"Who watches the Watchmen?" Apparently, a lot of people do. When a movie was finally announced after 20 years of developmental hell, I was excited. I was a bit leery about Zack Snyder being at the helm, but I thought it could be awesome. I am a huge fan of the graphic novel by Alan Moore, so much so that I read it about twice a year and own multiple copies (so I can borrow them to people). When the movie came out, I was there opening night. The first half was a pleasant surprise. It had been shot beautifully, and the story was close to the comic albeit less nuanced. This was forgivable, even understandable. Fitting 12 dense issues into a 2.5 hour movie was nearly impossible. Patrick Wilson was nothing short of incredible as Nite Owl II, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan was perfect as the Comedian. Rorschach was also awesome as was Carla Gucino as Sally Juniper. Although, from the beginning, I wasn't happy with Malin Akerman as Laurie. I had never found her to be a skilled actress, and this character carries much of the story. It could even be argued that she's the most important character in the graphic novel. Then, there was Matthew Goode playing Adrian Veidt in a weird turn. He had an accent. Apparently, being born to immigrants means that you have an accent when you speak English. Who knew?
There were flaws to be sure but there were flaws with the graphic novel too. Sometimes, the story could drag a little, and the added bits between issues didn't always add much. For many, the ending was a disappointment, but I loved the ending.
Other than the flaws already addressed, there were more in the movie. Laurie's character is reduced to the point of not mattering. Doctor Manhattan is well endowed when the dude honestly wouldn't give a damn about it. The nuance is gone, and the violence is ramped up. It's basically stated that the Comedian and Sally were an item, possibly in love, in the first few minutes. The violence is bloody and extended when the comic had muted violence (this is important later). Slow motion was included (a Snyder staple), but it doesn't add anything. It's a style over substance decision, and, while I get that he must like these kinds of shots, they don't work in this film well.
Then, the ending is completely changed (Thar be SPOILERS ahead). I actually wouldn't have had a problem with it except that the ending literally makes no sense. I don't mean that in the "this couldn't happen way". I mean that the same outcomes would not happen at all. Adrian bombs cities and blames Dr. Manhattan. The other heroes discover this, but they all agree to stay mum except for one. Now, the comic makes it appear as an alien threat which has attacked us. It works because the threat feels real, and it is unknown. It also has an emotional impact when bloody bodies are strewn everywhere. It's first encounter not only kills three million people, but it also leaves people mentally distraught for years to come. In the movie, as previously stated, a bunch of cities blow up, and they blame Dr. Manhattan. So why doesn't this work? Well, Dr. Manhattan is a known entity, and, seemingly, he left Earth, for good. Unless Doc wants to hang around and terrorize people, this is rather pointless. Secondly, he worked for the US. The Soviets are going to be suspicious. Hell, they might have even launched nukes in response. The US might also have responded like that since neither knew where these explosions came from. They're just going to wait around to see if it's something else? Also, how do they know it has Dr. Manhattan's signature. In short, this plan is also stupidly risky and doesn't guarantee peace at all. Lastly, no one has ever been able to stop Dr. Manhattan. There is literally no defense against him. The best the world could hope to do is make peace with him, but he's left Earth. In the comic, the world is on the brink of nuclear disaster. The only deterrent, Dr. Manhattan, is gone. When a creature suddenly appears, the world is looking for a solution and looking for peace. In short, it makes sense whereas the movie just doesn't. Then, to add insult to injury, the film has arguably the most important line of the book said by the now least important character. "Nothing ever changes." Laurie says this to Adrian in response to "I did the right thing?", and it immediately removes the power of it. Having Dr. Manhattan say that line actually means something, and Laurie saying it could have except that she was basically downgraded as a character. I understand why Snyder didn't want the squid, but the movie ending is a logical catastrophe.
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