Rent Watchmen: Chapter I on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the graphic novel (paid link)
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski, Dave Gibbons (graphic novel), Alan Moore (graphic novel, uncredited)
Directed by: Brandon Vietti
Starring: Matthew Rhys, Katee Sackhoff, Titus Welliver, Troy Baker, Adrienne Barbeau, Corey Burton, Phil LaMarr
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
In an alternate history 1985, the murder of a government sponsored superhero draws his outlawed colleagues out of retirement and into a mystery that threatens to upend their personal lives and the world itself.
Verdict
The second part that completes the story will release November 26, 2024. That might make this worth watching. This movie alone is an introduction with no payoff. The story just stops abruptly. While there is plenty of potential, it would only be in conjunction with part two. Limiting my review just to what I saw in this part, it questions the morality of vigilantism through three masked super heroes and the violence they exert on others. If I hadn't seen the previous adaptation or read the graphic novel, I'd like this even less. It's incomplete. This doesn't add anything to the graphic novel. The live action movie adaptation at least truncated it to movie length.
Skip it.
Review
My introduction to The Watchmen was Snyder's movie adaptation. I loved the cynical outlook of super heroes which felt accurate. The core concept, which this movie doesn't quite reach, is that people need to be deceived. The truth only causes panic. From there I dove into the graphic novel that developed the characters and created this pessimistic world. This movie adapts part of the graphic novel. The second film will complete the adaptation.
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| Rorschach |
The movie starts with the death of The Comedian, a former super hero turned government agent. Was his death a result of his job in the government as a mercenary or someone targeting super heroes? This is a world where masked heroes and vigilantes have been outlawed. The vigilantes we see have all retired except for Rorschach, who takes it upon himself to investigate.
Each frame packs a lot of information that you wouldn't realize is relevant if you're watching this for the first time.
In the 60s Rorschach and The Comedian crossed paths as part of a super hero group. Even then The Comedian was pessimistic that a group could make a difference. It's made clear The Comedian is not a moral person, and it's likely the government's interest in him was that he would follow whatever orders given.
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| Adrian Veidt, Dr. Manhattan, Dan Dreiberg |
Rorschach is still clinging to the notion of being a super hero, investigating when everyone else has moved on and left that life in the past. Rorschach doesn't compromise. There's right and wrong, and he's the arbiter.
This looks at morality and detachment through Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, and The Comedian. Manhattan is above and outside of the human condition. He's a bystander watching the past, present, and future unfold though he's powerless to stop it. He has no feelings on his actions as he's merely fulfilling what has already happened. This hurts those around him as he ultimately doesn't care. Rorschach employs violence as a means to an end for what he deems is justice. His view is the most pessimistic, seeing humanity as too juvenile to save itself. They need Rorschach. The Comedian enjoys violence. He's self centered, using violence to take what he wants, leaving destruction in his wake. He enjoys it.
As this is the first of a two part movie there is a complete lack of resolution. This isn't a movie, it's an introduction. Snyder's movie was a good distillation of the graphic novel that fit a movie's runtime. This is half the comic, and it doesn't offer anything more than the comic provides. It's difficult to rate this as it's unfinished. Making this a series would have helped the pacing. I want to see the second part as I know this story, but I take an issue with any move that can't stand on its own.
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