Watchmen
4
The Alan Moore written comic took a refreshing look at the superhero genre in a time when comics poked fun at themselves and manages to reinvent the genre as a struggle during the untrusting times of the Cold War. As a movie Alan Moore condemns the film and Hollywood as he has done many times before. Was this a fair judgement from the series author?
Who watches the Watchmen? This is a phrase seen in both the comic, and at least once in the movie. In the context of this movie (and indeed the comic series) it is a reference to the Keene Act which outlawed vigilantism in that it means who polices the Watchmen, and who can ensure that they act within the law and that any injustices they commit will be punished. This is the problem, they act outside the law, and so in the eyes of the government and the police force they are as bad as the criminals they fight. Alternatively, this phrase has also been used in viral marketing campaigns to advertise the Watchmen's theatrical release, altering it's original meaning to suggest who is going to watch the Watchmen.
The popularity of Watchmen as a comic series is understandable. Whilst it doesn't portray any of the usual characteristics of a superhero series it does bring a sense of realism, and to some degree futility, to the genre. The story follows a group of retired superheroes, the Watchmen, who are the second generation of superheroes and who followed in the footsteps of the Minute Men. The original Minute Men were a group of people who had no superpowers, they just put on a mask and costume and tried to bring some justice to the world by reigning in gangs and giving people hope. As they retired and the second generation took over the views on the so-called superhero community had changed and an official Act was passed which re-illegalised masked vigilantism. Years later Rorschach is still a masked vigilante and he begins to investigate the murder of one of the original Minute Men, the Comedian.
The Comedian was someone who claimed to understand human nature, and he set himself up as a cruel parody of it, and for the most part, everything you see the Comedian do in flashbacks throughout the story shows he is more of a villain than a hero and is a symbol of why the Keene Act was the right thing to do at the time. The story has a slight 1920's detective movie feel to it where the investigator is narrating the story to us through a journal, though this isn't the sole method of story telling as this is limited to when we see Rorschach alone.
The sometimes slow pace of the film deals with the lives and the past for the surviving members, the Silk Spectre II, Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, Night Owl, and Ozymandias as the world is falling apart around them, on the brink of the Cold War erupting into a nuclear war. At the time Watchmen was written the Cold War was a very topical subject, and many feared nuclear conflict was a possibility. In this "alternative timeline" these heroes follow a plot from a "mask killer" who in the fashion of other comic book villains declares his plans to the heroes. In this instance though the villain is actually a genius and has only told the heroes because they can't stop him - he has already initiated his plan, killing a million innocent people. What is unusual about this is that the villain does win, he has killed and has gotten away with it. As mad as the heroes are, it is only Rorschach who wants to tell the world what has taken place, despite the worlds beliefs that they need to unite against a common enemy. The villains argument is that in telling the world the truth, that the million of lives lost would have been taken in vain. There is now peace between America and Russia and the truth would only destroy this new found alliance.
The debate to be had here is who took the right stance, should evil be allowed to win for the benefit of all life on Earth, or should there be no exception - should always be brought in to be served justice for their misdemeanour. It's hard to know what is right, but you cannot really justify those deaths even if it has saved billions. If it was allowed where would the line be drawn before it is considered wrong? That is the problem, in the end Rorschach stood alone in his beliefs, he was the true hero despite his methods in bringing justice to criminals. This character can easily be compared to Batman in his methods of bringing fear to the underworld, and despite the following quote he does believe in justice and honour.
This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No." They had a choice, all of them.
The way the depth is brought to all the principal characters is brilliant. Quite often when we see flashbacks they distract from the main story, but here they serve to show what drives the characters and how the world has become the way it is in the film.
We can also see a transition between the Minute Men and the Watchmen which is symbolic of the transitions which have taken place in comic books with how characters are portrayed. The Minute Men were around as a group from 1939 to 1949, the same sort of period when comics first took a lighter, more comical approach to try and alleviate the depression of the Second World War. Characters which had previously been dark, brooding characters become light-hearted and jovial (such as Adam West's portrayal of Batman in the camp 1960's television series), wearing a bright coloured costume (though the campness didn't really happen until after the TV series). It was the same for the Minute Men - they wore brightly coloured costumes and never really took themselves seriously. When the Watchmen took over both their costumes and their mannerisms became more serious as the times were changing. This grimness in the 1986 penned series also reflected other comic book series such as Batman where the character had gone back to his roots and became a darker hero.
What I find interesting about the naming of the two superhero groups is the symbolism behind them. The minutemen in actuality were an elite group of soldiers hand-picked from militia during the American Revolutionary War of 1775-1783, though the name also draws parallels with the timing of when the story is set also. During the Cold War a clock was used to symbolise how many "minutes to midnight" the world was at - indicating how close they were to war and nuclear annihilation. So you can see how the name "Minute Men" could also be seen as being the minutes before midnight, before the darkness of war.
The film is faithful to the comics despite there being the occasional changes and bits cut from the story. The cinematography for the film is pretty amazing and has many excellent visual pieces such as the death of the Comedian at the very start of the film - it aids in bringing a sense of drama to a scene that has no dialogue.
The soundtrack I cannot fault, with classics like Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changing", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" and Jimi Hendrix's rendition of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". Even songs like Nena's "99 Luft Ballons" somehow seem to fit in with the story being told. Personally I find the choice of music to be absolute genius.
Despite having read the comic first I do find the movie to be thoroughly enjoyable despite moments where you just have to put up with the slow pace. If you're a fan of superhero movies or comics and have not yet seen this film then it is probably a good film to see.
