First Hit: Mesmerizing visuals in sometimes cohesive scenes strung together by popular songs as the vehicle for transitioning between them.
I was mesmerized by the strong visual scenes in this film but the lack of a strong story line reduced its potential power.
The film begins during the opening credits and if you don’t pay attention; the history of why the world is as dark as it is, as depicted in this film, will be lost. From what I could guess there were two plots of somewhat equal value. One plot is about finding out who is killing past super heroes and the other is about the world coming to an end if someone doesn’t do something about it.
In both plots it is the combination of Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson playing their superhero roles that make and the attempt to create bridges between the beautiful scenes while making sense of the story.
The most glaring, obtrusive and enjoyable part of moving from scene to scene was the use of popular songs (songs I liked). However, their use felt too abrupt and most of the time out of context.
Zack Snyder directed this as he did 300; stylized and other worldly. For my taste, neither one is a really great film but they are fun to watch. There are attempts to create substance in the stories he tells, but both films fall short. In this film, the illusion that there is much substance in this graphic novel is hopeful at best. There was a lot of pre-release hype about this film and a pumping up of how important this graphic novel was, but for my taste, the story less than strong and the film exemplifies this. However, the positive side of this work (and 300 as well) is that he has a great visual eye and draws from a wide range of sensory queues. The use of colors, varying angled shots, lush backgrounds, interesting sounds, and intense detailed interiors are his strong suit. The characters in Watchmen that compelled me to pay attention to were Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, and Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.
Overall: Visually stimulating film with a weak storyline but well worth the time and money to see.