Watchmen (Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Walter Kovacs, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Edward Blake, Patrick Wilson) – The genre of comic book, comic strip, and graphic novel super-heroes is not my cup of tea. I read very few of them as a kid and stopped as an adult unless you consider Doonesbury, Tank McNamara or Delbert super-heroes. Comic book and comic strip characters have been a rich source of movies for years. The king of them is probably Superman but, of late, Batman and Spiderman have probably dethroned the Caped Crusader. Many made it to the small screen before the big one, ranging from Batman to Underdog. Filmmakers have been milking the comic super-hero genre extensively in recent years. There have been around seven Batman movies, presenting everyone from Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer to George Clooney to Christian Bale in the title role. Superman made its return with Christopher Reeve and then Central Iowa’s own Brandon Routh. Last year’s Ironman, with Robert Downey, Jr., was one of the best movies of 2008. And the list goes on and on. Actually, those are probably the only comic book super-hero movies I’ve seen, assuming you don’t count Dick Tracy, Rocky and Bullwinkle, or Fred Flintstone as super-heroes, of course. Unfortunately, DC Comics and Marvel have hundreds left to milk
What has emerged in recent years to the joy of teens and young adults is the explosion of movies taken from so-called “graphic novels.” I struggled with the concept of a graphic novel, figuring that reading Stephen King sufficed as enough graphic depictions to qualify. And while I have never read one, I now understand them to be essentially bloody picture stories that often used super-heroes in their key roles. I did see two movies that I am told were based on graphic novels, The Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman (that I thought was wonderful) and A History of Violence with Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris (that I thought was awful). I think I skipped all the other ones. I have been told by many that Sin City is positively perfect. And I know there have been others.
I had no intention of seeing Watchmen. But it’s been a slow last two months for movies so I went anyway armed with a review from my son. (Radio listeners of “Cliff’s Notes” will get a chance to hear his, too). Knowing it was 2 hours and 45 minutes long, I also prepared myself for a good nap, if necessary. But much to my surprise, I liked it. I really, really liked it.
Remember Underdog, the Wally Cox-voiced Saturday morning cartoon about a dog who wanted to be a super-hero because he wanted to do good. He donned a cape and fought crime everywhere even though he had no super-powers, just the will to do good. He even thought he did have some super-powers though we knew he didn’t. Actually, this type of “super-hero” has existed before. Truly, Batman is one of those. He’s got the Batmobile and a bunch of gadgets but no real super powers. So why do I drone on so? It’s because this movie is largely about super-heroes like that … plus one, the guy known as Dr. Manhattan.
Jon Osterman, played here by Billy Crudup (of movies like Almost Famous, Mission Impossible III and Big Fish), was a physicist working on an energy experiment when he accidentally got stuck in the chamber when the machine engaged and turned him into Dr. Manhattan. Actually, it transformed him into a huge, glowing, blue man with a perfect physique who apparently saw no reason to wear clothes – I mean none. Well, in fairness, once in a while he wears something around his lower abdomen, but not often. Actually, on the screen, I thought he looked like a naked Mr. Clean in florescent blue. He does have super-powers, is very soft-spoken, has somewhat disengaged from humanity (I figure he lost his “emotion chip”), and does random acts of good for the world while helping the U.S. government develop some super-secret, super-powered energy weapon. As Johnny Carson used to say: “You buy the premise, you buy the bit.”
He has a girlfriend/assistant/mock super-hero/super-babe named Laurie Jupiter, who is actually the daughter of one of those Underdog-like faux super-heroes named Silk Spectre. Laurie is Silk Spectre II and is played by Malin Akerman; mom is played by Carla Gugino, who is only seven years older than Akerman is real life. Gugino is also in Race to Witch Mountain, which is currently out. Akerman was in The Heartbreak Kid and 27 Dresses. Silk Spectre was one of a half dozen or so mock super-heroes that emerged in the early 1970s. They, along with Dr. Manhattan, comprised the Watchmen, watching out for mankind and fighting crime one bad guy at a time. The other Watchmen included The Comedian (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who looks like Javier Bardem), Rorschach (played by Jackie Earle Haley, Oscar nominated for his role in Little Children), Night Owl II (played by Patrick Wilson of Lakeview Terrace), and Ozymandias (played by Matthew Goode of Brideshead Revisited).
It is here that you have to suspend all disbelief and remember this is a fictional graphic novel. The year is 1971 and then-President Richard Nixon asks Dr. Manhattan to end the Vietnam War. He complies, the 22nd amendment is repealed or suspended, and Nixon is allowed to run for as many terms as he wants. But, in the ensuring years, given the riots in world capitals over the U.S. dominant power, people coming out of the woodwork to become super-heroes, and a burgeoning nuclear arms race between the Russians and Americans placing the “doomsday clock” at 11:56 p.m., Nixon (and Kissinger and others, all played by bad look-alikes) ban all super-heroes except Dr. Manhattan. Flash forward to 1985 when most of the movie takes place.
One of the faux-super heroes, Ozymandias, comes out and admits who he is, Adrien Veidt, a captain of industry and the acknowledged smartest man in the world. One, Night Owl II, resumes a normal life as Dan Dreiberg without ever revealing himself. Silk Spectre, Sally Jupiter, just retires and becomes a lush. Her daughter, of course, stays on to assist Dr. Manhattan is all ways. One, Rorschach, continues to slink around, and go after bad guys. And so does The Comedian, who doesn’t seem all that good or funny. But then he gets killed, bringing the Watchmen together again to try to figure out if this is a vendetta to eliminate the old Watchmen. And all that takes place essentially in the first 20 minutes of the movie so I’m not giving much away.
The rest is for you to watch. There is no doubt that there is a morality play going on here, too. Dr. Manhattan is clearly God – omniscient, omni-present, indestructible – but he is more than a bit conflicted. Of course, there is an insane mastermind, too. And that makes the rest of the movie a little like a James Bond film. Now, it’s up to the Watchmen to stop him if they can. And, yes, there is a love story and maybe a love triangle. So, in many ways, this graphic novel is a pretty conventional action film, only with otherworldly special effects, especially our naked, blue, glowing super-hero. Even the ending is relatively predictable.
I’m going to give you a hint, but it probably won’t help most of you. Near the end of the film, the bad guy is staring at a bank of television monitors. On one of the dozens of screens, barely noticeable, is a scene playing from one of my favorite pictures, 1964’s Fail Safe.
Watchmen did not seem like 165 minutes. And while it is cartoonish in terms of the characters, it never gets boring. And, as all graphic movies are, it’s very violent. Blood and gore are everywhere. But you know it’s all fake because, after all, this is a cartoon story. If you’re only going to see one of these types of movies, I recommend Watchmen.