WATCHMEN 2 DISC DIRECTOR'S CUT DVD REVIEW

IT'S HERE...FINALLY

Trade paperback cover 1987 DC comics.

Welcome! welcome! welcome! Thanks for returning for this weeks DVD review! This is a special review because it's one that I will already tell you is nothing but POSITIVE. So, the folks that saw this masterpiece in the theaters and disliked it for the most part, or who read the novel and didn't like this translation to film, then don't read any further. You won't agree with anything I say in this review. And before you judge my point of views, please read the end of this opening paragraph and think about what the wieght of Alan's words bare on this movie eventhough he wanted no part of it. "Even as the David Hayter script comes to be the closest representation of a perfect Watchmen film, I still have no intention or interest in seeing it" ~Alan Moore co~creator of the Watchmen.

With respect to Alan Moore, I understand the hardships he went through after the creation of the comic WATCHMEN. I understand the injustice and the mishandling of the property by DC comics and hope that one day Alan decides to sit down, put his emotions aside, and see this film, NOT as a compendium of "odes", cool moments or a half assed pat on the back to him, but as a truely, genuine, heart felt attempt at bringing his vision of the Watchmen from the pages to the silver screen.

IMAX Watchmen movie poster

ALSO I will point out that, if you haven't read the book yet. Close this review NOW, go out and buy Alan Moore's book and read it from cover to cover before you do anything else. In respect to Alan again, I would advise you to read the comic first and soak in what it says about the hero, politics and people in general. If you don't mind some spoilers or don't care either way, then read on and enjoy!!

Just for the record: WARNING! SOME SPOILERS AHEAD! =P

The Watchmen From L to R, The Comedian, Silk Specktre, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias, and NiteOwl. Watchmen Movie. Warner bros 2008.

PLOT AND "THE BIG PICTURE"

OK, before I get into the review of the actual film, I want to briefly explain to the uninitiated what exactly the Watchmen is. Well, Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987.This is a story that looks at a world filled with masked heroes and villains, an alternate reality if you will. In this alternate reality, society has taken up vigilant lifestyles in order to help clean the streets of our cities. The villains threw on masks, so the strongest, fastest and most intellectual in the communities decided to give the hooded criminals back thier own medicine, and fight back. Here rose a resistance of colorful, heroic, and also eccentric crime fighters to help take back the streets and keep the communities safe. Many formed teams and fought crime on a nightly basis, then went back to thier alternate jobs and lives and to look after thier children.

Empire Magazine cover, Rorshcach.

Watchmen takes place in an alternate history United States where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s, eventually helping the United States to win the Vietnam War. The country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most costumed superheroes are forced into retirement or working for the government in some shape or form. The story focuses on the personal development and struggles of a handful of heroes as an investigation into the murder of a government sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement and eventually leads them to confront a plot to stave off nuclear war by killing millions of people.

Watchmen character promos seen on billboards around the world.

That's a quick rundown of the story and concept behind the Watchmen. Pretty simple right? The idea that normal people would take up arms and don a mask to keep thier loved ones safe, to keep thier beliefs safe...way of life safe. But such things aren't always so cut and dry. Because in this story, it's the odd twists and turns, and eccentricities of particular characters that change the actual definition of what a hero really is. The book dissects and deconstructs the "hero" in such a way to ask, "does a hero really fall in this catagory or that catagory?" Or can a hero always be defined as "good?" is there a GREY area here? well..there most certainly is...and lots of them...

ON TO THE FILM!

The death/birth of Jon Osterman(aka Dr Manhattan). Watchmen film. Warner bros 2008.

RISE OF THE SUPERMAN

A young scientist named Dr. Jon Osterman (Played by Billy Crudup)became a super being~like god after a failed experiment. And was approached by the Nixon administration to help with the war in Vietnam. They named him Dr. Manhattan and he ended the Vietnam war single handedly with their quick and swift surrender. And this Dr Manhattan would be an integral key player in the formation of the Watchmen team as well as the events culminating in this fantastic story.

During the "golden age " of these super heroes, many of them were hired as government operatives and influenced events in history (such as the Vietnam war mentioned earlier) and the assasinaton of JFK. Many were hired to help finish problems that "normal" people couldn't or didn't want to do. By the 1980s, however, All masked vigilantes as well as the Watchmen have been outlawed by Nixon (the very people that helped him get to a 3rd term) after an outpouring of anti-vigilante sentiment in the country, and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union have escalated the Cold War with threats of nuclear attack.

Rorshcach in action.Watchmen film 2008.

By 1985, only three adventurers remain active: the Comedian (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) Doctor Manhattan, both of whom act with government sanction, and the masked vigilante Rorschach (played amazingly by Jackie Earle Haley), who refuses to retire and remains active illegally. Investigating the murder of government agent Edward Blake, Rorschach discovers that Blake was the Comedian, concluding that someone is trying to eliminate the original Watchmen. He goes off to warn his former comrades—the emotionally detached Dr. Jon Osterman (Doctor Manhattan) and his lover Laurie Jupiter (Silk Spectre, played by Malin Akerman), Daniel Dreiberg (Nite Owl, played superbly by Patrick Wilson), and Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias, played by Matthew goode)—but Rorschach makes little progress.

Page from the watchmen Comic.(c) DC Comics 1986.

After Blake's funeral, Dr. Manhattan is accused of causing the cancers afflicting his former girlfriend and colleagues from before the accident that turned him into the being he is now. Manhattan exiles himself to Mars, giving the Soviet Union the confidence to invade Afghanistan in his absence. Later, Rorschach's conspiracy theory appears to be justified when Adrian, who had long since made his identity as Ozymandias public before retiring, narrowly avoids an assassination attempt, with Rorschach finding himself framed for the murder of Moloch, and then sent to prison.

Nite Owl and Silk Spectre Pay a friend a visit. Watchmen movie. Warner Bro 2008.

This is as far as I will go without giving away the story to you. I find it important for all of you to discover this story on your own and take from it the differant perspectives and thoughts it creates in the mind. I read reviews of this and they are certainly mixed, with most, thankfully, in the positives. Many of the major reviewers and film scholars loved this film and praised it as the book was praised. I think the likability of this film lies in the understanding of political motives and the notion that "heroes aren't always heroes". I think for people expecting to read batman or spiderman, will be shocked or maybe turned off from this movie as well as the book. And quite frankly, I think they deserve it...

CHARACTERS OF THE WATCHMEN AND THE CAST WHO PORTRAYED THEM

Akerman as Silk Spectre. (c) Warner bros.

Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter / Silk Spectre II: In the film the surname Juspeczyk appears briefly on screen when Laurie wears Nite Owl's visor, identifying her fingerprints. The character prefers the name Juspeczyk, as Jupiter is just a surname that her mother went by during World War II so that people would not know of her Polish background. I really liked Malin's performance. I was surprised with some scenes that thankfully were not cut from the controversial comic and was smiling when she pulled those particular scenes off with ease. You'll know the scenes when you see them, she's a tough girl ;)

Haley as Rorshach. (c) Warner Bros.


Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach: A masked vigilante who continues his vigilante activities after they are outlawed. WOW WOW WOW .....All I can say, nuff said, I will NOT go into this character here. He has to be seen to be believed. The character from he comic is a cynical, depressed, conspiracy crazed soul who wears an ink blot mask because he relates to that face over his own torchured, pain riddled visage. EVERYTHING he does in this film, the way he moves, the fight scenes, the lines executed.....absolutely perfect, you can't get any better than this. Rorschach is BADASS!!! Best character in the film.

Wilson as Nite Owl standing infront of the Owl ship. (c) Warner bros.

Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II: A retired superhero with technological experience. I read somewhere that John Cusack, a fan of the comic book, expressed interest in the role. While Cusack would have been great, I can't help wonder if he would have been great enough. And being the only "big name" attached to this film, it would have looked odd to have only the one big actor attached to the project when everyone else are almost no names. Wilson put on 25 lbs to play the overweight Dreiberg. He compared Dreiberg to a soldier who returns from war unable to fit into society. Wilson said the fight style he was instructed to give Nite Owl was "heavy-handed and power coordinated" and more military hand to hand combat based. I loved Nite Owl, they got everything right with him as well, right down to Daniels "personal Malfunctions" as a man. Wilson did an awesome job! I was thinking of Patrick Warburton (The Tick) as a great choice for NiteOwl, but Wilson nailed the part.

Dr Manhattan in the flesh. Watchmen Movie. Warner Bros. 2008


Billy Crudup as Dr. Jon Osterman / Doctor Manhattan: A REAL superhero with genuine powers who works for the U.S. government. Keannu Reeves at one time had interest in the role of Manhattan, I'm glad he chose to opt out. It's the same sentiment with John Cusack, This story is best left told through characters that don't seem quite recognizable and using lesser known actors achieves this. As well as playing Osterman in flashback as a human, for his post-accident scenes as Dr. Manhattan, Crudup is replaced in the film with a motion-capture CG version of himself. During filming, Crudup acted opposite his co-stars, wearing a white suit covered in blue LEDs, so he would give off an otherworldly glow in real life, just as the computer-generated Manhattan does in the movie. The special effects technicians considered that Dr. Manhattan is supposed to be a god-like being who after his accident tries to create the perfect human form with a well-formed physique and extreme musculature. For this purpose, his body was modeled on that of fitness model and actor Greg Plitt. The crew then 3D-digitized Crudup's head into the CG creation of Manhattan. The other idea was to use a rubber suit, and I'm really glad they didn't go the rubber suit path in fears that it would look just like that, a rubber suit. There is controversy revolving around the fact that most of Manhattans scenes were in the nude, save for some public appearances and being "on the job" Well, my oppinion is this. The blue penis is shown in the comics, so why not portray him as he is meant to be portrayed? As someone godly, who moves through the world unflinching, and unapologetically. The voice work Crudup suplied was also supurb, reminding me of HAL from 2001 a space odessey. It was perfect for the sombre, contemplative and alone Manhattan and quickly gave him relative humanity even though he was becoming a god.

Ozymandias. Promo poster for Watchmen. (c) Warner Bros.

Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias: A retired superhero who has since made his identity public. The role of Ozymandias was originally connected to actor Tom Cruise. I'm glad this was not happening because it would have been a disaster. For one, Cruise is too small! Snyder said Goode was "big and tall and lean", which aided in bringing "this beautiful ageless, Aryan superman" feel to the character. Goode interpreted Veidt's back-story to portray him with a German accent in private and an American one in public; Goode explained Veidt gave up his family's wealth and traveled the world, becoming a self-made man because he was ashamed of his parents' Nazi past, which in turn highlighted the themes of the American Dream and the character's duality. Ozymandias's character proved a hard time casting, because they needed someone handsome, beautiful and sophisticated in an angelic way, and that's a tough combo. Orlando bloom was thought of, but again it came down to size, he just wasn't big enough. I love what Goode did as Veidt/Ozy.

The Comedian. Watchmen subway promo poster. (c) Warner bros.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian: A superhero who is commissioned by the U.S. government. LOVED this character, it's the pivotal character that sets off the events in the movies plot and I'd be terrified if I had to portray this complex character in a film. But Morgan pulled it off to a tee, completely nailed Blake no problem. Some funny trivia I found: Morgan asked Snyder if The Comedian could swear more in the script. Of his casting, Snyder said, "It's hard to find a man's man in Hollywood. It just is. And Jeffrey came in and was grumpy and cool and grizzled, and I was, like, 'OK, Jeffrey is perfect!'"

Sally Jupiter. Watchmen poster promo. (c) Warner Bros.

Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre: A retired superheroine, mother of Laurie Jupiter and the first Silk Spectre. Gugino's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s, and the 37-year-old actress wore prosthetics to reflect the aging process. Gugino described her character's superhero outfit as an influence of Bettie Page-meets-Alberto Vargas. The actress donned the trademark hairdo of the character, though it was shaped to be more plausible for the film. She also posed for the Alberto Vargas-style pin-ups of her character and a painting meant to be done by Norman Rockwell, which she enjoyed because she was fascinated by Vargas. One of those Vargas Styled paintings are seen on the side of Enola gay, the bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.

The Minutemen, a precursory team to the Watchmen. (c) Warner bros.

Matt Frewer as Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic: An elderly rehabilitated criminal, known when he was younger as an underworld kingpin and magician. Matt Frewer if you remember the old TV show Max Headroom played Max, a computer generated think tank that originated from the old pepsi commercials slogans "Catch the wave". Frewer was also great in the Dawn of the Dead remake. I enjoy this guys work because you never see him as much as you'd like, so it was an awesome treat to see him play Moloch in this film. And Played him great!! Frewer is an acting genius.
Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason / Nite Owl: The first vigilante to take up the mantle of Nite Owl. I loved all of Hollis Mason's parts in the comic, and I love them more in this film. He's the old "war story' guy at the bar that doesn't have a problem sitting down with a young buck and telling him about the old days. Well, this was even more of the case, especially with Daniel Drieberg's and Hollis Mason's relationship. Hollis was the old Nite Owl in the 40's and 50's and Daniel took over the mantle of Nite Owl after Mason. And they are friends to this day. Hollis is the father figure to daniel, and it worked beautifully in the film!
Danny Woodburn as Big Figure: A dwarf crime boss whom Rorschach and Nite Owl put in prison fifteen years prior. WoodBurn was perfect for Big Figure, especially in the scenes opposite Rorschach in the prison.

The rest of the characters were small appearances and cameos, but where well placed in the film
Niall Matter as Byron Lewis / Mothman: He is not a main focus of the storyline, but appears in flashbacks, at one point reduced in his later years to fragile sanity.
Dan Payne as Bill Brady / Dollar Bill: A first-generation crime fighter who caught his cape in a revolving door during a bank robbery and was shot to death. Payne is a fan of the comic and shot his scenes over four days, both for his cameo in the theatrical cut and the fictionalized DVD documentary.
Apollonia Vanova as Ursula Zandt / Silhouette: A former member of the Minutemen who was forced into retirement after her status as a lesbian became public knowledge. She and her partner were later murdered by a former arch villain. This woman is gorgeous!
Glenn Ennis as Rolf Müller / Hooded Justice: The first masked vigilante to appear in the 1930s. Was involved in a sham relationship with the first Silk Spectre to hide his homosexuality. Later thought to be killed by The Comedian.
Darryl Scheelar as Nelson Gardner / Captain Metropolis: An ex-Marine and one of the founding members of the Minutmen.

The imfamous blue penis. Dr Manhattan as he appeared in the Watchmen comic. DC comics (c)

Although he intended to stay faithful to the look of the characters in the comic, Snyder wanted Nite Owl to look scarier and Ozymandias to possess authentic Egyptian attire and artifacts, as evident of these all through Ozy's living and work spaces. Ultimately, Oyzmandias, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre changed most from the comic in my oppinion, as audiences might not appreciate the naiveté of the original costumes and think of them looking TOO campy or comic~booky. So, there has been some effort to give them a modern look — and not modern in the sense of 2007, but modern in terms of the superhero aesthetic. The changes really work, especially for NiteOwl, the costumes had to look realistic and protective, and that the Nite Owl costume should reflect Dan's interest in aerodynamics. The chain mail in his costume resemble a bird's feathers also which was wicked I think, like a mechanical look to him.

The sets were amazing! Nixon's war room pays direct and obvious tribute to the war room in the film Dr. Strangelove (another one of my favorites). Dr. Manhattan's apartment, which is inside his laboratory, looked like the work of Maison Jansen. The apartment also echoes the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, with a book prop named Masterpieces in Paint and Poetry and a tennis courtroom with similar wallpaper. So there was alot of Odes to great flicks like Seven and BladeRunner with all the grizzled and wet back alley ways, neon signs everywhere and brightly lit air ships and enormous bright billboards..just screamed BladeRunner..Loved it!

Promo poster for Watchmen. (c)Warner bros.

MUSIC AND SOUND

The film uses some of the songs mentioned in the comic. One of the songs is "The Times They Are a-Changin'" by Bob Dylan. My Chemical Romance, whose members are fans of the comic, covered Dylan's "Desolation Row" for the first half of the closing credits. The film also features two pieces from Philip Glass' score to 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi accompanying the birth of Dr. Manhattan. Those pieces worked well during manhattan's heartbreaking narration about what happened in his life leading up to the point were he decides to leave earth. There was alot of great music used in the film, songs like "99 red balloons" used to memphasize a point in time and this was really effective! The majority of the films musical atmosphere was composed by Tyler bates and intergrated well with the chosen tracks for the film.

Three's company. The controversial threesome in the watchmen. Written by Alan Moore.

DVD's, SPECIAL EDITIONS AND A WORD ON SURPRISE ADDITIONS OF FAN WISH SEQUENCES

Snyder's first cut of the film was three hours long. In keeping the film tight, Snyder dubbed himself "the gatekeeper" of the comic's easter eggs, "while [the studio] conspired to say, 'No. Length, length, length. Playability.' And these are the best words I think I've ever found come out of a director's mouth~ Zack Snyder"I've lost perspective on that now, because to me, the honest truth is I geek out on little stuff now as much as anybody. Like, people will go, 'We've got to cut. You don't need that shot of Hollis Mason's garage sign.' And I'm like, 'What are you talking about? Of course you do. Are you crazy? How will people enjoy the movie without shit like that in it?' So it's hard for me." Snyder also furthered this geek theory by adding the murder of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl, back into the extended director's cut. And it's a beautiful scene! I can't think of this watchmen film without it now since I was expecting to see it in the theater and didn't. It's an important shot and is one of those "in the wrong place at the wrong time" kind of things that fate seems to take advantage of. It's really beautiful but sad at the same time.

Rorschach and his nifty grappling gun. Watchmen (c) Warner bros.

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on July 21, 2009. The Blu-ray contains Maximum Movie Mode, which plays the movie along with a video presentation by director Zack Snyder, and includes behind-the-scenes footage, comic comparisons, trivia, and more. In December, 2009, an "Ultimate Collector's Edition" will be released. The five-disc set will include the director's cut of the film with Tales of the Black Freighter woven in, new commentaries by Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons, the complete Watchmen Motion Comics, and over 2 hours of bonus content including Under the Hood, which was previously released on the Tales of the Black Freighter DVD. So this is a fine, splendid DVD in my hands here as a director's cut, but if you like the large DVD collections you might want to save your money for that one!

DID I LIKE THE CHANGES TO THE STORY?

Well in one word I would sum it changes up as "livable" or "acceptable". He extended the fight scenes, and added a subplot about energy resources to make the film more topical and current. Although he intended to stay faithful to the look of the characters in the comic, Snyder intended Nite Owl to look scarier so he changed the brown (more owl looking duds) to a more darker, brooding looking character reminiscent of the modern incarnations of Batman (which is the point really, Nite Owl is a parody of a less experienced, less initiated and less ballsy Bruce Wayne). Ozymandias' armor, again a parody of the rubber muscle suits from 1997's Batman & Robin was quite evident and made sense also since they, as heroes were becoming parodies of themselves anyways, and Ozymandias was a leech for spectacle. So it worked nicely and wasn't so cring worthy after all. NOW, the end of the story has the nay sayers up in arms. It's essentially the same ending as the book, but with a change in tactic, and perhaps motive. The grand, epic outcome is the same though, the message is the same as well. It's just, if you're expecting that "thing" that's supposed to be at the end of the book, than you will be kinda disappointed. And I think the change works because movie fans would jump all over the "oh it's just a rip off of Cloverfield" nonsense! And I think it would have hurt the movie tremendously. So yeah, the changes were obvious..but they were well sanctioned and validated for this watchmen enterpretation.

AND FINALLY A FINAL WORD TO THE VIEWER!

Like this review, the film is LONG....just warning you if you do not enjoy long films. The theatrical release was close to 3 hrs, This DVD set has an extra 25 minutes added back into it, putting it over the 3 hr mark easily, and they are all valuable minutes added, like the Hollis Mason Murder. My final mark for this film is ...yes, you are correct....10 out of fucking 10 and nothing..NOTHING les than that! This has to be one of, if not the greatest superhero story ever told. And this movie came close to about 99.5% of what Alan Moore strived for. So get this, watch this, experience this. Go watch the watchmen! Nuff said!

Over and out!

Deadsurfkiss!