Watchmen - Review

In an alternate universe's 1985, during the threat of a nuclear war happening at any given time, a superhero is killed leading Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) to conduct his own investigation and find out who is responsible. His reasoning is that an attack on one hero is an attack on them all, however when his investigation gets started, he soon realises that there is a lot more to this murder than first meets the eye.

This film has a lot of characters who are central to the main plot of the film, there are seven main superheroes who all have their own backgrounds and stories to tell, one of the things I was most weary about before watching the film was how Zack Snyder was going to fit all of the back stories and subplots in the film without making them too brief yet not overriding the importance of the main plot with the introduction of these multiple characters. Snyder triumphs over this worry I had, beautifully capturing the majority of character's history, family and reasoning for their actions in the present, flashbacks are frequent and add a certain depth to the characters the film itself.

The acting in this film is phenomenal, be it Matthew Goode's portrayal as the handsome and smart Adrian Veidt, Malin Akerman's performance as a daughter living out her mother's dreams or Billy Crudup combined with a whole lot of CGI as the god-like Mr. Manhattan. Every single performance is captivating and believable, which is interesting when we are talking about a superhero film. The acting is a key aspect of how well flowing and easy to watch a film such as Watchmen, with such a complexly structured plot, is able to be.

The majority of this films scenes are in darkness, lighting is limited and it seems almost an experiment on just how much lighting can affect a picture's mood. The constant gloominess surrounding the characters and story is representative of the bigger picture, the constant threat of a nuclear war, the ticking of the doomsday clock and at some points, the superheroes inability to uncover the truth behind the murder. Zack Snyder made this film so highly stylised as a nod back to the character and stories roots as a comic book and his directing is filled with excitement, tension and drama, as is any comic book.

The brilliance of this film is so much more than any words can explain, capturing your attention from the opening scene to the closing one, this is definitely a film in the higher end of the superhero film category. Snyder is proving himself again and again to be one of the most visionary directors still working at the moment and Watchmen is a classic example of this statement coming true. With everything an outstanding film needs and more, Watchmen should be required viewing for anyone who claims to be a film fanatic.