Most of what’s good about Zack Snyder’s Watchmen was already
good about Alan Moore’s graphic novel. But give credit: For a generally
faithful adaptation, Snyder commendably lets Watchmen feel like
a movie.
Comic-book fans can be as bad as Harry Potter fans for
flipping a lid whenever a film adaptation deviates from its source.
Since Watchmen is one of the most beloved works in the comic
medium, the movie presented a can’t-win scenario. But Snyder tackles
Watchmen‘s complex tapestry with moments of style. It stands
nobly among recent comic-to-movie adaptations by virtue that its source
has an intricate multi-sided approach to which the director feels in
debt. The melee of present reality with flashbacks, and of fantasy with
altered historical events, makes the movie weird, thus worthwhile.
Watchmen steps off the beaten superhero path. It trips up a
lot. The last hour is mostly a drag. But its best moments resonate of a
blockbuster that’s taking risks.
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2009.
