(Available as single-disc Theatrical Cut and 2-Disc Director’s Cut)
For the longest time the Watchmen graphic novel was said to be “unfilmable”. Obviously, that’s a nonsensical notion. If we’ve learned anything from the Super Mario Bros. movie, it’s that any property can be adapted into a film, regardless of story (or lack thereof). The real question is whether or not it can be done well. And in the case of Watchmen, director Zack Synder found himself in a lose-lose situation. The problem with adapting any comic or novel for the big screen is that, more often than not, what worked in its original medium just doesn’t translate that well to film. Thus, the only solution is to make concessions by changing various aspects of the source material. In many instances, this process has yielded positive results (V for Vendetta, the latest Harry Potter films), regardless of what the frothing hostility of certain fanboys might suggest. Watchmen though, would only suffer from these types of changes. To significantly alter the source material would be to defeat the purpose of adapting it at all. Zack Snyder was clearly aware of this, and decided (with one notable exception) to remain as faithful to Alan Moore’s classic graphic novel as possible. While I strongly believe Snyder made the right choice, there’s no denying that the resulting film suffers from all the expected flaws that come with going down this route. The pacing is all over the place, certain twists and turns don’t carry the same weight as they do in the graphic novel, and uninitiated viewers may find themselves at a total loss as to what in the hell they’re watching. Simply put: As a movie meant to stand on its own, Watchmen is a failure. It succeeds, however, as a fascinating experiment and companion piece for those who have already read and loved the graphic novel. Likely not what the studio was hoping for, admittedly, but for people like me, it’s just about the best Watchmen film we could’ve asked for… even if, frankly, it probably shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

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