Blog Response Post: Watchmen

1. Analysis of the Book

Alan Moore’s 1987 graphic novel Watchmen is arguably considered the greatest graphic novel series written. It is also considered un-filmable. The novel is complex, time shifting, political, psychological, has a story (or stories) within the main plot and has incredibly flawed characters. One of these characters, Dr. Manhattan / Dr. Jon Osterman is considered unfilmable because the character can control matter and transcends time and space (also, he is naked for most of the comic).

2. Analysis of the Film

Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation Watchmen has stylistic points as well as interesting promotion. Both of these elements can be seen in Watchmen’s official trailer:

Snyder deftly shows off his use of slow motion, then sped up editing to enhance action scenes, as he did in the film 300. According to critics, the production also cast mainly well, especially with Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and  Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian.    Synder was also applauded for his depiction of the Cold War-era in the United States. The film was promoted through comic-book like posters, animated shorts also based on the comics, as well as interactive promotions, like a viral marketing website based on a newspaper in Watchmen, called The New Frontiersmen.

3. Analysis of the Adaption

Snyder is known for working by using the actual comics as storyboards. While this is good news for enthusiasts of the book, this method does not work absolutely for film. Snyder faithfully interprets all major plot points (except, obviously, the very ending). However, too much focus is on plot, and less on staying faithful to Moore’s characters. Although he does well portraying Dr. Manhattan, Snyder’s portrayal of Ozymandias and Rorschach is too severe, while his portrayal of The Comedian is too soft.

4. Online Research on the Film

•  The Mindscape of Alan Moore is a 2003 documentary film that follows the mysterious writer and his work. The film can be found on Youtube here. 
• This behind the scenes “Video Journal” from the films production shows the production of Rorschach’s mask. The production team even used the same ink blot patterns on the mask from Dave Gibbon’s drawings. Link to video clip here.
• “Watchmen: The High School Years” Parody on Youtube. Link to video here. 
• Watchmencomicmovie.com has definitive list of of the song references in the comics. Link to website here.

The list of music featured in the comics represents both the weaknesses and strengths in Zack Snyder’s adaptation. Snyder uses “Desolation Row”, “Unforgettable”, “You’re My Thrill”, “All Along the Watchtower”, and “The Times They Are A-Changing”, 5 out 10 of the music referenced. Notably absent is Elvis Costello’s “The Comedians” and John Cale’s “Sanities,” which the novel closes with, using the lyric “It would be a stronger world, a stronger loving world, to die in.”  The film supplements with other politically relevant American classics, such as “The Sound of Silence, ” and thankfully includes Nina Simone’s famed rendition of “Pirate Jenny,” a nod to Moore’s story within the story, The Tales of  the Black Freighter.  His use of Philip Glass’ work also speaks to Dr. Manhattan’s (literal) other worldliness. A negative point on the soundtrack is My Chemical Romance’s “Desolation Row” – the name next to Dylan, Hendrix, Nat King Cole, Leonard Cohen, etc feels inadequate (as is their cover of the song).

5. Critical Argument Paragraph

Although Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen changed the climactic ending of the series, it was a necessary and believable change regarding the time period of the film’s release. Snyder was applauded for treating the comics like a storyboard, trying to evoke the visuals of the comic in every scene of his film, so why would he diverge so far from Moore’s original ending? Although a giant alien squid is asking for a lot of suspended belief from audiences, other films, such as Cloverfield and the more recent, Pacific Rim, have accomplished this. Critics, such as Bob Rehak for Cinema Journal, believe the change was due to the post-9/11 political climate. According to a 2004 interview with Alan Moore, he “heard some people who were apparently in New York during 9/11 say that it felt like the last episode of Watchmen, that they were expecting some giant alien jellyfish to turn up in the middle of it all.” (Thill). In the novel, Veidt creates the “alien” to unite separate nations under a common threat. According to Rehak:

“That mass deception underlies Veidt’s plan now seems an ironic commentary on 9/11 to those who believe the attacks enabled the US government to define the responsible forces as a shadowy network whose conveniently elastic boundaries could both dilate to encompass whole cultures and contract to enable the torture of individual suspects… like a cruel proof of Veidt’s concept, conjuring into simultaneous existence a fearsome if largely fictional enemy and a “homeland” united in public avowal, if not in actual practice.”

Rehak emphasizes his point by saying that the World Trade Centers were shown in multiple shots in the scene to emphasis what could (or will) happen to the world (Speilberg and Scorcese also use shots of the Twin Towers in their films Munich and Gangs of New York for this effect).

Works Cited

darkavm (Youtube user). “Watchmen Video Journal #11 – Rorschach’s Mask.” Youtube. 9 February 2009. Web. 4 July 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u9lntXrcmM>.

freakyfractal (Youtube user). “The Mindscape of Alan Moore (2003).” Youtube. 2 March 2013. Web. 4 July 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YutJ0HORpAQ>.

gelfbury (Youtube user). “Watchmen: The High School Years.” Youtube. 1 April 2009. Web. 5 July 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIHpKvSdh0I>.

Rehak, Bob. “Adapting Watchmen after 9/11.” Cinema Journal. Fall, 2011. Vol. 51, Number 1. Project Muse. 4 July 2013. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cinema_journal/v051/51.1.rehak.html>.

“Song References.” Watchmen Comic Movie. n.d. Web. 4 July 2013. <http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/watchmen-comic-songs-music.php>.

Thill, Scott. “Review: Watchmen Film Straddles Line Between Loyalty and Heresy.”Wired. 5 March 2009. Web. 4 July 2013. <http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/03/review-watchmen/>.