Watchmen

Superhero movies are a genre that’s mostly seen as big budget profits. Its target is a large audience, so easy thrills and superficial action sequences are sadly too often the main focus.
For the better, the last couple of years we’ve seen some truly awespiring pieces in this genre, including this adaptation of Alan Moore’s bestseller. Don’t get me wrong, this movie also has its share of easy thrills like some show-off special effects or an easy romance with awkward moments we can all find sympathy with.

But director Zach Snyder, the guy behind Dawn of the dead, and the widely acclaimed 300, doesn’t easily compromise. His previous work is also both gruesome and dark.

The movie delivers a more realistic view on how superheros would operate in everyday society. The first 10 minutes shows an ingenious and informative opening credits montage sequenced to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin” which blew my away.

With an almost 3 hours long running time, it remains spectacular and compelling all the way through, partly due to a stylish cinematography which sets a smooth but tense emotive atmosphere.
Part film noir type story telling through the griddy Rorschach character is the most brutal while the Dr. Manhattan character makes us question why humanity needs surviving in a world without hope.

All in all, opinions are widely spread, I think it’s a good adaptation to the graphic novel which lacks some heart but hugely makes up in style. A magnificent spectacle in sound and vision it certainly is.