Watchmen

Though it boasts plenty of positive attributes and is generally entertaining from start to finish, Watchmen, much like its Alan Moore-penned inspiration, suffers from a pervasively uneven atmosphere that ultimately ensures it fares about as well as its overrated source material. The storyline follows several has-been superheroes, including Patrick Wilson’s Nite Owl, Billy Crudup’s Dr. Manhattan, and Jackie Earle Haley’s Rorschach, as they reluctantly team up following the death of one of their own (Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s The Comedian), with the bulk of the proceedings subsequently revolving around their collective efforts at preventing a criminal mastermind from executing a plan that would kill millions. It’s worth noting Zack Snyder’s notoriously in-your-face directorial sensibilities aren’t quite as problematic as one might’ve feared, as the filmmaker, working from David Hayter and Alex Tse’s screenplay, generally does a nice job of retaining many of the beats and plot points contained within Moore’s work. The patchwork, almost episodic atmosphere that ensues inevitably does ensure that certain interludes are far more compelling than others, with Rorschach’s stint in prison and Dr. Manhattan’s origin story undoubtedly standing as highlights within the unapologetically bloated production. And while the movie has been outfitted with several unquestionably impressive performances (Haley is especially good as the surly and uncompromising Rorschach), there’s simply no denying that some of Moore’s indelible creations have been left woefully underdeveloped – with the increasingly muddled motivations of Matthew Goode’s Ozymandias emblematic of Hayter and Tse’s penchant for omitting large chunks of backstory from certain characters. It’s ultimately clear, however, that Watchmen‘s most egregious failing is in its treatment of Moore’s outlandish yet thoroughly satisfying conclusion, as the needless removal of a pivotal third-act element by Snyder and his collaborators is sure to raise the ire of those viewers with even a passing familiarity with the comic. The final result is a just-good-enough endeavor that’s unlikely to make much of an impact on neophytes, although, admittedly, the film is probably as adept an adaptation of the source material as is possible without going the mini-series route.

**1/2 out of ****