Watchmen

Review: Easily the most anticipated film of the first quarter of the year for me was Watchmen. Coming off the greatest super hero film of all time in 'The Dark Knight', I had high hopes for the film based on the nearly unanimous choice for best graphic novel. The film starts off promising with an impacting montage of an alternate time line of United States' famous events, thanks to a new breed of super heroes, more rooted in reality then most comic book heroes. Not having read the graphic novel I was experiencing this story with fresh eyes. Ultimately the biggest problem that I had with the film was the story itself. Zach Snyder did an incredible job creating a feel to this film that is uniquely his own. Over stylized action and gorgeous gore are Snyder's hallmarks and it fits this genre perfectly. There are scenes in this film that are so well executed you can't help but grin stupidly at what Snyder accomplishes. While I liked the film as a whole, the underlying story gets too pretentious and runs too long for me to rank it at the top of its genre. As good as some scenes are, there are just as many that fall flat and verge on uncomfortable. Another major fault to the film was the soundtrack. While I was a fan of all the songs played individually, they did not fit into the movie. The soundtrack should heighten a viewing experience not take you out of it as many of the songs that evoked laughter from the audience that I watched it with did. Overall Watchmen is an accomplishment for it's style and its obedience to the source material, for better or for worse.
Rating: 3/5