Fanboy
'Fanboy is a term used to describe any individual who is devoted to a single subject in an emotional or fanatical manner, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession'. (Wikipedia)
I’ll come back to that.
Watchmen, adapted from Alan Moore’s 1986 graphic novel now revered amongst the greatest of all graphic novels and one of TIME magazine’s 100 Greatest Novels. It’s themes expand beyond the plethora of cliched superheroes and supervillains, Moore prefering to develop ideas rather than outcomes. The actual term ‘Watchmen’ was taken from the supposed speech John F Kennedy was to deliver just minutes after his assasination. Americans, Kennedy vouched, would be “the watchmen on the walls of freedom.”
The film has been some time coming and for that Snyder should be commended. Since it’s inception the screenplay has jumped from 20th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount and finally, Warner Bros. Often thought to be ‘unfilmable’ (Moore famously had refused to be connected to the film in any way), Snyder has created what is ultimatelty a faithful retelling of the novel. However, fit into a generous 162 minutes running time the film still feels claustrophobic and unable to paint what becomes it’s ultimate dichotomy. Is it right to kill millions of people in order to prolong peace between those in our blue planet?
Few of you who have seen the film will have had the opportunity to read the original novel beforehand, though I will presume (however off the mark) that the majority haven’t and so it’s perhaps best to breakdown the film for both the converted and the not-yet converted.
The main story revolves around six main characters. Ozymandias (Adrain Veidt), Silk Spectre (Laurie Jupiter), Dr Manhattan (Dr John Osterman), Nite Owl (Dan Dreiberg), Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) and The Comedian (Edward Blake). The plot revolves around the unexpected murder of The Comedian, thrown out of the window of his apartment, in a multi-storey building.
Other characters also play an important role but say any more and I would give too much away. As mentioned at the head, a fanboy is devoted to a single subject in an emotional and or fanatical manner, almost to the point of obsession. This becomes simultaneously the saviour and failing of Snyder.
Dr Manhattan (the only superhero with ‘powers’) is played by a wonderfully eerie and withdrawn Billy Crudrup. He is able to inject pathos into a character whose existence becomes a pawn in the USA/USSR conflict, on the edge of nuclear armageddon which, according to the doomsday clock, is just minutes away.
Unfortunately however, despite Crudrup’s effort, the film can in no way match the staggering depth of the psychological profile created in Moore’s novel. A prime example of this is in the (still good) scene explaining the making of Dr Manhattan. The novel, draws Manhattan’s withdrawal from any sort of compassion for humankind with subtle wondrousness. The photo in his hand, dissected to the same degree a watchmaker unravels a timepiece. It’s an apt analogy as in his youth, John wanted to become a watchmaker just like his father. Though the film cannot even delve into the moral abyss which traps Manhattan, his character is still the most realised out of the big six.
Almost as impressive is Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, for many the fan’s favourite as we follow through the a great bulk of the plot through Rorschach and his journal. Haley is perfect for a role which requires a performace of menacing and deeply woven nuances. I have no real arguments with most of Rorschachs scenes. Much of what should be on screen is on screen. Some short cuts are taken, but serve the film’s purpose respectively. I would argue that perhaps all the scenes between Rorschach and Dr Malcolm Long could have been added and that scenes between Dr Long and his wife were also important in creating a stronger gut punch for that final chapter. I’ll discuss that later.
From here the results become decidely mixed at best. Goode, Gugino and Akerman as Viedt, Sally Jupiter and Laurie Jupiter are awful though for different reasons. Patrick Wilson as the insecure Nite Owl also hits and misses. Veidt, supposedly the most intellingent man on the planet (able to retire from his superhero duties two years before the Keene Act was initiated) has been reduced from the charmingly persuasive, destructive and intellectually intimidating greek mythologist to basically a youthful clown-prince villain whose reasoning for his actions feels delusional rather than persuasively cohesive. The colour of his cape has been changed and from the first time he is seen on the screen you feel there is something not altogether wholesome about him. This is not the case in the novel, as there is a general sense of shock with the late turn of events.
The two Silk Spectres are also reduced to rubble. Malin Akerman, is written a role which just makes her look and feel like sex-for-hire without any of the burning fire of her novel incarnation. This Spectre would fall like a flea on any psychological questioning. Please give me some newsvendor back chat rather than this embarrassing spectacle. In general, all the superheroes deficiencies were glossed over far too complacently. Everything fits except the characters within.
The biggest difference of course, is the removal of The Squid from the final scene, instead placing the blame on Dr Manhattan and his tachyons. The Squid would have been a difficult creation and of course the focus shifts from alien invasion to a questionable Christ allegory in the form of Dr Manhattan. The main problem with the ending is not the choice of Squid/Nuclear Holocaust but more that I didn’t care for the destroyed human life. The film worked so gracefully to avoid any touch with humanity you are quite frankly not bothered whether millions of lives have been lost.
Veidt’s masterstroke becomes lost in the glacial air.
In terms of other differences between novel and film 'Tales of the Black Freighter' is the major omission. The novel within a novel which introduced us to the newsvendor and his namesake, a smart-alec kid, is completely left out (released as a lone animated feature on DVD). Though this is an understandable omission due to running time constraints, these two characters are the main flames of human interaction we experience before the city stoops into ravaging hell (the lesbian couple and Dr Long's home scenes the only exceptions). What is gained in cinematic bounce is savagely lost in terms of any attachment we feel towards the human life left dwelling in the basin of the hell-bound city. As mentioned previously, Snyder's greatest failure.
It is difficult to comment for those who haven’t read the novel because many of the thoughts that arise (on viewing) blossom from the storyboards of the novels. I think the action segments were overplayed and slo-mo is a tool which should be used sparingly rather than frantically. Again, the sex scene between Dreiberg and Jupiter is agonisingly squirmish played out to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Other than that aberration, the soundtrack works as well as one would expect (Bob Dylan’s Times They Are A Changin used in the opening credits a favourable example). Still, you feel Snyder is pandering to the late MTV generation rather than staying true to the plot situation. Would a score have been a better option?
Concluding from whence I began, I feel Snyder should be commended for even managing to get the 'unfilmable' filmed. No easy task for sure. However the fanboy in him has resulted in his obsession to get the film seen by as many people as possible, leading to large compromises being made.
A mini-series would have been a stronger artistic statement (perhaps helmed by a director with a known balance for human nature AND stylistic visual flourishes) but less people would have seen it. Was Snyder’s aim to have as many people watch his film and then read the novel? If so, it’s a failure on his part because what he has created, unfortunately, is hollow pulp nonsense and the spawn of thousands of comic book cliches.
I urge you to read the novel if you haven’t already.
Grade: 4/10 (C-/D+)
Thoughts? Conflicts?
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