew of amazing cast is expecting you.

CG, art, costume design, music, and soundtracks are quite good, especially for a movie released 13 years ago. Zack Snyder did his best in converting one of the darkest and most complex comic books into a movie by being faithful to the books. The only setback, in my opinion, is the length of the film. 3 and a half hours even for an ultimate cut is long if you cannot balance the action and dialogs. This made watchmen a little boring in some places, as I said, it's not balanced so there is maybe an hour in the middle of the movie without much going but on the other hand, you have lots of new information in the last 15 minutes.

Overall, Watchmen is a good superhero movie without regular clichés. It can be worth your while if you are into the genre. But it could get boring sometimes in the middle of it.

Some time after "The Boys" I decided to give this film a rematch... Back in 2009 it was still a time when there was not that many similar to each other superhero films Watchmen cam out a bit too early..., What makes Watchmen feeling so fresh in 2020 is that it's completely different to most of Marvel films.... The characters in Watchmen feel more like real people than idealistic figures you usually get - they age, they change opinions on things, they do wrong things... The world is also much more similar to ours in 2020 that it was in 2009... Brilliant film 9/10!