Watchmen (Director's Cut)

Day 220 - 8/8/09 - Movie #216

BEFORE: In 1985, when "Return of the Jedi" was released on VHS, I was 16 years old, holding down my first job, and I paid $80, the full purchase price, for a copy. In those days, they released videotapes with high prices to encourage people to rent the movies instead of buying them, and in 6 months to a year, the price would drop to encourage sales. But I couldn't wait, I simply HAD to see the film at home on my VCR, again and again. Similarly, I picked up this DVD last week at the comic-shop as an impulse buy, and I would have paid just about any price that was on the sticker.

For you see, I've only been waiting for this movie since 1989 - 20 years since I first read the Watchmen graphic novel and thought, "Gee, that would make a great movie!" But I'm a patient man. I watched as great screenwriters and directors attempted to make this movie (I even have a copy of the Sam Hamm-penned screenplay that was pitched to Terry Gilliam) and as they failed, I realized that filmmaking had to evolve to the point where every last pixel on the screen had to be tamed in order for this to be done properly. Also, the right man (Zack Snyder) had to come along and pull the sword from the stone. So I'm a patient man who simply can not wait another day to watch this movie. So, no pressure...

THE PLOT: In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it.

AFTER: Brilliant source material, perfect casting, and impressive non-linear editing (carried over from the comic-book flashbacks) Just like the graphic novel, but with sound and music added - as an adaptation should be. In this alternate 1985 superheroes are real, the U.S. won the Vietnam War, and Nixon is in his fourth term as President. The story explores the dark side of costumed crime-fighting - the secrets, the lies, the conspiracies. The hyper-violence of vigilante justice, the kinkiness of costumed sex, and the threat of nuclear war hanging over everyone's heads. Then there are the small ironies - the man who can control time and space, but can't understand human emotions; the psycho-killer hero framed for murder, put in prison with many criminals that he arrested; the world's smartest man, seemingly unable to prevent the looming disaster (or is he?)

It's all dark, violent, and GORGEOUS. There are action sequences that bend and stretch time, evoking the best of Stanley Kubrick and Sam Raimi combined. There was one important change made to the ending, which readers of the comic book will recognize instantly - but I actually thought that the movie's ending was an improvement, and not just because it was the only part of the film that I couldn't predict. People sometimes forget that there was a several-month delay between issues 11 and 12 of the original comic, and fans were eagerly awaiting the story's climax - only to be summarily confused and challenged by the final result.

My one complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the soundtrack choices seem a little obvious - some songs like "All Along the Watchtower" and "Desolation Row" were referenced in the original comic, so to readers of the book, they're no-brainers. But setting a 1960's/70's montage to "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is a bit simplistic, and "The Sound of Silence" and "99 Luftballoons" have been used in so darn many movies, they've lost their power. But the use of Phillip Glass music (from "Koyaanisqatsi") during the Dr. Manhattan origin sequence was absolutely inspired.

Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach is the standout among the main cast - that voice, like someone gargling broken glass! - but I also liked Carla Gugino as the first Silk Spectre, and Patrick Wilson was spot-on as Nite-Owl II, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan just scary-good as the Comedian (a tough mix of hero and scumbag). And I also want to point out two well-cast supporting roles - Matt Frewer as Moloch, and Danny Woodburn (Mickey from "Seinfeld") as the small crime-boss Big Figure.

For anyone who might disapprove of the omission of the comic-within-a-comic "Tales of the Black Freighter" (which was released separately as an animated DVD), which was highly symbolic of the events going on in the main storyline, I suppose something had to be sacrificed to bring the movie in under 3 hours. (I watched the Director's Cut, which was 186 minutes) Fear not, for I heard that this Christmas they will release a 5-disc DVD set where the pirate/castaway storyline is re-edited into the main one. That could be interesting - to see how it affects the flow of the main superhero storyline...

So I stayed up until 6 am on a Saturday morning watching this DVD, and when it was done, I was both exhilarated and exhausted, and damn if I didn't want to start over and watch it all again! I can think of no higher praise.

RATING: 10 out of 10 flamethrowers (only because I can't give it an 11...)