Film: Watchmen

STARRING: Billy Crudup (Almost Famous); Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children); Patrick Wilson (Lakeview Terrace); Malin Akerman (Heartbreak Kid)
DIRECTOR: Zack Snyder (300)
WRITERS: David Hayter (X-Men, X2) & Alex Tse (newcomer)
PLOT: When an ex-superhero is murdered, one of his colleagues begins an investigation but finds something far worse is going on.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS
4 Beautifully shot. But then again, I expected that from the guy who brought us 300. The camera moves around seamlessly and perfectly captures the darkness that surrounds these gritty superheroes. Of course they also focus on the violence, which at times is pretty extreme. But then again, it’s the 300 guy.
4 Pretty sweet soundtrack. The songs seem to counterbalance what is being seen on the screen. Nat King Cole’s 'Unforgettable' during an extremely violent brawl? Nice. Also the opening credits done to Bob Dylan’s 'The Times They Are a Changin’' is masterful and fun.
4 The story is fascinating but a little too over ambitious. There is a lot of plot and backstory to go through. Clocking in at two hours and forty-five minutes, it’s a little hard to sit through that many character studies. But I guess if they wanted to stick to its graphic novel source, it’s justified. I haven’t read it. Kinda want to. But I heard the movie changed the ending. Typical.
4 Costumes and make-up were great with the exception of President Nixon. The superhero outfits are wonderfully elaborate, Rorschach constantly changing mask is fantastic but the nose job and aging they give to Nixon looks so fake. Almost like a rubber mask. It’s too bad we see this hideous mug near the beginning of the film.
4 Too much penis! This is the second movie in a row where I’ve had to complain about the excess of nudity. I know in the graphic novel, Dr. Manhattan is nude most of the time, but we don’t need to see it on the screen for that long. And speaking of long. C’mon. How much did Crudup pay to have that thing CG’d? The graphic novel is much more tasteful. Imagine that.

RECOMMENDATION
Wait for the DVD
(It’s really long.)

COMING SOON
I Love You, Man.