Watchmen Review

The popular graphic novel series ‘Watchmen’ comes to life in theaters this weekend.
Trying to describe the long awaited movie version of ‘Watchmen’ - what was thought to be an impossible to transfer from the page to the screen graphic novel—included in time magazine’s list of 100 best novels in fact—is like unraveling Gordian knot but here goes.

Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode portray two members of a group of mass vigilantes, though only one of the group has super powers.

The setting is an alternative world in 1985 when Nixon’s in his fifth term in the White House and the doomsday clock signaling humanity’s proximity to nuclear Armageddon is ticking ever closer.

Someone murders the comedian, a member of the group, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in this very violent movie.

Then another member of the group, Rorschach, sets out to find the killer who apparently is trying to eliminate all of the Watchmen.

Directed by ‘300’ filmmaker Zach Snyder, Billy Crudup plays Dr. Manhattan, a former atomic scientist turned superhero—and he’s the one with super powers.

He got them in an accident.

He’s an amazing character, but like all the mass vigilantes, he’s a flawed one too.
Malin Akerman’s another member of the group, here joining night owl, Wilson’s alter ego rescuing fire victims.

She was ok in the action scenes, but stiff when it came to doing any acting.

And by this time, the story with flashbacks and flash forwards is all over the place, confusing to the uninitiated and at times bewildering.
Movie critic Jeffrey Lyons said, “Watchmen is at two hours and forty minutes, endless to all but the legions of rabid fans of the novel. There’s a Nixon impersonator who must have gotten his makeup at a Halloween store, it looks that cheap. I guess they ran out of money after all of those special effects. This is very violent, has some needless soft core porn, is confusing to non-fans and it will do at least 40 to 50 million dollars this weekend, maybe more.”