Watchmen is a twelve-part comic book series, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, that tells the realistic story of a fractured band of superheroes in an alternate timeline to our own. What made the series so influential back in 1985 is Moore’s deconstruction and critique of the superhero genre itself, packed in with a plethora of expertly crafted political and philosophical messages and themes. Overnight, Moore and Gibbons changed the comic book landscape with their approach to scripts while also proving that the medium itself is one to be respected. So, in 2009 when the comics film adaptation hit big screens did it translate well? Well, yes and no.
Movie Adaptation
Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen is, interestingly, faithful and unfaithful to the source material at the same time. Let’s start with the bad. Snyder, who is known for awesomely shot action films, was simply the wrong person to take the helm of this project as he seemed to completely miss the point of Moore’s original story. The comic book writer made it a point to criticize the genre’s approach to violence and to depict his characters as tragically disturbed people. Yet Snyder glorified the action and presented audience members with a cast of characters that were almost meant to be idolized, just like the rest of the figure heads of the superhero world. One of the main examples that comes to mind is how Roarshack (a mentally unhinged and right winged character in the comics) is depicted as this film’s voice of reason and the stand-in character for viewers.
Misconstrued themes aside, the film also couldn’t effectively translate the sheer amount of detail sprinkled throughout Moore and Gibbon’s comic book. The vast majority of the page’s panels contain references to earlier plot points, effective imagery or clues for what’s to come. Not to mention the excerpts from other texts within the Watchmen world included at the end of each chapter, which only added to the story’s intriguing world building.
Snyder, however, succeeds on a technical level with the majority of the film’s shots faithfully recreating the comic’s panels. For example, Roarshack’s introduction in both the film and the comic are strikingly similar, with the scenes following each other beat for beat. Snyder even makes use of the comic’s opening captions, translating them into voice over narration as Roarshack investigates the comedian’s apartment. But where these scenes majorly differ is in their colour, as Snyder utilizes a grey, moody palette as opposed to Gibbon’s more dynamic one. While it helps establish the tone for the film’s opening, I believe this is another example of what is lost during the transition from comic to movie as Gibbon’s unique visual style just can’t be properly depicted on screen.
That being said, the film’s opening fight scene expands on certain panels rather than just accurately recreating them. What was only seen in brief shots within the comic, the Comedian’s fight with his eventual murderer has an entire scene dedicated to it that – while entertainingly choreographed – further solidifies Snyder’s departure from the source material’s original ideas. As a result it also forgoes an interaction seen in the comic between two detectives that not only sets up the story’s initial mystery but also displays Moore’s use of dark humour. Snyder instead relies on the fight itself as well as lines from the Comedian such as: “It was only a matter of time,” to maintain the audience’s intrigue and build that aforementioned sense of mystery.
Despite the overarching issues with the adaptation, I still appreciate and enjoy Snyder’s use of music in this film. During its title sequence, viewers witness a montage of events that have occurred in this alternate timeline accompanied by Bob Dylan’s, “The Times They Are a-Changin.” The lyrics not only signify the passage of time but also that by watching the film you are entering a completely different world than ours. The montage itself also provides certain bits of contextual information that otherwise might not have been explored in the film, since in the comic they are fed to readers over the course of various chapters. The film’s gritty tone is also clearly outlined here, as these ‘superheroes’ who are intended to uphold virtues and exemplary behaviour are seen dead in bloody crime scenes or being dragged off to mental institutions.
While Watchmen (2009) may be considered a disservice to the intent of the original comic’s author, it is ultimately a piece of media that is more interested in succeeding in different ideas. Snyder’s scenes are beautifully shot and wildly entertaining thanks to his use of music, special effects and excellent fighting choreography. The director has also stated in interviews that his version of Watchmen is intended to be a satire of pop culture and superhero movies of the time, rather than comic books themselves.
With their comic, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were saying, ”Superheroes are kinda funky, aren’t they?” We build upon that with a movie that acknowledges that superhero movies have affected pop culture.
Zack Snyder, during an interview with ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
It provides additional context as to why Watchmen (2009) is so violent – besides that being Snyder’s usual approach to the medium – exposing the brutality of these character’s actions where other superhero flicks would sweep it under the rug. While an interesting idea in itself, I argue that it could have been achieved without the use of the Watchmen name and instead explored as its own self contained story.
Witchers and Witches 