Watchmen, or How I guess I watch the Watchmen?

Watchmen

Directed by Zack Snyder

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Carla Gugino, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

So, Zack Snyder delivered a 'well-crafted' adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen. Is it a good film? Not particularly. It's an entertaining ride and a great nostalgic companion piece to the (far superior, more intellectually stimulating and much more accomplished) graphic novel. The credits sequence in particular are breathtaking - it's odd how Snyder's 'talent' flourishes when he's not OCDing on painstakingly borrowing Moore/Gibson's "vision" and plotting it on screen. B

Some quick thoughts on the Watchmen themselves:

The Comedian

Who knew a Grey's Anatomy alum would have talent? (I kid... no, I don't) Morgan is crazy evil and loathsome as the character whose death opens up the story. You wanna punch him, you wanna kick him... and that's a good sign.

Nite Owl

Patrick Wilson. Need I say more? Okay: Naked Patrick Wilson. But, all gay fanboyishness aside, can we agree Mr Wilson has the 'social awkward yet smouldering good-guy' character down to a tee? I mean, isn't Nite Owl Joe Pitt without a costume and the mormon drama?

Dr Manhattan

Mr Crudup('s voice and gestures) make Jon a wonder of a character and much more plausible than I ever expected. His pain may not be 'human' but it is damn impossible to miss. Also: blue frontal nudity. 'nuff said.

Rorschach

So the growly voice might be a bit too Christian-Bale-Batmanesque, but it somehow works for Watchmen's most well-rounded and complex character and Haley 'knocks it out of the park' (he might also have beat it, set fire to it, hacked it, etc.) - this is after all his tragedy, no?

Silk Spectre II

Why are women's roles in so-called superhero movies under-written. Okay so you had to take away Laurie's penchant for smoking and thus nixed what is so clearly a window into her broken psyche and, yeah the whole mommy/daddy issues aren't really explored but did Laurie really have to be such a bland character?

Ozymandias

I love Matt Goode. He's a hottie and clearly talented. Why then was I so disappointed with his Veidt? Was it the blond hair? Was it the bluntness with which (SPOILERS AHEAD) Snyder and co. reveal from the get-go his malevolent ways? I say, a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.

Shoutouts to Ms Carla Gugino who is amazing and effortlessly wonderful as Silk Spectre I and to the F/X wizards credited with Mr Manhattan's Lower Manhattan.