MaestroJ - digital strategy & new media

A slew of friends’ bad reviews, an epic 2.5 hours of viewing and an ambivalent response to the original graphic novel set the tone for low expectations on watching the feature “The Watchmen”.

A comic geek from way back, I irrationally enjoy any big screen adaptations of comic books and graphic novels, I drooled over X-Men and even found the passable Fantastic Four palatable. I pee in anticipation of the upcoming Wolverine movie.

Director Snyder’s previous attempt at a graphic novel adaptation for 300 was a visual treat, and Watchmen continues this tradition. Snyder also seems to have flipped the gaze on its head with a showcase of male privates on screen. What is evident though is the sacred treatment of the original graphic novel visuals translated on screen with loving accuracy.

Each printed panel becomes an exquisite scene in moving frame, and this by far is the film’s biggest strength. The CGI effects, the slow-motion shots of significant moments, the filtered atmospheric tonality, shows cinematography at its best.

When I read the graphic novel, I wrote down in my Goodreads review that it was unneccessarily bleak, “It takes you on the heroes’ journeys without the pleasure of soaring in the clouds with them, fighting bad guys with them, reading minds with them, battling insurmountable odds with them…” Snyder seems to have picked this up as the movie had more emphasised moments of light and shade – kickass action scenes to a bass-pumping soundtrack, tender intimate scenes, among the, yes, bleak subject matter.

This is a serious film, with serious themes, adopted from a serious graphic novel that injected a depth of psychological sophistication to the comic book genre at the time of its release. If you can appreciate this, you will find the movie very enjoyable.