REVIEW: Watchmen

What better way to kick things off and test the formatting of Blogger than with an adjective laden movie review!

Last night I saw Watchman, the anticipated OTT spectacle from 300 wonderboy Zack Snyder. NO - I've never read the book. But YES - I made an effort to familiarize myself with the Watchmen universe before going in (unlike the bemused elderly couple sitting two seats away).

The long declared 'unfilmable' story is based on the 1986 graphic novel by Alan Moore and blah blah blah etc -You've heard the spiel. What it all amounts to is a campy action/adventure cinema experience akin to what could only be described as War and Peace on acid. A lot of morality talk and pretty colours set to one of the oddest yet strangely enjoyable soundtracks you've ever heard.
Thanks to her surname's pole position in the alphabet, Swedish hottie Malin Ackerman gets top billing, but this is an ensemble piece with many fine performances, though, devoid of the kind of juicy role that had Heath Ledger pulling in droves of punters to multiplexes 6 months ago.

Technically perfect with flawless special effects, not even the flamboyant costume's look out of place in Snyder's religiously preserved rendition of the offbeat world inhabited by the Watchmen. Their meddling in our alternate history (The godlike Dr. Manhattan wins the Vietnam war for America) is an interesting angle, grounding the story with a real world context as opposed to quarantining itself in some fictional city a 'la Batman's Gotham or Superman's Metropolis. Praise aside, it's a shame then that Nixon (here portrayed serving a 3rd term as President) comes off looking and behaving little like the exaggerated characterization we've come to know and expect.

The Dark Knight this is not. Whereas the popular Batman installment focused on Bruce Wayne's dramatic struggle to contain Gotham's most notorious villain, Watchmen is a broader superhero story told on a much grander scale, encompassing a mixed bag of caped crusaders fighting across time (alternate 1985) and space (Mars!) for peace amidst the pre-apocalyptic tensions of a US Vs Soviet induced WWIII.

The peripheral demo's who enjoyed Knight will steer clear after opening weekend. This is one for the fanboys.

Bullet-time money shots: Tick!
CGI destruction orgy: Tick!
Hyper edited fight scenes: Tick!
Worth the price of admission? Hell yes.

Sure, it's a little long and it ain't the most mainstream execution of blockbusting superhero's you've likely seen before. But it is different.

SEVEN radioactive blue penises out of TEN.