DVD reviews
Immortals
"... a thundering example of style over substance."
Midnight In Paris
“...a delightful tribute to nostalgia and romance.”
The Illusionist
“...a film that generally brings warm smiles rather than belly laughs...”
Treasure Guards
"A willing suspension of disbelief should get most viewers across the line."
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Watchmen: 2 Disc Special Edition (DVD)
Year: 2009
Rating: MA
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Carla Cugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson
Distributor: Paramount
The Film: 4.5
The Disc: 3.5
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5
The 1986 graphic novel Watchmen is widely considered to be the best work that that relatively nascent artform has seen. Long, highly complex and wholly mature in its themes and characterisation, the Watchmen graphic novel is indeed a masterpiece, and many have believed it to be "unfilmable". Director Zack Snyder (300) proves those doubters wrong. With his big, bold, beautifully realised movie adaptation, Snyder proves that Watchmen is indeed gloriously filmable.
It's 1985, and we're in the middle of an alternate reality. Richard Nixon is serving his fourth terms as US President, The Cold War has tenuously placed the world on the brink of nuclear devastation, and the streets of America are junked with crime and violence. That's partly because President Nixon has outlawed "costumed vigilantes" - in this alternate universe, superheroes have been fighting crime since the forties, donning outlandish costumes to keep the streets safe. The members of the superhero team The Watchmen are now in retirement, except for the psychopathic Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), who hates the world and just about everything in it. When one of the former Watchmen - The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) - is murdered, the retired heroes are forced to face home truths not only about themselves, but also the deeply fractured world in which they live.
While there might be a little confusion for those not familiar with the graphic novel, the film is finely and expertly structured, finding just the right balance between action and characterisation. This is a movie about the psychology of superheroes and crime fighting, and the lacerating knife's edge on which the world constantly sits. It's a big film filled with big ideas, and it makes a mockery of those who think comic book movies are a lower art form. Watchmen is a dazzling, richly structured and often breathtaking piece of cinema that rates right near The Dark Knight in terms of big screen comic book adaptations.
While there are plenty of interesting, illuminating extras here (largely in the form of featurettes), the fact that the oft-discussed director's cut of Watchmen (which has been released in the states, and runs for over three hours) hasn't been released locally at this stage is a major disappointment. Hopefully, it's in the pipeline...
