'Watchmen' Provides Good Mix of Style and Substance

By Joel Frady

Anyone that has seen 300 realizes that director Zach Snyder has a keen eye for crafting glorious images, and his new film Watchmen provides evidence that he knows how to create spectacular images. But Watchmen, unlike 300, has more than enough substance to match the style - this is a film that's about the human condition, the thin line between good and evil and, after all of that, some interesting superheroes.

For Snyder, Watchmen is a giant step forward as a filmmaker. After 300, a 117-minute film that felt too long, he brings us a 163-minute film that left me wishing it was longer. Watchmen has rich characters we care about, stunning special effects and a plot that focuses more on the "Why?" than the "What?" It reminded me of the first time I watched Sam Raimi's brilliant A Simple Plan, a complex, heart-breaking morality tale from the director of The Evil Dead and Darkman.

In both cases, tried-and-true action filmmakers proved they could capture something much harder than great action sequences: the dark, frightening and usually lonely depths of humanity.

Watchmen, which is also a terrific action film, whisks viewers away to a most unusual place: an alternate 1985. Unlike other alternate 1985s, however, this world was not created by a curious teenager with a DeLorean; instead, the film is set in a world where Nixon is serving his fifth term, superheroes have been forced into hiding and the United States, which won Vietnam thanks to superheroes, is on the verge of nuclear war with the U.S.S.R.

A handful of these superheroes - some longing for their glory days, some happy to live a quiet existence - are brought back together after the murder of The Comedian, a "superhero" so vile and hateful that he makes Snake Plissken and John Gardner's Grendel look like Wiliam Wallace and Lassie in comparison. Rorschach, another member of the group, believes that someone might be out to kill all the members of their crime-fighting fraternity and sets out to alert the other members. Most of them either don't perceive the same threat or, in the case of the physics-defying Dr. Manhattan, simply don't care.

The plot twists and weaves its way from here, and any more details would ruin many of the wonderful surprises. But it doesn't harp on the "superheroes deemed criminals and forced into hiding" aspect (I was worried it would be nothing more than a dark version of The Incredibles), and it's as unpredictable a film as any.

I also thought that it managed the philosophical elements perfectly, never getting too deep and boring the audience (like The Matrix Reloaded) or indulging in mindless violence.

The sheer brutality of Watchmen also helps - even if people are going to spend several scenes looking the other way. At first I wondered if it was too brutal, but I actually think that it works because, unlike so many films, the violence isn't glorified. It creates that uneasy feeling that violence should instead of simply presenting stylized deaths for audiences to cheer about. In this sense, it creates an atmosphere of fear instead of excitement.

Watchmen blends so many genres it's hard to count, but it works since each character's story is told in a different style. Rorschack, for example, tells his part through gruff voice-over narration right out of a film noir with the dark, shadowy photography to match. Dr. Manhattan's world is much more colorful (aside from the fact that he's blue), which helps contrast just how lifeless and inhuman he has become.

While I loved Watchmen, it's definitely a film that one will never fully understand without watching it. Even with one viewing, it's still hard to understand. But it is, above all else, completely alive: despite their powers, these are rich characters the viewer will care about. Despite the massive special effects, it's a very personal story that's about anything and everything.

It's also a reminder of just how far the "comic book movie" has come; we've left the realm of goofy plots, clichéd dialogue and silly effects and entered a place where heroes live in worlds that scare them, and they are as flawed and insecure as the rest of us.

Simply put: if you've hated the realistic turns of comic-based fare, like The Dark Knight, and long for the days of pointless dribble like Superman III, this movie might not be for you. But if you're up for an exciting, challenging film of surprising depth, Watchmen might be the one you've been waiting for.

Watchmen is currently playing at the Regal Cinema 7 in Boone.