WATCHMEN REVIEW

Two days ago I wrote a review for this movie two days after I saw it. I had rated it a 9/10 but now that is has sunken more into me, I have to change it. I felt like I was just pointing out the obvious visual critiques. Here is my new review of it

10/10

Yes, I call this movie perfect. Not perfect as in The Dark Knight perfect or Godfather perfect, but perfect in its own being or right.

This movie has the tagline of being the "impossible" movie to make. And why wouldn't it. It has THE biggest following along with a storyline that is hard to comprehend and to follow. This project has been through many studios, countless directors and has had a laundry list of A-list actors attached to it. 

When Warner Bro's dropped Darren Arrenofsky off this project, he wanted to switch the Vietnam references to current Iraq war and make it more modern time, the studio approached 300 director Zack Snyder to helm the plagued project.

I can honestly say that Snyder gets this movie. Not only because he is a Watchmen-fanatic, but because he also understands how to adapt materials into the "Hollywood" perspective.

His trademark slo-mo action camera scenes once again never fails to show the awesomeness of ass kicking. He has stated that he isn't a fan of the shaky camera view and when you weigh the two against each other, Snyder's vision comes out victorious. The attention to detail in the sets and making sure each frame is a complete replica of the graphic novel is wonderful. Whether it is depicting the city streets to Veidts artic workshop, the sets are as much apart of the film then the actors. 

When one watches the film, they will probably be walking away, praising Jackie Earle Haley's portrayal of Rorschach. And why wouldn't you. His voice is a perfect depiction. His displaying of the commitment and forcefulness of the character is uncanny. You'd swear that Haley was born to play this role. I wouldn't be surprised that a year from now, he is a candidate for best supporting actor at the oscars.

But the true brilliance comes from Patrick Wilson playing Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl II. Wilson completely embodies the role of Dreiberg. He masters the role of the unconfident, lonely 40 year old retired hero. His subtlety in his voice and the confusion in his eyes makes it all the better when you see him pummeling prisoners and breaking a guys arm. Throughout the film, Wilson has two breathtaking scenes. The first one comes when he is standing naked, looking through a glass door at this hero costume, stating to Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) that he is sick of being afraid. One can't help but to feel that same pain in whatever complications they may have in their life. The other is when he is brutally assaulting Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), for reasons that have to be seen in the film. His anger and pure hatred that he evokes couldn't be portrayed any better in real life. Wilson's finished depiction ranks among the best of all hero portrayals, with Heath Ledger as the Joker, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, and Alfred Molina as Doc Ock.

The other actor's play they roles to key. Billy Crudup excels at playing the calm and sophisticated Dr. Manhattan. His soothing voice makes him appear as always being in control. Malin Akerman's depicting of a second generation crime fighter is flawless. Her beauty and ass-kicking ability can only go so far until her neurotic and resentful side comes out. Jeffrey Dean Morgan's ability to play a complete asshole is put to use to play the equally same asshole Edward Blake/The Comedian. Matthew Goode may appear a little young to play the world's smartest man Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias, but what he lacks in appearance, he surely makes up for in just pure presence. His flawless fighting moves shows why a man of Goode's age was chosen to play a mid 40 year old millionaire. 

Many are going to write this movie off as too long and too much dialogue, only because they see this movie as a comic book movie. Well it is a comic book movie, but unfortunately comic book movie's are only seen as popcorn action blockbusters, which is a damn shame and is the sole reason why The Dark Knight wasn't nominated for Best Picture.

Some say that the movie doesn't allow the characters to open up and breathe, but it's pretty hard to when you're adapting material considered to be the best graphic novel EVER. Sure the actors don't really bring any freshness to the characters, but they strengthen their roles. I wonder if any of these so-called critics have even read the source material, let alone at least researched the roles by looking them up on Wikipedia. Probably not, they're too busy trying to bash this movie with their tongue in cheek remarks so they can seem original and insightful, yet they come off as pretentious and ignorant. 

This film is a piece of beautiful art. Thank you Zack Snyder, for having the balls to show the world that the impossible is indeed possible.