Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?

A review of Watchmen

By Sonia Aurora

Because I like to keep my nerd-geek street cred, it was imperative that I read the Watchmen tome before the film, to be able to revile or revel in what Zack Snyder and Co. translated cinematically. So I finished the graphic novel a few months ago, after owning it for about a year, having picked it up, put it down, picking it up again, and putting it down. I wasn’t sure what prevented me from reading it right away; I react like that to some things, where I hesitate, probably because some future self knows its going to impact me.

And it did, although to a certain degree I wonder if it would have impacted me more had I read it in 1986, although my 13 year old self would have been thrown and confused by it, I’m sure. I was still thrown and confused in 2008, but in a different way. After I’d finished it I told my sister (who loved it), “I’m not sure how I feel about it.” It took me about a week to fully finish chewing, swallowing and digesting it and as a whole I could respect it in a way you should respect masterpieces, appreciated it, understood it, but couldn’t wholly love it.  It’s hard to embrace a bastard like the Comedian or a supreme being devoid of humanity (Dr. Manhattan). Surprisingly, like many, I loved Rorschach, our principle narrator, a vicious killer, but a man who believes in Justice at whatever cost. He tortures as he kills, but he addresses Evil with Evil. He is also black and white, and when the book reaches its climax, when he is faced the grey area, he becomes the book’s tragic hero.

The book is tragic, and heavy in all its philosophical elements. It forces you to think about the Grey Area, and reminds you how dirty a color grey actually is. It’s themes stayed with me a long time, and I wondered along with everyone else what would happen when we got to see Watchmen three-dimensionally, interpreted by Hollywood.

I tried to stay away from reviews, skimming them to get a general sense of thought without extracting too much detail and potentially spoiling something. Across the board, I read “faithful to the book to a fault.”

I have to agree. If you’ve read the book, the movie is the meat of it – the central story of Watchmen streamlined without the distraction of the excerpts richly interspersed. Tales of the Black Freighter, the comic in the comic is also gone (though to be included in the DVD among, I’m sure, a million more hours of extras).  Essentially, we are presented with the bloodied, bruised heart of darkness.

Without giving too much away for those who haven’t read it, it’s good and it’s long. I came away from it feeling remarkably the same about all the aspects of it as when I’d read the book. Which I think honestly makes it a success. I was just as frustrated by Dr. Manhattan’s musings and presumed apathy, probably even more so with Billy Crudup’s soothing vocal delivery (he’s my sister’s favorite character, but I constantly wanted to hit him into submission to explain to him the worth of humanity, even in its failings). The Comedian as played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan was just as amoral, and I almost wanted more of him (sick as that may be). I was wary of Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre/Laurie, but she while she didn’t impress she also didn’t disappoint. Nite Owl/Dan seemed a little better drawn out for me in the film, which I think is not only due to the writers but the depth Patrick Wilson breathed into him. Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias also irritated me as much as Dr. Manhattan, because of who the character is. Matthew Goode’s portrayal was so that I hated even more what Veidt came to do and what he presented. The injustice he commands at the end was no easier for me to swallow than it was on the page.

But, for me, Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach was a revelation. He was everything I wanted the character to be, and more. While the ever changing ink blots of his mask bothered me at first, I came to enjoy it as that masked animation are his expressions. And admittedly I cried out in glee when he delivers my favorite line from the book in his growly, animalistic voice: “[You don’t understand]; I’m not locked in here with you; you’re locked in here with ME.” And at the end, when he faces the Grey Area, my heart broke a little as I believe his did.

I was shocked at the violence of it, though I admit it was necessary, and I felt the sex scene between two of the characters was too long to the point of being uncomfortable. While my friends later made fun of Dr. Manhattan’s “man junk” waving around all the time, again, it was true to its source and the symbolism of his detachment. In the end, I was disappointed in a way only because the ending was primarily the same as the book, and while I appreciate that it had to be, it made it no better that the state of that world – our world – could come to that still. Yet, in the last frame, at the last line, I did still feel a glimmer for Rorschach’s black-and-white justice. Yes, we can debate whether that is right or wrong or if you agree with Veidt and Dr. Manhattan – I still think that their philosophies and good intentions are crap because their own views are a different shade of black and white. If they had made honest sacrifices of themselves for the “greater good” I could have (maybe) sided with them. (OK, probably not).

I made a mistake in watching the film in Imax; I say “mistake” because while Imax is amazing, it is only truly amazing if you get the right seat. Otherwise, you’re sitting on the side and too close, as if you got stuck sitting in the front row of a regular movie theater, the faces too large and fast sequences distorted.  I still felt visually captivated, but I know I was robbed of it a little too because I was at such an awkward angle.

The people in my group who weren’t familiar with the source came away with stunned looks; I could almost see the wheels in their heads still turning as they processed everything they had seen. They all agreed it was good, and that it was a lot to absorb. Those in the audience who came with knowledge applauded at the end, I think if for no other reason that it stayed true. Yes, I heard grumblings about what was left out (the fate of Hollis Mason being one) but for a movie almost 3 hours long, you have to cut it a break. I feel confident that a lot of light will be shed in the super-deluxe DVD that will come out by year’s end (if not sooner).

Overall, I suggest watching Watchmen. It forces you to think about Big Ideas, and that is never a bad thing. And ultimately, no matter what I think of the outcome, the book and film are much like a Rorschach ink blot – left to interpretation, and interpretation is neither right, or wrong.

*The Latin phrase is “who watches the watchmen?”; actually, literally translated it says “who has custody of the custodians?” But it’s the very last phrase at the very end of the graphic novel, standing alone.

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About Sonia Aurora: Aspiring screenwriter and seamstress, Sonia’s dream is to write life-changing films while product-placing her own line of handbags. In 1999, she wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the short film Dr. Lovestrange, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bug, a satirical homage to Stanley Kubrick set amidst the panic of Y2K (Featured on ifilm.com & Coming Soon to YouTube!). While Sonia waits patiently for the Studios to call, she continues her selfless, humanitarian efforts (think Mother Teresa) through her scripts, short stories and sewing (a true triple-threat!), knowing all the while that someday her efforts will indeed save (or at least mildly tweak) the world. She still struggles with which picture to kiss before bedtime: her boyfriend’s or Bruce Campbell’s. And, in the interest of time, she’d like to start thanking the Academy now.

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