Craig Watches “The Watchmen”

The Pitch: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s classic comic story brought to life on the big screen by Zack Snyder.

The Overview: It’s 1985… Richard Nixon is President… superheroes are real… and someone is killing them off.

The Good: The story was considered unadaptable to film, but this is near perfect.  The direction is spot on.  The sets, the costumes, the special effects, and the casting are also on point.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan [The Comedian] and Jackie Earle Haley [Rorschach] own every scene they are in.  Matt Frewer as Molach.  The Night Owl’s flying machine.  The more I think about the movie, the more I like it.  Rorscach’s two classic lines while being threatened in prison.  Dr. Manhattan.

The Bad: At times Matthew Goode as Ozymandias reminded of Dana Carvey from Saturday Night Live.

The Ugly: Compound fractures in some of the fight scenes.  Blocking the prison cell door.

The Summary: Although I read the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons Watchmen comic mini-series [it wasn’t published as a graphic novel until later] when it was first released, I wasn’t as taken with it as most.  I enjoyed it.  I liked the movie better than the source material. [Quit booing, it’s just my opinion.]  The story changes didn’t bother me a bit… in fact they may have made the movie better.

I wish that Alan Moore didn’t distance himself from the project.  It’d be interesting to hear his thoughts.  Dave Gibbons praised the film.  Who am I to agrue with Dave?

I can’t wait to see the movie again.  Who knows, after that I may even want to pull the graphic novel off the shelf and reread it.