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FILM REVIEW: "Watchmen" is not just men and women in tights
Ultimately, as the Doomsday Clock counts down to midnight and Armageddon, it becomes a race against time to find out who is manipulating events that may spark an all-out nuclear war between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union.
True. This portion of KCMETROPOLIS.org is designed as a place to primarily discuss independent films. As such, when you think of independent film the last thing to cross your mind would be Watchmen, based upon the 12-issue comic series published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987, and written by Alan Moore. Yet it is a rare commercial exception that deserves attention not because it may look cool, but because of its rich thematic depth and uniqueness.
The story begins with the killing of Edward Blake / The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, ABC's Grey's Anatomy), a superhero employed by the government whose bloody demise mirrors the indiscriminate brutality he had displayed towards men, women and children for decades. The setting is in an alternate version of Cold War America circa 1985 where Richard Nixon is serving another term as president and the Doomsday Clock ticks ominously closer to nuclear annihilation.
Although superheroes, or vigilantes as their detractors call them, have either been banned or secretly hired by Nixon, Walter Kovacs / Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, 1976's The Bad News Bears) seeks out the truth behind the death of his former colleague. The deeper the flawed, antisocial Rorschach digs the more disturbed he becomes by the conspiracy he uncovers.
One by one, Rorschach seeks out the remaining heroes who can make a difference - the unassuming, somewhat shy Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson, Lakeview Terrace); the lovelorn Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman, The Brothers Solomon); the near omnipotent Dr. Manhattan / Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup, Almost Famous) whose great power is causing him to lose touch with his humanity; and the smartest, wealthiest man alive Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias (Matthew Goode, The Lookout).
Ultimately, as the Doomsday Clock counts down to midnight and Armageddon, Rorschach and the others race against time to find out who is manipulating events that may spark an all-out nuclear war between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union.
Directed by Zack Snyder (300), Watchmen often paints a dark, disturbing portrait of the American dream. Greedy corporate executives and a trigger-happy, ultraconservative government are the agents of oppression in a society that has a bleak outlook towards its own future. ... Sound vaguely familiar?
Being a member of "Generation X," I am old enough to recall what it was like to have the spectre of nuclear catastrophe lurking below the distant horizon, and doing drills in school that had as much of a chance to save us from an atomic bomb as I do now to win a Heisman Trophy.
Because the Cold War has been over for nearly 20 years, it's hard to imagine that Watchmen will have the same resonance with younger generations. Of course a nuclear catastrophe is still possible but we as Americans don't think about it every day.
Snyder's cinematic presentation of Moore's original creation is more than just people dressed in costumes beating up bad guys with fancy special effects. It's raw. It's disturbing. It's a reflection of what could have been and could still be. It's about brave people who feel fear yet manage somehow to do the right thing. It's about brave people who feel fear but instead do the wrong thing. It's gritty. And it's not at all for children.
With the exception of Crudup, the cast lacks a lot of notoriety, but they rise up to the challenge of bringing complex characters to life. The most notable of them all is Haley who earned fame as a child actor in the mid-1970s. His performance is nothing less than brilliant as a thoroughly angry man who has buried his real identity after the actions of a child murderer tosses him over the edge of sanity. The eyes are the windows to the soul as the old saying goes and in Haley's eyes you can feel the penetrating, unyielding anguish his character is drowning in.
If you are a lover of cinema, then you should watch Watchmen.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Watchmen receives an A-.
Watchmen, which is in wide release across the Kansas City area,
is rated R and has a running time of 163 minutes.
Indie Film Editor
Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.
In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.
Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.
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