Why I Feel That Zack Snyder's Watchmen Is One of the Greatest Comic Book Films Ever Made

 

 

This piece will involve slightly more of an introduction then usual. I  hope you’ll indulge me.

In an earlier review of The Dark Knight Rises, I made it clear that I had a big problem with most comic book movies. I feel the need to moderate that I have never had that problem when comic book characters have been adapted for television. Indeed that may be the fundamental reason I have given the film versions of so many of the same franchises a much higher bar to clear.

I grew up in the late 1980s and 1990s. Those of who came of age in that era well remember that it was the golden age of TV animation. (I intend to write a separate series on this very subject starting later this month.) And indeed, there have been few better adaptations of comic book characters in any era than the version that we received in the 1990s.  Few would dispute that fact: it is almost universally considered that Fox’s Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men are among the gold standard of animation full stop.  Similarly part of the reason I have never fully been able to come on board with the MCU is because in the 1990s Spiderman: The Animated Series essentially did a dry run for that model – and in many cases, did it far better than so many attempts that Marvel has attempted. (I knew even before the disastrous attempt at Morbius came out last year that the filmmakers would have to do an incredible job to meet the high bar that Spiderman did across several major story arcs.  The writers really should have watched that series first to see how to do it right.)

This feeling has always extended to live action adaptations on TV as well. Reader, I must now confess that I have never truly enjoyed any of the movie adaptations of Superman –  only the first Christopher Reeve film meets my standards and even there I find it somewhat cheesy. By contrast almost every TV adaptation I have watched over thirty years has always been more enjoyable – from the still cancelled too soon Lois and Clark on ABC to Smallville, which though overextended still got almost everything right to the first two seasons of the CW’s Superman & Lois.  (In time I will get to reviewing My Adventures with Superman which debuted on the Cartoon Network and is, even in its first season, already at the high standards of so many animated adaptations of the 1990s.)

 I have found that my fundamental problem with so many comic book movies – that they do not take place in the real world – is fundamentally absent from the majority of TV adaptations of the same sources. It was true in the best parts of Berlanti’s Arrow-verse I found it in large part in the Marvel series that made up The Defenders franchise and it can still be found in some of the best animated adaptations. As I stated in my previous review with the sole exception of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and perhaps one or two films in the MCU (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Wandavision) none of these films, either Marvel or DC, take place in our world and deal with the problems of it. Yes I know how much Black Panther and Wonder Woman meant to a large part of the population but that doesn’t mean they were truly dealing with the world that those same population live in. When Diana Prince uses the Lasso of Truth to expose a sexual predator or Wakanda chooses to impose sanction on the US until they give reparations , then I’ll consider these franchises more important or relevant or better than Get Out or A Promising Young Woman. Until then, they’re just popcorn films that give the appearance of dealing with social issues.

This brings me, finally, to the big blinking exception. And again, I have to give some personal opinions first.

I will grant you that Alan Moore is clearly one of the greatest talents in the world of comic books. I also think based on his attitude towards so many people and his adaptations, that he is a giant prick. You know the kind of man who will take the money for having his work turned into giant blockbuster movies but makes sure to have his name taken off before the film is released saying A) I hate this work and B) if you love it, you are not a fan of mine.

I find this particularly appalling have read the original versions of From Hell, 300 and V for Vendetta. Granted I did so well after the film versions but by comparison I found all three either underwhelming or utterly incomprehensible. I could not see for the life of me why anyone would want to make a film version of any of them. In the case of all three movies, the writers and directors were to make an incomprehensible and lacking story is to something truly cinematic and in the case of the latter, thought-provoking. Moore seems to be the kind of man who wants to have it both ways: take the money for the work but somehow not be associated with the final product. I do not understand why he did the same thing with both versions of Watchmen, particularly the film version (I’ll get to that in a minute)

I also need to make it painfully clear that I have almost no use for Zach Snyder.  I realize that some people revere him and are upset that his vision for DC was never realized. I’ve seen parts of all three films he ended up directing (as much as I could stand) and can not for the life of me comprehend what so many people see in him. At best in these films he strikes me as the DC version of Michael Bey, someone who believes far more in violence, explosions and fights than an actual plot.  I watched bits of all three movies and I didn’t see anything that remote passed for a human interaction. I’m not surprised Snyder got the boot from DC; I’m amazed there are still so many people who believe his version of Justice League should be the gold standard.

Which is why I find it so hard to believe that, nearly fifteen years after the fact, what I consider without question not only his masterpiece but arguably one of the greatest comic book movies in history, is still maligned by the majority of fans and critics. It’s reputation has improved considerably since its original release in 2009 – I have little doubt the explosion of cookie cutter comic book films has made many of us reveal how fresh it now looks – but even now, there are still quite a few people who consider it an overlong joke.

And it was a disaster when it came out. The critical reception was, as it is with almost any comic book movie, generally lambasted. (There was, however, one key exception which I’ll get too.) But considering that Watchmen had been considered for more than twenty years not merely the greatest comic book ever written but one of the great works of literature period (I remember that Time Magazine listed it as one of the greatest books of the millennium) that it had been considered unfilmable until now, that the fanboys who worshipped this work would turn out in droves. Instead the film only grossed $108 million in the U.S, not even close to making back its estimated 130 million dollar budget and was torn apart by fans who argued that it was somehow a complete perversion of the work.

To be clear, one critic had a different view. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and raved about it for weeks, even writing two columns about it at his blog. He very well may not have read the original graphic novel (Ebert went out of his way not to read the source material of any adaptation before seeing the film of it) but I’d argue that speaks more for the film, not less. If someone who had no idea of the comic book’s reputation could consider it an utter masterpiece, then surely those who  had read could recognize its brilliance too.

I got around to seeing it when it debuted on cable later that year.  The version I got was the director’s cut which clocked in at over 3 hours. (Snyder’s original version clocked in at under 3 and a half hours; it can be found on DVD and Blu-ray if one looks.) The length did not trouble me; to quote Ebert “No good movie is too long; no bad movie is too short.” And Watchmen is a very good movie.

Snyder cast his leads with character actors rather than stars and as a result he got some of the best performers for the job.  Jackie Earle Haley supposedly campaigned for the part of Rorschach and its clear Snyder made the right choice: I can not imagine another performer doing as magnificent a job as this character who personifies the antihero. Most of the other leads would become famous not long after this. Jeffrey Dean Morgan gives what I consider his best performance in any medium as The Comedian; I imagine he took quite a lot of Negan from this character. Patrick Wilson, who often is the model for starry eyed idealism, is superb as Dan Dreiberg, the still idealistic Night Owl.  Matthew Goode is wonderful as the ultra-refined Ozymandias; you can tell how full of himself he is with every moment he’s on screen. Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino are both superb as the younger and older versions of the Silk Spectre. And Billy Crudup has always been great at playing characters who seem to be observing action more than a part of it; his choice to play Dr. Manhattan was spot on.

One of the biggest complaints to this is that the film goes on too long. I’ve always felt that this shows that the fanboys can never be satisfied: had Snyder compressed Watchmen into two hours, fifteen minutes, he would have been similarly lambasted for cutting ‘all the best parts. (There is a quasi-animated version that you can find online that clocks in at under five hours.) And to be clear, almost all of what made Watchmen the masterwork it is are here. I don’t just mean the plot and the characters; I mean that most of the sequences and dialogue that made the comic book what is was are more than present. The sequence where Rorschach is interviewed by a prison psychiatrist and reveals what made him who he was is mostly intact. The scene where Dr. Manhattan is exposed on national television is there as is, in my opinion, the highpoint of the movie: the chapter where Dr. Manhattan from Mars tells his entire life story. A fifteen minute tour de force soundtracked perfectly by Philip Glass and ended with the crystal cathedral on Mars being built, it is one of the greatest sequences I’ve seen in my life watching film.

And it’s not like they cut the plotline that truly makes me believe that Watchmen is the greatest comic book ever made it shows how utterly powerless superheroes are in the face of the real problems of the world. When Blake lights up the map that Veidt has been working on so painstakingly and tells him: “You’ll be the smartest man on the cinder” it registers just as much as it did in the comic book.  The story is not so much about Rorschach’s determination to find the masked killer but  that he is doing in the face of a nuclear holocaust. The film, like the comic book, takes place in 1985 for a reason: it is clear that we are in a dystopia and not even the most powerful force on Earth can do anything to stop the end of the world. Snyder spends the entire film laying bare just how powerless these superheroes are – and I guess that in a world of comic book movies, audiences in 2009 weren’t yet ready for this relentlessly bleak vision.

Now the purists who admit the movie is mostly right still blame Snyder for utterly rewriting the way that Ozymandias manages to play his ‘practical joke on mankind’.  I have to tell you, having read both the book and seeing the movie, I still believe that Snyder’s version is the superior one. Indulge me.

Moore’s fundamental opinion seems to be that the only force that could stop mankind from killing himself is an alien invasion. I read the book two years before the film came out. It always struck me as a cop out. Even if you’re willing to buy into the idea of this literal deux ex machina, it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve spent the previous eleven chapters with no idea that this was what Veidt was planning. He only barely hints at it in the last few moments of the climatic fight between him, Rorschach and Dan. Even how he got there is such a convoluted explanation so late in the game that it doesn’t even hold up on close scrutiny. (I’m not the only person who thinks then; a person who thought Watchman was overrated called Veidt’s actions that of ‘the world’s smartest man doing the world’s dumbest thing.) This might hold up for a few minutes after everyone backs away from war (even if no one tells the truth) but eventually someone would catch on. (The HBO version in 2019 acknowledges this flaw and actually has a way of working around it. I’ll discuss when I get to the TV version.)

By contrast the reason Snyder’s version works (at least for me) is because it is clear to everybody immediately (including the White House) what Veidt has fooled everyone into believing. We’ve seen hints at it earlier in the film and it makes Manhattan’s actions far more interesting in the final act. It also makes his decision to leave Earth at the end of the film far more convincing. In the comic book, it truly seems out of left field. In the movie, Manhattan’s actions are that of someone who not only wants to create life but knows as long as he’s still on Earth, there’s a possibility that Veidt’s deception could be exposed.

And it’s not like the fundamental power of the ending is altered.  I have never been able to forget the final moments of Rorschach as he storms off. Dan warns the others: “Don’t even think about it.”  Rorschach leaves with the lines: “Never compromise even in the face of Armageddon. That’s always been the difference between us.)

Snyder also makes the end far more powerful. Veidt admits his own involvement to Manhattan and asks if he understands. Manhattan says: “Without condoning. Or condemning.”  Veidt is aware of what is about to happen.

The final scene between Manhattan and Rorschach has never stopped haunting me. “So now you remember your humanity. Convenient. If you had in the first place, none of this would have happened.” Manhattan has seemed detached the entire film, but he actually sounds sorrowful in his final words to him: “I can change almost anything. But I can’t change human nature.” This is the thesis statement of Watchmen, and its memorable.

Rorschach’s sacrifice takes place as it did in the book with one exception – Dan sees it and screams “No!”.  He then storms back into the fortress and punches Adrian, curses him out: “You’ve deformed mankind! You’ve mutilated it! That’s the real practical joke”.  This is, in a way, a bleaker version than even Moore wrote. Veidt still gets away with it but no one is left off the hook for the cost.

So yes I grant you: Watchmen is a three hour, often meandering and relentlessly bleak comic book film. But I never considered any of those weaknesses then and I still don’t. It may not take place in the real world (the extraordinary opening credits sequence make it very clear that this is an alternate universe where superheroes are the forces of history) but its still far closer than most of the DC and Marvel films I’ve ever watched.  I don’t know if Snyder has somewhere in his vault a Director’s Cut of it that the world has yet to see. But I’d much rather see that than any version of Justice League he has.