[Music] e e e e e e e e Watchmen hello friend how are you guys friends this is not a movie this is a full detail review and fact video about this movie if you want to know about this movie then you must like this video because in today's video we will tell you what is its story which actors and actresses have worked in this film the director producer cameraman of this film is going to talk about them in detail we will talk about the post-production pre-production budget and filming of this film The starcast of the film will also give details about The Supporting Cast and production guys if you want to know about this movie you must watch this video you will find all the details of this movie in this video what is the story of this movie If you like this video then share it with your friends and subscribe our Channel Watchman is a 2009 American superhero film based on the 1986 1987 DC Comics limited series of the same name co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons with co-creator and author Alan Moore choosing to remain uncarded 11 directed by Zack Snider from a screenplay by David hater and Alex C the film features me aaman Billy crudder Matthew good Carla gjino Jackie Earl Haley Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson a dark and dystopian deconstruction of the superhero genre the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigate the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy with which they are all connected for nearly two decades from October 1987 until October 2005 a liveaction film adaptation of the Watchmen series became stranded in development hell producers Lawrence Gordon and Joel Sila began developing the project of 20th Century Fox later moving it to Warner Bros pictures the sister company of Watchmen publisher DC Comics and hiring director Terry Gillum who eventually left the production and deemed the complex comic unfilmable during the 2000s Gordon and Lloyd Levan collaborated with Universal Pictures Revolution Studios and Paramount Pictures to produce the film directors David hater Darren aronowski and Paul Greengrass were attached to the project before it was canceled over budget disputes in October 2005 the project returned to Warner Bros where Snider was hired to direct Paramount remained as its International distributor whereas Warner Bros would distribute the film in the United States however Fox sued Warner Bros for copyright violation arising from Gordon's failure to pay a buyout in 1991 which enabled him to develop the film at the other Studios Fox and Warner Bros settled this before the film's release with Fox receiving a portion of the gross principal photography began in Vancouver in September 2007 as with his previous film 326 Snyder closely modeled his story boards on the comic but chose not to shoot all of Watchmen using green screens and opted for real sets instead following its World premiere at ODI and leester square on February 23rd 29 12 the film was released in both conventional and IM Max theaters on March 6 2009 the film underperformed at the box office grossing over 85.4 million worldwide against a production budget between $130 138 million however the film later found financial success at the home media markets 13 Greg Silverman former Warner Bros executive said that the film did later become profitable 14 the film received mixed of positive reviews from fans and critics the style was praed but Snyder was accused of making an action film that lacked the Thematic depth and Nuance of the comic 15 over the years it had gained a cult following a DVD based on elements of the Watchmen Universe was released including an animated adaptation of the tales of the black freighter comic within the story voiced by Gerard Butler and a fictional documentary titled under the hood detailing the older generation of superheroes from the film's backstory 16 a director's cut with 24 minutes of additional footage was released in July 2009 the ultimate cut iron Incorporated the animated comic tales of the black freighter into the narrative as it was in the original graphic novel lengthening the runtime to 3 hours and 35 minutes and was released on November 3rd 2009 the director's cut was better received than the theatrical release 15 plot in 1985 a man living in a Manhattan apartment watches news about escalating Cold War tensions and the response from five-term president Richard Nixon when an unknown as salent attack s and hurls him to the street below throughout the opening CRS a montage reviews the rise of costumed crime fighters from 1939 to 1977 culminating in public backlash and the passage of an anti-vigilante act Rach a vigilante detective who operates illegally discovers that the dead man was Edward Blake better known as the comedian a costumed hero who worked for the government suspecting that other Vigilantes could be attacked rat warns members of his former team The Watchmen 17 rat's former partner Dan drberg believes he is paranoid but relays his concerns to Adrien vate a crime fighter turned businessman rat later visits Dr Manhattan a physicist whose accidental superpowers make him a national security asset but Manhattan is preoccupied with Energy Research and ignores him at Blake's funeral Manhattan vade and dreber each recall the comedian's pessimism in his later years about the watchman's mission after the service a lone mner pays his respects R shat tracks down and questions the mner former super villain Edgar jacobe jacobe says that Blake had recently broken into his apartment while he was sleeping tearful unmasked and incoherent rat is astonished but doubts that jacobe would tell a lie so bizarre during a press interview with Dr Manhattan an investigative journalist tells him that several people who had been in contact with Manhattan have developed cancer including his former girlfriend as other reporters mob Manhattan with questions he snaps and Exiles himself to Mars alone Manhattan reflects on his existence and his regrets at being turned into a weapon in his absence the Warsaw packed countries make aggressive moves and Nixon prepares for war vate survives an assassination attempt suggesting that rach's mask killer theory is correct dreber takes in Lori Jupiter a second generation vigilante and a strange lover of Manhattan for protection ratu's investigation of the Assassin leads him back to jacobe while attempting to question him again ratch is framed for his murder arrested and unmasked as a lowborn vagrant in prison rat defends his vigilantism to a psychiatrist saying he cannot ignore evil and the people who cause it drberg and Jupiter growing nostalgic for their crime fighting days Dawn their costumes and break Rach out of prison to save him from being killed in a riot manhatton teleports Jupiter to Mars while dreber joins rach's investigation of the Blake murder evidence points them to vate as the Mastermind they find him at an Antarctic Hideout where he has just overseen the activation of Dr Manhattan's energy reactors in New York City and other locations across the planet on Mars Jupiter tries to convince Manhattan that humanity is worth saving and succeeds only when he learns that Jupiter is Blake's illegitimate daughter a fact so unlikely that it restores his respect for Life bade admits orchestrating Manhattan's Exile staging the assassination framing RW shat and killing Blake spying on his activities he has also executed the final step of his plan turning the world against Manhattan by rigging his reactors to explode killing 15 million people Manhattan returns with Jupiter to a devastated New York pieces together what has happened and teleports to V's Hideout after a brief struggle vate shows him that the world's countries have put aside their rivalries to focus on a common enemy realizing the logic of V's plan the Watchmen agreed to keep his secret except for rar whom Manhattan reluctantly kills to preserve the new Global Peace Manhattan departs permanently for another galaxy while dreber rebukes vat's moral sacrifice and Jupiter finally comes to terms with her parentage a New York tabloid or disgusted that there is no war to report on tells a staff member to choose something to publish from a pile of reader submissions that contains rach's Journal cast and characters production for Watchmen began casting in July 2007 for lookalikes of the era's famous names for the the film something director Zack Snyder declared would give the film a satirical quality and create this 80s Vibe 181920 Snider said he wanted younger actors because of the many flashback scenes and it was easier to age actors with makeup rather than cast two actors in the same role 21 Snider's son appears as a young RW shot 22 while the director himself appears as an American soldier in Vietnam 23 actor Thomas Jane was invited by Snider but declined to work in the film due to being too busy 24 The Watchmen Crime Busters men aiman as Lori Jupiter Silk Spectre Roman 2 aiman described her character as a fem fatal as well as carrying the psychology and the emotion of the film the actress worked out and trained to fight for her portrayal of the crime fighter 25 in earlier attempts to make the film Hillary swag Natalie Portman Rachel Weiss Jennifer Connelly and Jessica Alba were considered for the part of lri according to comic book resources her character characterization along with night owls was changed from the original Comics model of gentle golden age heroes to one of a brutal fighter 26 Haley Gil is Young Lori Jupiter Billy crewed up as John Aus and Dr Manhattan the only member of the group with genuine superpowers Dr Manhattan is virtually omnipotent and works for the S government he is a scientist who suffered an accident during 1959 giving him superhuman Powers crudup plays ostman in flashbacks as a human and is replaced for his post- accident scenes with a motion capture CG version of himself during filming crudup acted opposite his co-stars wearing a white suit covered in blue leads so he would give off an otherworldly glow in real life just as the computer generated Manhattan does in the movie his body was modeled on that of fitness model and actor Greg plit the crew then 3D digitized crudup's head and frankensteined it onto Greg Pit's body 27 Snider chose not to electronically alter crudup's voice from man hatan explaining the character would try and put everyone as much at ease as he could instead of having a robotic voice that I think would feel offputting 28 Keanu Reeves was also offered the role Reeves was interested in the role but he ultimately passed 29 Jared hydrick is Young John ostman Matthew good as Adrien vate oamz a retired superhero who has since made his identity public at first Snyder wanted Jude Law a big fan of the character for the past but said that good was big and tall and lean which aided in bringing this beautiful ageless German Superman feel to the character 30 good interpreted vat's backstory to portray him with a German accent in private and an American one in public good explained vate 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 31 Snider said good fit the bill we were having a a hard time casting the role because we needed someone handsome beautiful and sophisticated and that's a tough combo 32 Tom Cruz was also interested in the part and met with Snider 33 however Snider revealed in 2024 that Cruz was more interested in the role of Rach which had already been cast 34 Jackie Earl haly is Walter kovak Rach a 45-year-old Mast vigilante who continues his extralegal activities after they are outlawed he takes his name from the Rad's test as the shifting black and white patterns on his mask resemble its ink blots 35 unlike the other principal actors Haley had read the comic as a young adult and was Keen to pursue the role when he heard he had become a favorite candidate among fans 30 Rach wears a mask with ink blots motion capture markers were put on the Contours of Haley's blank mask for animators to create his everchanging Expressions 36 Haley has a black belt in Kemp but described rat is attack patterns are sloppier and more aggressive due to the character's boxing background 37 ratch appears several times in the movie without his mask before he is apprehended carrying a placard sign proclaiming the end is nigh but not until he is unmasked by the police is it made apparent that the sign Bearer is Rach Haley said that upon hearing of the casting of Rach he actively sought the role his agent came up with the idea that they should do a shoestring budgeted audition tape of Haley wearing his own little cheesy Halloween rwat outfit the entire audition was shot in the living room and kitchen of Haley's house the tape was then sent to the Film Production crew where Snider watched it after viewing the tape Snyder cast Haley in the role of rat saying very low Tech but awesomely acted clearly there was no other rwatch 38 Ilie Snider director Zack Snider's son as young Walter Kovac 31940 Patrick Wilson as Daniel dreber Knight Roman 2 a 40-year-old retired superhero with technological expertise 35 Snider cast Wilson after watching 26's little children which also co-stars Haley Wilson put on 25 11 kg to play the overweight drberg 30 he compared drberg to a soldier who returns from war unable to fit into society 41 during several attempts to get Watchmen adapted as a film Kevin cner Christopher Walkin and Richard jir were each considered for the part John cusac who is an admitted fan of the graphic novel expressed great interest in playing the role 42 his character in the film is more brutal than in the original comic 43 the Minute Men KLA gjino is Sally Jupiter Silk Spectre a retired superheroine mother of Lori jpxi and the first Silk Spectre guo's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s and the then 37-year-old actress wore prosthetic I to reflect the aging process gjino described her character's superhero outfit as Betty Page meets Alberto Vargas in earlier attempts to make the film Liv Tyler Jam Lee Curtis Anne Margaret Katherine Zeta Jones and sigy Weaver were considered for the part of Sally Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake the comedian a superhero and a former member of the Minute Men Who is commissioned by the S government as a Black Ops specialist when reading the comic for the part Morgan stopped when he saw his character was killed off three pages in when telling his agent he did not want the part he was told to continue reading it and find out how important his character was 30 Morgan found the role at challenge explaining for some reason in reading the novel you don't hate this guy even though he does things that are unmentionable like beat up and sexually assault Jupiter my job is to kind of make that translate so as a viewer you end up not making excuses to like him but you don't hate him like you should for doing the things that he does 40 before 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 okay Jeffrey is perfect 32 Steven MCAT is Holly's Mason Night Owl a retired former member and the first night owl Mason now owns and lives over an auto shop Clint Carlton as young Holly's Mason Dan pay as William Brady dollar bill a deceased member Brady was a Bank sponsored member of the Minute Men Who was created for publicity purposes he dies during a bank robbery in 1947 when his cape is caught in the banks revolving doors allowing the robbers to shoot him at Point Blank Range Nile matter is Byron Lewis mman a former member Lewis had a privileged upbringing and sought to help the less fortunate and fight oppression and Corruption as a crime fighter to this end Lewis created a costume with special wings that helped him Glide his mental stability ultimately deter iated after he was called before huak leading to him being forcibly brought to a mental Asylum aalon Anova as Ursula Zed the silhouette deceased a gun toing vigilante motivated by the deaths of her parents and sister at the hands of the Nazis in their native Austria Zant is killed along with her lesbian lover in what is implied to be a hate crime Glenn enies is hooded Justice a deceased former member HJ was a violent vigilante who was trained in hand-to-hand combat Daryl sheer is Nelson Gardner Captain metropolis a former Marine lieutenant he was one of the more active members of the Minutemen having organized its formation he died in a car accident in 1974 which decapitated him though it is believed by some to be a form of suicide other characters Matt fuer as Edgar Jacobi mullock a former super villain molock was jailed for a time during the 1970s he is dying of cancer which he received from Adrien vate mullik was later murdered by vate who frames rwat Mike Carpenter is Young mullock Laura mennel is Janie Slater a scientist who was tinman's first girlfriend until he fell for Lori Danny Woodburn as Tom Ryan big figure a jailed dwarf Crime Boss an old adversary of Night Owl and Rach he tries to get revenge when Rach is imprisoned in the same jail as he is but during a staged uprise in jail his attempt fails and both he and his accomplices are killed by r Robert wison as Richard Nixon Frank Novak as Henry Kissinger Gary Houston as John mclin Shan Allen and Gary chalk as Nora generals Michael kopser as Paul Klein Chris Gia as Seymour David Cameo roles include Jay brazo as a news vendor Mark aen as a large man at Happy Harry's Lee Gibson as silhouette's girlfriend alesandro Giuliani as a Rockefeller military based technician Sally saffiotti as Annie laitz and Ted Cole as dick Cav production in 1986 producers Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver acquired film rights to Watchmen for 20th Century Fox 45 after author Alan Moore declined to write a screenplay based on his story Fox enlisted screenwriter Sam ham ham rewrote watchman's complicated ending making a more manageable conclusion involving an assassination and a Time Paradox 46 Fox put the project into turnaround in 1991 47 and the project was moved to Warner Bros pictures where Terry Gillam was attached to direct and Charles mcon to rewrite the script gilam and Sila were only able to raise $25 million for the film a quarter of the necessary budget because their previous films had gone over budget 46 Gillam eventually left Watchmen describing the comic as unfilmable and Warner Bros dropped the project 48 in October 2001 Gordon partnered with Lloyd Levan and Universal Pictures hiring David hater to write and direct 49 hater and the producers left Universal due to creative differences 50 in Gordon and Lan expressed interest in setting up Watchmen at Revolution Studios the project did not hold together at Revolution Studios and subsequently fell apart 51 in July 2004 it was announced Paramount Pictures would produce Watchmen and Michael Bay was considered to direct eventually they attached Darren aronowski to direct hater script producers Gordon and remained attached collaborating with aronofsky's producing partner Eric Watson 52 Paul Greengrass replaced aronowski when he left to focus on the fountain 53 ultimately Paramount placed Watchmen in turnaround 54 in October 2005 Gordon and Levan met with Warner Bros once again to develop the project 55 Tim Burton at one point expressed interest in directing the film But ultimately turned it down impressed with Zack Snider's work on three 300 Warner Bros approached him to direct an adaptation of Watchmen 56 screenwriter Alex T was hired to rewrite hater script he drew from his favorite elements of hater script and returned the story to the original Cold War setting of The Watchmen comic in contrast to hater script which took place in modern times similar to his approach to 300 Snider used the comic book as a story board 59 following negotiations Paramount which had already spent $7 million in their failed project earned the rights for international distribution of Watchmen and 25% of the film's ownership 60 the fight scenes were extended 61 and a subplot about energy resources was added to make the film more topical 62 although he intended to stay faithful to the look of the characters in the comic Snider intended Night Owl to look scarier 59 and made ozam andia's armor into a parody of the rubber muscle suits from 1997's Batman and Robin 63 production took place in Vancouver where a New York City back lot was built sound stages were used for apartments and offices 64 while sequences on Mars and in Antarctica were shot against green screens 65 filming started on September 17th 2007 66 and ended on February 19th 28 67 on an estimated $120 million budget 68 to handle the one100 Shots featuring visual effects a quarter of them being computer generated imagery 691 different effects companies were involved with Watchmen 70 while 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit to block the film's release the studios eventually settled and fox received an upfront payment and a percentage of the worldwide gross from the film and all sequels and spin-offs in return 71 Dave Gibbons became an adviser on Snider's film but Moore has refused to have his name attached to any film adaptations of his work 72 more has stated he has no interest in seeing Snider's adaptation he told Entertainment Weekly in 2008 there are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic and were indeed designed to show off things that other media count 73 while more believes that David hater's screenplay was as close as I could imagine anyone getting to Watchmen he asserted he did not intend to see the film if it were made 74 with regard to changing the ending to where Dr Manhattan was fingered as the culprit instead of the squid Snider stated that we figured it took about 15 minutes to explain the Squid's appearance correctly otherwise it's pretty crazy 75 by admitting the squid Snider felt that he could give more time to explore and develop the existing characters 75 Oscar Gonzalez of seenat stated that because of this change however the movie is not cannon in regards to the Watchmen TV series 76 earlier drafts had vate die but Snider reversed this change 77 music both a soundtrack and excerpts from Tyler bat's film score were released as albums on March 3rd 2009 the soundtrack features three songs written by Bob Dylan Desolation Row All Along the Watchtower and the times there are at changan with only the latter performed by Dylan on the soundtrack it includes some songs mentioned in the comic such as Simon and gar funcle The Sound of Silence and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah Dylan's The Times They Are a changan and All Along the Watchtower are also quoted in the graphic novel music by Philip Glass from K aaty plays when Dr Manhattan is looking back on his life when he arrives on Mars 78 the intrus of Mozart's requim appears at the end of the film Desolation Row was covered by My Chemical Romance specially for the film and the song plays in the ncrs the music video was directed by Snyder and features several in Universe references to Watchmen release marketing Warner Bros interactive entertainment published us only episodic video game to be released relased alongside the film called Watchman the end is nigh Warner Bros took this lowkey approach to avoid rushing the game on such a tight schedule as most games adapted from films are panned by critics and consumers 79 the game is set in the 1970s and is written by Len wi the comics or Dave Gibbons is also an adviser 80 on March 4th 2009 glue mobile released Watchman the mobile game a batm up mobile game featuring Night Owl and the comedian fighting enemies in their respective settings of New York City and Vietnam 81 on March 6th 2009 a game for the Apple Inc iPhone and iPod Touch platform was released titled Watchmen Justice is coming though highly anticipated this mobile title suffered from serious gameplay and network issues which have yet to be resolved 82 as a promotion for the film Warner Bros entertainment released Watchmen motion comic a series of narrated animations of the original comic book the first chapter was released for purchase in the summer of 2008 on digital video stores such as a Tunes store and Amazon video on demand 83 DC Direct released action figures based on the film in January 2009 84 director Zack Snider set up a YouTube contest petitioning Watchmen fans to create faux commercials of products made by the fictional vate Enterprises 85 The Producers released two short video pieces online which were intended to be viral videos designed as fictional backstory pieces with one being a 1970 newscast marking the 10th anniversary of the public appearance of Dr Manhattan the other was a short propaganda film promoting the Keen Act of 1977 which made it illegal to be a superhero without government support an official viral marketing website the new Frontiersman is named after the Tabloid magazine featured in the graphic novel and contains teasers styled as Declassified documents 86 after the trailer for the film premiered in July 2008 DC Comics president Paul Levitz said that the company had had to print more than 900,000 copies of Watchman trade collection to meet the additional demand for the book that the advertising campaign had generated with the total annual print run expected to be over 1 million copies 87 DC Comics reissued Watchman hash1 for the original cover price of $11.50 on December 10th 2008 no other issues are planned to be reprinted 88 the teaser trailer was attached in July 2008 and debuted in November 2008 home media tales of the black freedo a fictional comic within the Watchman limited series was adapted as a 26-minute direct to video animated feature from Warner Premiere Warner Bros animation and legendary titled Watchmen tales of the black freighter and released on March 24th 2009 '89 it was originally included in the Watchman script 65 but was changed from liveaction footage to animation because of the $ million it would have cost to film it in the stylized manner of 300 that Snider wanted 89 this animated version originally intended to be included in the Final Cut 36 was then cut because the film was already approaching a 3-hour running time 89 Gerard Butler who starred in 300 voices the captain in the animated feature having been promised a role in the liveaction film that never materialized 90 like the original liveaction film itself International rights to the black freighter film are held by Paramount Home Entertainment 91 the black freighter releases also include under the hood a 38-minute fictional and universe documentary detailing the characters backstories which takes its title from that of Holly's Mason's Memoirs in the comic book 89 unlike the film and tales of the black freighter which were both R-rated under the hood is PG rated because it is meant to resemble a behind the scenes television news magazine profile of the characters the actors themselves were allowed to improvise during filming interviews in character 92 bolex cameras were even used to film faux archive footage of the Minutemen 93 in addition to 325 minute Watchman motion comic was released via Blu-ray DVD and digital video stores on March 3rd 2009 as part of the Warner Premiere motion comic series Warner released a 186 minute director's cut of the film expanded from the 162 minute theatrical cut on all formats on July 21st 2009 this was followed by the November 10th 2009 home video release of the 215 minute ultimate cut it comprises the director's cut with tals of the black freedo edin throut along with additional new stand framing sequences the ultimate cut was released on 4K oud Blu-ray on July 19th 2016 94 all DVD and blue ray ions of the three Cuts come in various permutations with varying quantities of extra features Watchmen debuted at the top of the rental DVD and Blu-ray charts 98 first week sales of the DVD stood at 1 M23 2725 copies generating 24,59414 in sales revenue by November 1st 2009 the DVD had sold a total of 2,510 321 copies and made 46,7 66383 in Revenue 99 as of 2022 it has made 15 52,6 w532 from domestic DVD and Blu Ray sales 100 Greg Silverman former Warner Bros executive said that the film did eventually become profitable 14 reception box office Watchman was released at midnight on March 5th 2009 and earned an estimated $4.6 million for the early showing1 approximately twice as much as 300 Snider's previous comic book adaptation earned 100 to the film earned 24,5 15772 in 3611 theaters during its first day 103 and later finished its opening weekend grossing 55 million 214 $334 104 at that point it had the biggest number of screenings for an R-rated film breaking the previous record held by the Matrix Reloaded 105 watchman's opening weekend is the highest of any any Allan Moore adaptation to date and the income was also greater than the entire box office taker from Hell which ended its theatrical run with 31,6 2566 106 although the film finished with $55 million for its opening while Snider's previous adaptation $300 earned $70 million in its opening weekend Warner Bros head of distribution Dan Felman stated that the opening weekend success of the two films were not comparable because watchman's runtime was 45 minutes longer than 300 allowing for fewer showings a night 107 Watchmen pulled in 5.4 million at 124x screens the second largest IM Max opening at that time 108 following its first week at the box office Watchmen saw a significant drop in attendance by the end of its second weekend the film brought in 17,8 201731 finishing second on that weekend's box office chart the 67.7% overall decrease was at the time of its release one of the highest for a major Comic Book film 109 losing 2/3 of its audience from its opening weekend the film finished second for the weekend of March 1315 290 the film continued to drop about 60% in almost every subsequent weekend leaving the top 10 in its fifth weekend and the top 20 and its 7th 104 Watchmen crossed the $100 million mark on March 26th its 21st day at the box office 103 and finished its theatrical run in the United States on May 28th having grossed 107,5 19799 in 84 days the film had grossed 1/5th of its ultimate gross on its opening day and more than half of that total by the end of its opening weekend 103 Watchmen was the 31th and highest grossing film of 29 111 and the sixth highest grossing R rated film of the Year behind the h over in glorious bastards District 9 Paranormal Activity and it's complicated 112 at the North American box office Watchman currently sits in the lower half of the 44 films based on a DC Comics comic book narrowly ahead of 1997's Batman and Robin 113 Watchmen earned $26.6 million in 45 territories overseas of these Britain and France had the highest box office with an estimated $4.6 million and 2. $5 million respectively 114 Watchmen also took in approximately $2.3 million in Russia $2.3 million in Australia $1.6 million in Italy and $1.4 million in South Korea $5 the film collected 77,78 in other territories bringing its worldwide total to $185 m382 8113 7 critical response on Rotten Tomatoes Watchman has a 65% approval rating based on 311 reviews and an average rating of six 410 the site's critical consensus reads gritty and visually striking Watchman is a faithful adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel but its complex narrative structure may make it difficult for it to appeal to viewers not already familiar with the source material 116 on Metacritic which assigns awaited average rating reviews from mainstream critics the film has a score of 56 out of 100 based on 39 critics indicating mixed or average reviews 117 audiences ped by Cinemas score gave the film an average grade of B on an app plus to f scale the primary audience was older men 118 Patrick Cen of V Australia awarded it a perfect 1010 and wrote It's The Watchman film you always wanted to see but never expected to get 119 Roger ebott gave it four out of four stars and wrote It's a compelling visceral film sound images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel 120 Richard corus of time concluded this ambitious picture is a thing of bits and pieces yet the bits are glorious the piece is magnificent on under 21 Jonathan Crocker of total film awarded at four fifth Stars writing C it's hard to imagine anyone watching The Watchman as Faithfully as Zack Snider's heartfelt stylized adap uncompromising uncommercial and unique 122 when comparing the film with the original Source material Ian Nathan of Empire felt that while it isn't the graphic novel Zack Snider clearly gives a toss creating a smart stylish decent adaptation one under 123 Nick Dent of timeout Sydney gave the film four out of five in his review of February 25th praising the film's inventiveness but concluding while Watchmen is still as Rich daring and intelligent an action film as there's ever been it also proves more absolutely right that Watchman is inherently unfilmable as a comic book Watchman is an extraordinary thing as a movie it's just another movie a wash with Sound and Fury 124 some critics who wrote negative reviews dislike the film's use and depiction of the Cold War period setting stating that the films attempt to use the 1980s fears that never came to pass felt dated and that Snider's slavish Devotion to Faithfully adapting The Source material as literally as possible did not allow his work to exhibit a creative distinctiveness of its own and that as a result the film and its characters lacked vitality and authenticity Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post for example wrote Watchman is a boore it sinks under the weight of its reverence for the original 125 Devon Gordon wrote for Newsweek that's the trouble with loyalty too little and you alienate your core fans too much and you lose everyone and everything else 131 Owen gan's Entertainment Weekly review reads Snider treats each image with the same stuffy hermetic reverence he doesn't move the camera or let the scenes breathe he crams the film with bits and pieces trapping his actors like bugs wriggling in the frame 130 Snider never pauses to develop a vision of his own the result is oddly Hollow and disjointed the ACT is moving stiffly from one overdetermined Tableau to another said Noah berlatsky of the Chicago Rita 126 David Edelstein of New York agrees they've made the most reverent adaptation of a graphic novel ever but this kind of reverence kills what it seeks to preserve the movie is embalmed 127 Joe morston of the Wall Street Journal wrote watching Watchmen is the spiritual equivalent of being whacked on the skull for 163 minutes the reverence is inert the violence noxious the mythology murky the tone grandiose the texture glutenous 10 129 Donald Clark of the Irish Times was similarly dismissive Snider director of the unsettle 300 has squinted hard at the source material and turned it into a colossal animated story board augmented by indifferent performances and moronically obvious music cues 132 the trade Magazine's variety and The Hollywood Reporter were even less taken with the film Justin Chang of variety commented the movie is ultimately undone by its own reverence there's simply no room for these characters and stories to breathe of their own accord and even the most fastidiously replicated scenes can feel glib and truncated 128 and Kirk hyat of The Hollywood Reporter writing the real disappointment is that the film does not transport an audience to another world as 300 did nor does the Third Rate Chandler es narration by RW shat help looks like we have the first real flop of 2009 five analyzing The Divided response Jeff Batcher of the Los Angeles Times felt that like I Wide Shut The Passion of the Christ or fight club Watchmen would continue to be a talking point among those who liked or disliked the film Boucher felt in spite of his own mixed feelings about the finished film he was oddly proud that the director had made a faithful adaptation that was nothing less than the boldest popcorn movie ever made Snider somehow managed to get a major Studio to make a movie with no stars no name superheroes and a hardar rating thanks to all those broken bones that oddly off putting our ship sex scen and of course the unforgettable glowing blue penis 133 director Christopher Nolan claimed that Snider's version of Watchmen was ahead of its time and that it should have been released post Avengers he also noted that the idea of a superhero team which it brilliantly subverts wasn't a thing yet in movies film review after the revelation of The Dark Knight here is Watchman another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie it's a compelling VIs IAL film sound images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel it seems charged from within by its power as a fable we sense it's not interested in a plot so much as with the Dilemma of functioning in a world losing hope that world is America in 1985 with Richard Nixon in the White House and many other strange details although this America occupies a parallel universe in which superheroes and M Warriors operate the film confronts a paradox that was always there in comic books the heroes are only human they can be in only one place at a time with a possible exception to be noted later although a superhero is able to handle one dangerous situation the world has countless dangerous situations and the super resources are stretched too thin faced with law enforcement Anarchy Nixon has outlawed superhero activity quite possibly a reasonable action now the murder of the enigmatic vigilante the comedian Jeffrey Dean Morgan has brought the Watchmen together again who might be the next to die Dr Manhattan Billy crudder the only one with superpowers in the literal sense lives outside ordinary time and space the forces of the universe seeming to coil beneath his skin oam andia's Matthew good is the world's smartest man the night ow Patrick Wilson is a man isolated from Life by his Mastery of Technology rwat Jackie Earl Haley is a man who finds meaning in patterns that may only exist in his mind and Silk Spectre Roman 2 m and aiman lives with one of the most familiar human challenges living up to her parents in this case the original Silk Spectre Carla gjino Dr Manhattan is both her lover and a distant Father Figure living in a world of his own these characters are garbed in traditional comic book wardrobes capes boots gloves belts masks props anything to make them one of a kind RW Shater cloth mask with its endlessly shifting ink blots is one of the most intriguing superhero masks ever always in constant motion like a mood ring of the ID Dr Manhattan is contained in a towering muscular naked blue body he was affected by one of those obligatory secret experiments gone wild never mind the details what matters is that he possibly exists at a Quantum level at which particles seem exempt from the usual limitations of space and time if it seems unlikely that Quantum materials could assemble into a tangible physical body not to worry everything is made of quantum particles after all there's a lot we don't know about them including how they constitute to Dr Manhattan so the movie is vague about his precise reality I was going to say silk Spector Roman 2 has no complaints but actually she does the mystery of the comedian's death seems associated with a plot to destroy the world the first step in the plot may be to annihilate the Watchmen who are all that stand between Etc it is hard to see how anyone would benefit from the utter destruction of the planet but remember that in 1985 there was a nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union that threatened exactly that remember better dead than red there were indeed cold Warriors who preferred to be dead rather than red reminding me of David Merrick's statement it's not enough for me to win my enemies must lose in a cosmic sense it doesn't really matter who pushed the comedian through the window in a cosmic sense nothing really matters but best not meditate on that too much The Watchmen and their special gifts are all the better able to see how powerless they really are and although all but Dr Manhattan are human and back the home team their powers are not Limitless Dr Manhattan existing outside time and space is understandably remote from the fate of our tiny planet although perhaps he still Harbors some old emotions those kinds of quandaries engage all the Watchmen and are presented in a film experience of often fearsome Beauty it might seem improbable to take seriously a naked Blue Man complete with discreet genitalia but Billy crudup brings a solemn Detachment to Dr Manhattan that is curiously affected does he remember how it felt to be human no but hum a few bars crud up does the voice and the body language which is transformed by software into a figure of considerable presence Watchmen focuses on the contradiction shared by most superheroes they cannot live ordinary lives but are faded to help mankind that they do this with trademark names and appliances goes back to their origins in Greece where Zeus had his Thunderbolts Hades his three-headed dog and Hermes his winged feet could Zeus run fast did Hermes have a dog no that level of symbolism is coiling away beneath all superheroes what appeals with Batman is his Humanity despite his skills he is not supernormal Watchmen bring surprising conviction to these characters as flawed and minor Gods with Dr Manhattan possessing access to godhead on a plane that detaches him from our daily concerns indeed from Days themselves in the film's most spectacular scene he is exiled to Mars and in utter isolation reimagines him self as a human and conjures or discovers I'm not sure an incredible City seemingly made of crystal and mathematical Concepts this is his equivalent to 40 days in the desert and he returns as a savior the film is Rich enough to be seen more than once I plan to see it again this time on a Max and we'll have more to say about it I'm not sure I understood all the nuances and implications but I am sure I had a powerful experience it's not as entertaining as The Dark Knight but like the Matrix films l and the dark KN it's going to inspire fever analysis I don't want to see it twice for that reason however but mostly just to have the experience again Zack Snider's movie version of the DC Comics graphic novel Watchmen is a fantastically deranged epic it might be making a bid for floored Masterpiece status except that it is probably more floor than Masterpiece there are dull moments and moments of inspiration moments of sublime CGI trickery and repeatedly moments when you suspect that a much loved pop rock stand is being bashed out on the soundtrack to make sure your interest levels don't Flatline it is a radioactive Mosaic of bizarre touches and surreal tweaks pop culture and News Real History are audaciously morphed into a counterfactual landscape against which has played out the strange story of paranoid and vulnerable human beings who were once superheroes but no more owing to public disillusion with unaccountable Vigilantes they have been forced to abandon their vocation a postmodern twist also explored by the Pixar Disney classic The Incredibles it is 1985 but not as you know it Richard Nixon is still in charge having passed a law allowing himself more than two terms he is in any case wildly popular owing to the hugest victory in Vietnam this is because the Americans had on their side awesome superhero Doctor Manhattan Billy crudup a flaming blue Colossus with blakean musculature and Godlike powers to bend nature to his will he is one of the Watchman the now disbanded crew of superheroes including oam andia's Matthew good silk Spector to aaman Night Owl 2 Patrick Wilson rat's Jackie Earl Haley and the comedian Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Watchmen are in fact the second generation descendants of a pre-war Super Crew called the Minuteman with the original Silk Spectre KLA Gugino and the original Night Owl Steven MCAT The Watchmen are hardly straightforward good guys they include someone truly despicable the comedian is a rapist murderer and fascist sto a Hitman for tricky Dicky he is shown as being the second gunman on the grassy n who assassinated Kennedy in 1963 this sequence is stunningly convincing but disgusting as he is the comedian's depravities are to be surpassed by The Mad hubris lurking within the disbanded watchman's ranks the huis that might destroy Humanity itself there is something exhilarating in the sheer Madness of Watchmen a wacky world turned upside down famous people from history are always getting dreamed like cameos costumed combatants flit across the screen in the company of Nixon Henry Kissinger and Pat Buchanan the watchman's existence pokes some sharp satire at the bited capeless Warriors of conservative America the synapse frazzling ambition of Watchman is impressive as it lurches from hyperal Earth to fodal Mars it is dizzy crazy and quite sexy when it's not being self-indulgent and pointless if it doesn't quite hang together or add up or stick Faithfully to the comic book original these offenses aren't major what a spectacle said in an alternate 1985 with Richard Nixon still in office and nuclear war with the Soviet Union imminent it's a densely plotted sociopolitical charged tale of costumed crime Fighters driven to existential despair by a world that seems both hard to save and hardly worth saving though it cries out for equally audacious cinematic treatment the novel instead has been timidly and efficiently streamlined by David hater X-Men X2 X-Men United and Alex C who struggle to cram as many Visual and narrative details as possible into the film's 161 minutes before it becomes a meditation on the nature and value of heroism in uncertain times Watchman is first and foremost a hudon it the victim is Edward Blake Jeffrey Dean Morgan formerly a vigilante known as the comedian who's attacked by a massed intruder in his upper Story New York apartment and hurled to his death in suspended slow motion the murder triggers a reunion of sorts for several of the comedians Associates who before Nixon outlawed masks costumed Superheroes Were collectively known as The Watchmen these include d ryberg Patrick Wilson a nebbishy gadget expert who Longs for the days when he fought crime as the birdlike night owl his ex partner rat Jackie Earl Haley face concealed by a mask bearing an ink blot pattern a raspy voiced sociopath with a knack for breaking tough guys fingers smug Golden Boy Adrien VAP Matthew good who has successfully licensed and merchandised his identity as ozas the smartest man in the world and sexy Lori Jupiter men Akerman who had a superhero's Legacy for fored on her by her mother and predecessor Sally Cara gjino and then there's Lor's lover John ostan better known as Dr Manhattan the product of a government accident that destroyed him yet also gifted him with regenerative superpowers this blue hued Godlike being has been deployed as a tactical Weapon by the S military inhabited with eloquent gravity and Hyper intelligent Detachment via motion capture techniques by Billy crudup and endowed with a ripped physique and true to the source material an often visible set of ser brillian genitalia he's easily the film's most imposing creation of the group only rat suspects a link between the comedian's death and the encroaching threat of global Annihilation and fears a conspiracy to eliminate the Watchmen entirely subsequent twists and attempt on vit's life a media disaster that sends Dr Manhattan into self-imposed Exile on Mars raw shates framing for murder only seemed to justify the Gathering paranoia these threads are played out in a tight chronological Continuum with a ser series of flashbacks that delve into each Hero's Origins and unique worldview as in the novel they provide some of the most gripping moments Dr Manhattan's backstory in particular achieves a near mystical awe thanks to the superb musical choices of Philip Glass PR iGo and prophecies from katti from the clues and in jokes embedded in Larry Fong's widescreen compositions and Alex mcdow's vaguely retro Gotham Noir production design to the meticulous narrative framework and whole chunks of dialogue lifted from the novel there's no question Watchmen reps some sort of ultimate Fanboy Delight whether it's dreer's flying owl ship or the Staggering glass Palace Dr Manhattan conjures up on Mars the filmmakers have spared no expense in their mission to visualize every frame yet the movie is ultimately undone by its own reverence there's simply no room for these characters and stories to breathe of their own accord and even the most fastidiously replicated scenes can feel glib and truncated as Watchmen lurches toward its apocalyptic and slight slly altered finale something happens that didn't happen in the novel wavering between seriousness and camp and absent the cerebral tone that gave weight to some of the books headier ideas the film seems to yield to the very superhero cliches it purports to subvert while Snider still exalts in gratuitous splatter sword off limbs dangling human entrails a very random display of adolescent vampirism he demonstrates a less oppressive directorial hand than he did in 300 avoiding that film's ultr processed digital look and shooting almost entirely on carefully mounted sets the pick was lensed in Vancouver William hoy's editing is fluent and measured even when it crosscuts rapidly in an attempt to Echo the jumpiness of gibbons's comic book panels while none of the actors leaves an indelible impression Haley's feral far Rach narrating most of the film in gral voiceover makes the most of his few unmasked appearances Wilson is touching as a man emerging from physical and psychological impotence and good is appropriately Fay as the self-styled Robert wisdon appears in a few scenes as tricky dick himself complete with comically elongated nose but doesn't quite give Frank langella a run for his money slightly skitso soundtrack is packed with hits from artists including Bob Dylan Simon and gar funcle Leonard Cohen and Billy Holiday some of which are used in too distractingly obvious or ironic a fashion the most period appropriate tune of the bunch may be Nina's cold war protest song 99 left balons movie review it's 1985 but it's a 1985 you'd be utterly unfamiliar with Richard Nixon is serving his fifth term costumed vigilante superheroes some call them have been outlawed and from the window of a New York Penthouse a man plunges to his death so begins Watchman a movie adapted from the looted graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons it took more than 20 years to push Watchmen to the screen many considered the book unadaptable more no fan of Hollywood would Wanted It That Way Watchmen with its Myriad subplots characters Illusions and time shifts certainly doesn't lend itself to a popcorn muncher neither does it lend itself to written synopses about the best I can do is say that at its most simplistic it's a mystery Story one that Agatha Christie would want no part of the dead man turns out to be a guy called the comedian a costumed crime fighter who because he works for Nixon's government was one of the few superheroes allowed to keep his gig then he's thrown through a big plate glass window after being beaten senseless a coldblooded killing without a punch line only questions Rach a rogue vigilante who takes his name from his ever mutating mask of blotches is determined to faret out answers maybe someone's picking off costumed Heroes he growls to Dan drberg a one-time superhero who decided to retire his alter ego Night Owl when the government made costumed crime fighting illegal night Al doubts rat's conspiracy theory at first but he quickly realizes something up Dr Manhattan the only superhero with actual superhuman Powers has exiled himself to Mars Because he believes his strange abilities cause cancer in others a gunman nearly kills Adrien vate a wicked smart businessman who once adventured under the name O amandus and still markets his own line of action figures and R shat gets framed for the murder of onetime villain molok the Mystic positive elements much of what was once considered revolutionary about the book Watchman feels well a bit old now now these superheroes are mostly human filled with very human Frailty and failings while Batman and Spider-Man may have issues some Watchmen are just plain bad a couple are downright pathological still the harbor kernels of goodness inside their dark dark shells rawat's uncompromising adherence to his own code of right and wrong Dr Manhattan's evolving belief that humanity is a real Miracle like turning air into gold oam andia's desire to lead Humanity into a new age of Hope hope and peace right and wrong hope and peace Miracles that's all good right read on spiritual elements philosopher voler once said that if God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him so it's fitting that in the essentially Godless world of Watchmen most characters seem to believe that God is absent or at best too distant to care we meet Dr Manhattan run-of-the-mill superheroes serve as lowercase G Gods capricious beings who both protect and judge the populace and whose failings hearkens back to ancient mythology to underline the connection the film showcases a hero fil dinner party with the participants aping Leonardo Dar insai the Last Supper but far above them all looms Dr Manhattan a onetime scientist named John ostman who was radically transformed during a lab mishap now he's big and blue and generally naked and has the ability to manipulate matter see into the future and zap from place to place faster than rad can say hum when America's industrial military complex first unveiled Manhattan to the world one of his friends allegedly said the Superman exists and he is American turns out the guy was misquoted what I said was God exists and he's American he says Manhattan denies this I don't think there is a God he says and if there is I'm nothing like him but because his abilities are so far above those of the average human Manhattan becomes a Godlike Avatar when he's sent by the government to fight in Vietnam surrendering Viet Kong Bo to him people say things like even Dr Manhattan can't be everywhere at once and Manhattan takes on a uniquely Old Testament style Aura at the end of the film when Humanity mistakenly thinks he's killed millions of people apparently fearing more divine retribution the world makes peace with itself and when superhero Silk Spectre asks night ow whether peace can possibly last night Al says as long as people think Jon's watching us we'll be all right Manhattan even says he now loves life again and that he's going to a different galaxy to create some much of the book and subsequent film seems to ruminate on naturalist William paly's famous 1802 watchmaker argument that the universe is so complex it supposes a designer or watchmaker it's interesting to note that Manhattan's father was himself a watchmaker teaching his son the Trade Manhattan after his transformation Pond a universe where nothing is made a clock without a Craftsman clocks and watches show up repeatedly for instance Manhattan sets his watch on top of a Bible and the Very name Watchman takes on a suggestive tone when these ideas come to mind characters occasionally quote from scripture rat Muses over ancient Egyptian concepts of the afterlife sexual content Dr Manhattan spends most of the film in the Big Blue buff and audiences see him every which way back side and front he sends new duplicates of himself to pleasure girl in Silk Spectre resulting in a bizarre forsome they're interrupted during foreplay later Silk Spectre becomes night owl's main squeeze and the two engage in a graphic sex scene complete with nudity her breasts and both of their backsides much movement and a climax all while Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah plays in the background another physical trist where the two strip and ride around on a couch ends when night Al finds himself to be impotent without first doing superhero type work night Al also has a the dream in which he and Silk Spectre both nude meet in the middle of a Barren landscape and strip their nudity revealing superhero outfits underneath they then kiss before being obliterated by a nuclear explosion Dr Manhattan pre-transformation has sex with his girlfriend she later leaves him after he develops an interest and passionately kisses Silk Spectre who's 16 at the time silk spectre's mom Sally who also was a costumed Adventurer named Silk Spectre is sexually assaulted by the comedian we're asked to watch as he attacks her he unzips his pants during the assault she's in a state of partial undress we learn later that he and she also have a consensual encounter elsewhere silk spectre's outfits are Slinky and provocative RW sh's mother was apparently a prostitute another prostitute flashes her breasts at a passing superhero audiences catch glimpses of pornographic magazines and movies a naked man is seen frolicking during a party an old school female superhero kisses another woman violent content the two are later found dead in bed together the words lesbian scrolled in blood across the walls a male superhero is a sadist a villain is said to be a masochist who follows superheroes around begging to be beaten that's the tame stuff Watchmen put the graphic in graphic novel when it was released peac meal in 1986 and '87 it's as bloody a comic book as you'll likely see and it a slate report s helped kick off a decadent death spiral that would see adolescent violence pedal as adult content full of rape murder and corpse burning but the book looks positively demure compared to The film's Butchery in the book rat dispatches a pedophile Killer by chaining him inside his house and then burning it to the ground with readers only seeing Rach walking slowly out the door in the movie Rach chains the pedophile up then buries a meat cleaver in the evildoer skull repeatedly in the book Dr Manhattan blows up a criminal's head a cloud covering the Carnage in the movie Manhattan blows up several criminals simultaneously blood cods bystanders Gore hangs from the ceiling nobody over 25 could take any Joy from the savagery that has fleshed out on screen just as nobody under 18 should be allowed to witness it writes Anthony Lane in the New Yorker you want to see the attempted rape of a superwoman a bright latex costume cast aside and her head banged Against The Bays of a pool table the assault is there in Mo's book one panel of which hes in on the blood that leaps from her punched mouth but the pool table is film director Zach Snider's own embroidery when people get shot we see skin separate like a burst balloon when people have their arms broken we see the bones stabbed through the flesh arms are cut off with Buzz SS dogs fight over the leg bone of a murdered little girl foot and shoes still attached Dr Manhattan has his body stripped into Oblivion layer by layer twice the the comedian shoots and kills a pregnant woman he fathered the child after the woman slices his face with a broken bottle Rach as a child rips off someone's ear with his teeth superheroes Punch Kick shoot stab poison imilate Haroon and vaporize Legions of people and that's not counting the 15 million folks who get obliterated by explosions at film's end clearly Watchmen shares far more with sword than Spider-Man crude or profane language 20 plus uses of the word and at least a half dozen's words God's name is abused 25 or so times it's paired with DN more than a dozen times Jesus name is callously interjected at least another six a wide variety of vulgarities and crudities bch Bard H and so on a herd thrill drug and alcohol content the comedian smokes cigars and drinks to excess Sally also appears to be a heavy drinker she offers a margarita to her daughter in the early afternoon oia's poison champagne killing dozens of scientists night owl and Silk Spectre share some wine over dinner Manhattan's first girlfriend buys him a beer night ow drinks the stuff too Mok in an effort to treat cancer takes medication made from apricot pits which has been declared illegal other negative elements Silk Spectre throws up raw shat makes several height and weight related Jokes R shad's mother tells him she wishes she had had an abortion most of the characters break the law by fighting crime in costume and some assault Law Officers conclusion Watchmen the book is a brutal Bleak and bitter T to force named by Time Magazine as one of History's 100 best novels it explores philosophy politics Theology and human nature it culminates in a literally monstrous Act of heroism in order to save the world one of the protagonists unleashes a madeup monster on the streets of New York a mere appearance of which kills millions of people our hero feels bad about the loss of life but he figures that their unknowing unwilling sacrifice saved the human race and while more obliquely suggests that the man's gone mad he eventually leaves it up to the reader to decide did he do the right thing Watchman the movie retains that cruel sense of Despair at times its adherence to the source material feels almost slavish yet it's a bit past it two layering an extra gratuitous sex blood and gore just for raw big screen shock value as a book Watchman is Messy as a movie Watchman is a mess in fact I'll go so far as to call it dispirited depressing schlock both as a work of art and as a mo of message Fanboys may be enthralled but I'd imagine the uninitiated will walk away appalled confused and even strangely bored at the advanced screening I attended where folks generally stay glued to their seats I saw a number of people leave the theater some never came back this isn't a movie as much as an assault who watches the Watchmen one graffiti artist Paints in both the movie and book if I had my brothers I know what my answer would be Watchman is a 2009 American superhero film based on the 1986 1987 DC Comics limited series of the same name co-created and illustrated by Dave Gibbons with co-creator and author Alan Moore choosing to remain unch 11 directed by Zack Snider from a screenplay by David hater and Alex C the film features me aiman Billy crudder Matthew good KLA gjino Jackie Earl Haley Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson a dark and dystopian deconstruction of the superhero genre the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigate the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy with which they are all connected for nearly two decades from October 1987 until October 2005 alive action film adaptation of the Watchman series became stranded in development hell producers Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silva began developing the project at 20th Century Fox later moving it to Warner Bros pictures the sister company of Watchmen publisher DC Comics and hiring director Terry gilam who eventually left the production and deemed the complex comic unfilmable during the 2000s Gordon and Lloyd Levan collaborated with Universal Pictures Revolution Studios and Paramount Pictures to produce the film directors David hater Darren aronowski and Paul Greengrass were attached to the project before it was canceled over budget dispute in October 2005 the project returned to Warner Bros where Snider was hired to direct Paramount remained as its International distributor whereas Warner Bros would distribute the film in the United States however Fox sued Warner Bros for copyright violation arising from Gordon's failure to pay a buyout in 1991 which enabled him to develop the film at the other Studios Fox and Warner Bros settled this before the film's release with Fox receiving a portion of the gross principal photography began in Vancouver in September 2007 as with his previous film 326 Snider closely modeled his story boards on the comic but chose not to shoot all of Watchmen using green screens and opted for real sets instead following its World premiere at OD and Lester Square on February 23rd 29 12 the film was released released in both conventional and IMX theaters on March 6th 2009 the film underperformed at the box office grossing over 85.4 million worldwide against a production budget between $130 138 million however the film later found financial success at the home media markets 13 Greg Silverman former Warner Bros executive said that the film did later become profitable 14 the film received mixed to positive reviews from fans and critics the style was prized but Snider was accused of making an action film that lacked the Thematic depth and Nuance of the comic 15 over the years it had gained a cult following a DVD based on elements of the Watchmen Universe was released including an animated adaptation of the tales of the black freighter comic within the story voiced by Gerard Butler and a fictional documentary titled under the hood detailing the older generation of superheroes from the film's backstory 16 a director's cut with 24 minutes of additional footage was released in July 2009 the ultimate cut iron Incorporated the animated comic tales of the black freighter into the narrative as it was in the original graphic novel lengthening the runtime to 3 hours and 35 minutes and was released on November 3rd 2009 the director's cut was better received than the theatrical release 15 plot in 1985 a man living in a Manhattan apartment watches news about escalating Cold War tensions and the response from five-term president Richard Nixon when an unknown as salent attacks and hurls him to the street below throughout the opening CRS a montage reviews the rise of costumed crime fighters from 1939 to 1977 culminating in public backlash and the passage of an anti-vigilante act Rach a vigilante detective who operates illegally discovers that the dead man was Edward Blake better known as the comedian a costumed hero who worked for the government suspecting that other Vigilantes could be attacked Ro Rach warns members of his former team The Watchmen 17 rat's former partner Dan dreber believes he is paranoid but reays his concerns to Adrien vate a crime fighter turned businessman rat later visits Dr Manhattan a physicist whose accidental superpowers make him a national security asset but Manhattan is preoccupied with Energy Research and ignores him at Blake's funeral Manhattan vate and dreber each recall the comedian's pessimism in his later years about the watchman's mission after the service alone mner Pays His respects rat tracks down and questions the mner former super villain Edgar jacobe jacobe says that Blake had recently broken into his apartment while he was sleeping tearful unmasked and incoherent raw shat is astonished but doubts that jacobe would tell a lie so bizarre during a press interview with Dr Manhattan an investigative journalist tells him that several people who had been in contact with Manhattan have developed cancer including his former girlfriend as other reporters mob Manhattan with questions he snaps and Exiles himself to Mars alone Manhattan reflects on his existence and his regrets at being turned into a weapon in his absence the Warsaw packed countries make aggressive moves and Nixon prepares for war bate survives an assassination attempt suggesting that rach's Mas killer theory is correct drberg takes in Lori Jupiter a second generation vigilante and estranged lover of Manhattan for protection rates investigation of the Assassin leads him back to jacobe while attempting to question him again rat is framed for his murder arrested and unmas as a lowborn vagrant in prison Rach defends his vigilantism to a psychiatrist saying he cannot ignore evil and the people who cause it dreber and Jupiter growing nostalgic for their crime fighting days Dawn their costumes and break Rach out of prison to save him from being killed in a riot Manhattan teleports Jupiter to Mars while drberg joins raw sh his investigation of the Blake murder evidence points them to vate as the Mastermind they find him at an Antarctic Hideout where he has just overseen the activation of Dr Manhattan's energy reactors in New York City and other locations across the planet on Mars Jupiter tries to convince Manhattan that humanity is worth saving and succeeds only when he learns that Jupiter is Blake's illegitimate daughter a fact so unlikely that it restores his respect for Life vade admits orchestrating Manhattan's Exile staging the assassination Framing rwat and killing Blake who was spying on his activities he has also executed the final step of his plan turning the world against Manhattan by rigging his reactors to explode killing 15 million people Manhattan returns with Jupiter to a devastated New York pieces together what has happened and teleports to V's Hideout after a brief struggle vate shows him that the world's countries have put aside their rivalries to focus on a common enemy realizing the logic of vit's plan the Watchmen agreed to keep his secret except for RAR whom Manhattan reluctantly kills to preserve the new Global Peace Manhattan departs permanently for another galaxy while dreber rebukes vit's moral sacrifice and Jupiter finally comes to terms with her parentage a New York tabloid or disgusted that there is no war to report on tells a staff member to choose something to publish from a pile of reader submissions that contains roach's Journal cast and characters production for Watchmen began casting in July 2007 for lookalikes of the era's famous names for the film something director Zack Snider declared would give the film a satirical quality and create this 80s Vibe 18192 Snider said he wanted younger actors because of the many flashback scenes and it was easier to age actors with makeup rather than cast two actors in the same role 21 Snider's son appears as a young RW shot 22 while the director himself appears as an American soldier in Vietnam 23 actor Thomas Jane was invited by Snider but declined to work in the film due to being too busy 24 The Watchman Crime Busters me aaman is Lori Jupiter Silk Spectre Roman 2 aaman described her character as a fem fatal as well as carrying the psychology and the emotion of the film the actress worked out and trained to fight for her portrayal of the crime fighter 25 in earlier attempts to make the film Hillary swag Natalie Portman Rachel Weiss Jennifer Connelly and Jessica Alba were considered for the part of Lori according to comic book resources her characterization along with night owls was changed from the original Comics model of gentle golden age heroes to one of a brutal fighter 26 Haley Gil is Young Lori Jupiter Billy crewed up as John ausman Dr Manhattan the only member of the group with genuine superpowers Dr Manhattan is virtually omnipotent and works for the S government he is a scientist who suffered an accident during 1959 giving him superhuman powers rud up plays ostman in flashbacks as a human and is replaced for his post accident scenes with a motion capture CG version of himself during filming crudup acted opposite his co-stars wearing a white suit covered in blue leads so he would give off an otherworldly glow in real life just as the computer generated Manhattan does in the movie his body was modeled on that of fitness model and actor Greg plit the crew then 3D digitized crudup's head and frankensteined it onto Greg Pit's body 27 Snider chose not to electronically alter crudup's voice for Manhattan explaining the character would try and put everyone as much at ease as he could instead of having a robotic voice that I think would feel off-putting 28 Keanu Reeves was also offered the role Reeves was interested in the role but he ultimately passed 29 Jared hydrick is Young John ostman Matthew good as Adrien vate OAS a retired superhero who has since made his identity public a first Snider wanted Jude Law a big fan of the character for the part but said that good was big and tall and lean which aided in bringing this beautiful ageless German Superman feel to the character 30 good interpreted vat's backstory to portray him with a German accent in private and an American one in public good explained vate 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 31 Snider said good fit the bill we were having a hard time casting the roll because we needed someone handsome beautiful and sophisticated and that's a tough combo 32 Tom Cruz was also interested in the part and met with Snider 33 however Snider revealed in 2024 that Cruz was more interested in the role of Rach which had already been cast 34 Jackie Earl Haley is Walter kovak Rach a 45-year-old Mast vigilante who continu his EXT legal activities after they are outlawed he takes his name from the rad test as the shifting black and white patterns on his mask resemble its ink blots 35 unlike the other principal actors Haley had read the comic as a young adult and was Keen to pursue the role when he heard he had become a favorite candidate among fans 30 rou wears a mask with ink blots motion capture markers were put on the Contours of Haley's blank mask for animators to create his everchanging Expressions 36 Haley has a black belt in Kemp but described rach's attack patterns as sloppier and more aggressive due to the character's boxing background 37 rwat appears several times in the movie without his mask before he is apprehended carrying a placard sign proclaiming the end is nigh but not until he is unmasked by the police is it made apparent that the sign Bearer is rad Haley said that upon hearing of the casting of rars he actively sought the role his agent came up with the idea that they should do a shering budgeted audition tape of Haley wearing his own little cheesy Halloween raw shat outfit the entire audition was shot in the living room and kitchen of Haley's house the tape was then sent to the Film Production crew where Snyder watched it after viewing the tape Snyder cast Haley in the role of rwat saying very low Tech but awesomely acted clearly there was no other rwat 38 IL Snider director Zach Snider's son as young Walter Kovac 31940 Patrick Wilson as Daniel dreber Knight Al Roman 2 a 40-year-old retired superhero with technological expertise 35 Snider cast Wilson after watching 26's little children which also co-stars Haley Wilson put on £ 2511 kilg to play the overweight dreber 30 he compared drberg to a soldier who returns from war unable to fit into society 41 during several attempts to get Watchmen adapted as a film Kevin cner Christopher Walkin and Richard jir were each considered for the part John cusac who is an admitted fan of the graphic novel expressed great interest in playing the role 42 his character in the film is more brutal than in the original comic 43 the minute Min Carla gjino is Sally Jupiter Silk Spectre a retired superheroine mother of Lori jpix and the first Silk Spectre Gino's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s and the then 37-year-old actress wore Prosthetics to reflect the aging process guino described her character's superhero outfit as Betty pagee meets Alberto Vargas in earlier attempts to make the film Liv Tyler Jam Lee Curtis an Margaret cine Zeta Jones and sigy Weaver were considered for the part of Sally Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake the comedian a superhero and a former member of the minman who is commissioned by the S government as a Black Ops specialist when reading the comic for the part Morgan stopped when he saw his character was killed off three pages in when telling his agent he did not want the part he was told to continue reading it and find out how important his character was 30 Morgan found the role at challenge explaining for some reason in reading the novel you don't hate this guy even though he does things that are unmentionable like beat up and sexually assault Jupiter my job is to kind of make that translate so as a viewer you end up not making excuses to like him but you don't hate him like you should for doing the things that he does 44 of his casting Snider 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 okay Jeffrey is perfect 32 Steven MCAT is Holly's Mason Night Owl a retired former member and the first night owl Mason now owns and lives over an auto shop Clint Carlton as young Holly's Mason Dan Payne as William Brady doll Bill a deceased member Brady was a bank sponsored member of the Minute Men Who was created for publicity purposes he dies during a bank robbery in 1947 when his cape is caught in the banks revolving doors allowing the robbers to shoot him at Point Blank Range NY matter is Byron Lewis mman a former member Lewis had a privileged upbringing and sought to help the less fortunate and fight oppression and Corruption as a crime fighter to this end Lewis created a costume with special wings that helped him glim di his mental stability ultimately deteriorated after he was called before huak leading to him being forcibly brought to a mental Asylum appollonia vova as Ursula Zant the silhouette deceased a gun toing vigilante motivated by the deaths of her parents and sister at the hands of the Nazis in their native Austria Zant is killed along with her lesbian lover in what is implied to be a hate crime Glenn enies is hooded Justice a deceased former member HJ was a violent VI vilante who was trained in hand-to-hand combat Daryl sheer is Nelson Gardner Captain metropolis a former Marine lieutenant he was one of the more active members of the Minutemen having organized its formation he died in a car accident in 1974 which decapitated him though it is believed by some to be a form of suicide other characters Matt fuer as Edgar jacobe mullock a former supervillain Moc was jailed for a time during the 1970s he is dying cancer which he received from Adrien vate molok was later murdered by vate who frames Rach Mike Carpenter is Young molock Laura mennel is Janie Slater a scientist who was osman's first girlfriend until he fell for Lori Danny Woodburn is Tom Ryan big figure a jail dwarf Crime Boss and old adversary of Night Owl and rad he tries to get revenge when Rach is imprisoned in the same jail as he is but during a staged uprise in jail his attempt fails and both he and his accomplices are killed by rwat Robert Wiston as Richard Nixon Frank Novak as Henry Kissinger Gary Houston as John mcclin Shan Allen and Gary chalk is Nora generals Michael kopser as Paul Klein Chris Gia as Seymour David Cameo roles include Jay brazo as a news vendor Mark aen as a large man at happy hares Lee Gibson a silhouette's girlfriend alesandro Giuliani as a rockfam military base technique Tech nition Sally saffiote as Annie laitz and Ted Cole as dick Cav production in 1986 producers Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver acquired film rights to Watchmen for 20th Century Fox 45 after author Alan Moore declined to write a screenplay based on his story Fox enlisted screenwriter Sam ham ham rewrote watchman's complicated ending making him more manageable conclusion involving an assassination and a Time Paradox 46 Fox put the project into turnaround in 1991 47 and the project was moved to Warner Bros pictures where Terry gilam was attached to direct and Charles mcon to rewrite the script gilam and Silva were only able to raise $25 million for the film a quarter of the necessary budget because their previous films had gone over budget 46 Gillam eventually left Watchmen describing the comic as unfilmable and Warner Bros dropped the project 48 in October 2001 Gordon partnered with Lloyd Levan and Universal Pictures hiring David hater to write and direct 49 hater and the producers left Universal due to creative differences 50m Gordon and Lan expressed interest in setting up Watchmen at Revolution Studios the project did not hold together at Revolution Studios and subsequently fell apart 51 in July 2004 it was announced Paramount Pictures would produce Watchmen and Michael baay was considered to direct eventually they attached Darren aronowski to direct hater script producers Gordon and Levan remained attached collaborating with aronofsky's producing partner Eric Watson 52 Paul Greengrass replaced aronowski when he left to focus on the fountain 53 ultimately Paramount placed Watchman in turnaround 54 in October 2005 Gordon and Levan met with Warner Bros once again to develop the project 55 Tim Burton at one point expressed interest in directing the film But ultimately turned it down impressed with Zack Snider's work on 300 Warner Bros approached him to direct an adaptation of Watchmen 56 screenwriter Alex T was hired to rewrite haters script he drew from his favorite elements of haters script and returned the story to the original Cold War setting of The Watchmen comic in contrast to hater script which took place in modern times similar to his approach to 300 Snider used the comic book as a story board 59 following negotiation Paramount which had already spent $7 million in their failed project earned the rights for international distribution of Watchmen and 25% of the film's ownership 60 the fight scenes were extended 61 and a subplot about energy resources was added to make the film more topical 62 although he intended to stay faithful to the look of the characters in the comic Snyder intended Night Owl to look scarier 59 and made oas's armor into a parody of the rubber muscle suits from 1997's Batman and Robin 63 production took place in Vancouver where a New York City back lot was built sound stages were used for apartments and offices 64 while sequences on Mars and in Antarctica were shot against green screens 65 filming started on September 17 2007 66 and ended on February 19th 28 67 on an estimated $120 million budget 68 to handle the 1 100 Shots featuring visual effects a quarter of them being computer generated imagery 69 10 different effects companies were involved with Watchmen 70 while 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit to block the film's release the studios eventually settled and fox received an upfront payment and a percentage of the worldwide gross from the film and all sequels and spin-offs in return 71 Dave Gibbons became an adviser on Snider's film but Moore has refused to have his name attached to any film adaptations of his work 72 more has stated he has no interest in seeing Snider's adaptation he told Entertainment Weekly in 2008 there are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can't 73 while Mo believes that David hater's screenplay was as close as I could imagine anyone getting to Watchman he asserted he did not intend to see the film if it were made 74 with regard to changing the ending to where Dr Manhattan was fingered as the culprit instead of the squid Snyder stated that we figured it took about 15 minutes to explain the Squid's appearance correctly otherwise it's pretty crazy 75 by admitting the squid Snider felt that he could give more time to explore and develop the existing characters 75 Oscar Gonzalez of cenat stated that because of this change however the movie is not cannon in regards to the Watchmen TV series 76 earlier drafts had Vape die but Snider reversed this change 77 music both soundtrack and excerpts from Tyler bat's film score were released as albums on March 3rd 2009 the soundtrack features three songs written by Bob Dylan Desolation Row All Along the Watchtower and the times there are a changin with only the latter performed by Dylan on the soundtrack it includes some songs mentioned in the comic such as Simon and Garfunkle The Sound of Silence and Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah Dylan's The Times They Are a changin and All Along the Watchtower are also quoted in the graphic novel music by Philip Glass from K escat he plays when Dr Manhattan is looking back on his life when he arrives on Mars 78 the intrus of Mozart's requim appears at the end of the film Desolation Row was covered by My Chemical Romance specially for the film and the song plays in the NCS the music video was directed by Snyder and features several in Universe references to Watchman release marketing Warner Bros interactive entertainment published us only episodic video game to be released alongside the film called Watchman the end is nigh Warner Bros took this low-key approach to avoid rushing the game on such a tight schedule as most games adapted from films are panned by critics and consumers 79 the game is set in the 1970s and is written by Len wi the comics or Dave Gibbons is also an adviser 80 on March 4th 2009 glue mobile released Watchmen the mobile game a batm up mobile Game featuring night ow and the comedian fighting enemies in their respective settings of New York City and Vietnam 81 on March 6th 2009 a g for the Apple Inc iPhone and iPod Touch platform was released titled Watchmen Justice is coming though highly anticipated this mobile title suffered from serious gameplay and network issues which have yet to be resolved 82 as a promotion for the film Warner Bros entertainment released Watchmen motion comic a series of narrated animations of the original comic book the first chapter was released for purchase in the summer of 2008 on digital video stores such as iTunes store and Amazon video on demand 83 DC Direct released action figures based on the film in January 2009 84 director Zack Snyder set up a YouTube contest petitioning Watchmen fans to create faux commercials of products made by the fictional vate Enterprises 85 The Producers released two short video pieces online which were intended to be viral videos designed as fictional backstory pieces with one being a 1970 newscast marking the 10th anniversary of the public appearance of Dr Manhattan the other was a short propaganda film promoting the Keen Act of 1977 which made it illegal to be a superhero without government support an official viral marketing website the new Frontiersman is named after the Tabloid magazine featured in the graphic novel and contains teasers styled as Declassified documents 86 after the trailer for the film premiered in July 2008 DC Comics president Paul Levitz said that the company had had to print more than 900,000 copies of Watchman trade collection to meet the additional demand for the book that the advertising campaign had generated with the total annual print run expected to be over 1 million copies 87 DC Comics reissued Watchman hash1 for the original cover price of $150 on December 10th 2008 no other issues are planned to be reprinted a 88 the teaser trailer was attached in July 2008 and debuted in November 2008 home media tales of the black freighter a fictional comic within the Watchman limited series was adapted as a 26-minute direct to video animated feature from Warner Premiere Warner Bros animation and legendary titled Watchmen tales of the black freighter and released on March 24th 2009 '89 it was originally included in the Watchman script 65 but was changed changed from liveaction footage to animation because of the $20 million it would have cost to film it in the stylized manner of 300 that Snyder wanted 89 this animated version originally intended to be included in the Final Cut 36 was then cut because the film was already approaching at 3-hour running time 89 Gerard Butler who starred in 300 voices the captain in the animated feature having been promised a role in the liveaction film that never materialized 90 like the original liveaction film itself International rights to the black freighter film are held by Paramount Home Entertainment 911 the black freighter releases also include under the hood a 38-minute fictional and universe documentary detailing the characters's backstories which takes its title from that of Holly's Mason's Memoirs in the comic book 89 unlike the film and tales of the black freder which were both R-rated under the hood is PG rated because it is meant to resemble a behindthescenes television news magazine profile of the characters the actors themselves were allowed to improvise during filming interviews in character 92 bolex cameras were even used to film faux archive footage of the Minutemen 93 in addition the 325 minute Watchman motion comic was released via Blu-ray DVD and digital video stores on March 3rd 2009 as part of the Warner Premiere motion comic series Warner released a 186 minute director's cut of the film expanded from the 16 2minute theatrical cut on all formats on July 21st 2009 this was followed by the November 10th 2009 home video release of the 215 minute ultimate cut it comprises the director's cut with tales of the black Fredo edin throughout along with additional new stand framing sequences the ultimate cut was released on 4K oud Blu-ray on July 19th 2016 94 all DVD and Blu-ray ions of the three Cuts come in various permutations with varying quantities of extra features Watchmen debuted at the top of the rental DVD and Blu-ray charts 98 first week sales of the DVD stood at 1,23 2725 copies generating 24,59414 in sales revenue by November 1st that9 the DVD had sold a total of 2,5 t321 copies and made 46 m766 383 $3 in Revenue 99 as of 2022 it has made 152 m61 532 from domestic DVD and Blu-ray sales 100 Greg Silverman former Warner Bros executive said that the film did eventually become profitable 14 reception box office Watchman was released at midnight on March 5th 2009 and earned an estimated $4.6 million for the early showing 101 approximately twice as much as 300 Snider's previous comic book adaptation earned 102 the film earned 24,5 15772 in 3611 theaters during its first day 103 and later finished its opening weekend grossing 55,1 14334 104 at that point it had the biggest number of screenings for an R-rated film breaking the previous record held by the Matrix Reloaded one 105 watchman's opening weekend is the highest of any Allan Moore adaptation to date and the income was also greater than the entire box office taker from Hell which ended its theatrical run with 31,6 2566 106 although the film finished with $55 million for its opening while Snider's previous adaptation 300 earned $70 million in its opening weekend Warner Bros head of distribution Dan Felman stated that the opening week weekend success of the two films were not comparable because watchman's runtime was 45 minutes longer than 300 allowing for fewer showings a night 107 Watchmen pulled in $5.4 million at 124x screens the second largest IM Max opening at that time 108 following its first week at the box office Watchmen saw a significant drop in attendance by the end of its second weekend the film brought in $ 17,8 31 finished finishing second on that weekend's box office chart the 67.7% overall decrease was at the time of its release one of the highest for a major Comic Book film 109 losing 2/3 of its audience from its opening weekend the film finished second for the weekend of March 135 29 110 the film continued to drop about 60% in almost every subsequent weekend leaving the top 10 in its fifth weekend and the top 20 in its 7th 104 Watchmen crossed the $100 million mark on March 26th its 21st day at the box office 103 and finished its theatrical run in the United States on May 28th having grossed 107,5 19799 in 84 days the film had grossed 1/5 of its ultimate gross on its opening day and more than half of that total by the end of its opening weekend 103 Watchmen was the 31th and highest grossing film of 29 111 and the sixth highest grossing R-rated film of the Year Behind The Hangover in glorious bastards District 9 Paranormal Activity and it's complicated 112 at the North American box office Watchman currently sits in the lower half of the 44 films based on a DC Comics comic book narrowly ahead of 1997's Batman and Robin 113 Watchmen earned $ 26.6 million in 45 territories overseas of these Britain and France had the highest box office with an estimated $4.6 million and $2.5 million respectively 114 Watchmen also took in approximately $2.3 million in Russia $2.3 million in Australia $1.6 million in Italy and $1.4 million in South Korea 115 the film collected 77,78 in other territories bringing its worldwide total to1 185 m382 1813 seven critical response on Rotten Tomatoes Watchmen has a 65% approval rating based on 31 reviews and an average rating of six 410 the site's critical consensus reads gritty and visually striking Watchman is a faithful adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel but its complex narrative structure may make it difficult for it to appeal to viewers not already familiar with the source material 116 on Metacritic which assigns a waited average rating reviewss from mainstream critics the film has a score of 56 out of 100 based on 39 critics indicating mixed or average reviews 117 audiences ped by cinemascore gave the film an average grade of B on an A plus to f scale the primary audience was older men 118 Patrick colen of Vine Australia awarded it a perfect 1010 and wrote It's The Watchman film you always wanted to see but never expected to get 119 Roger OT gave it four out of four stars and wrote It's a compelling visceral film sound images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel 120 Richard corus of time concluded this ambitious picture is a thing of bits and pieces yet the bits are glorious the piece is magnificent 12 121 Jonathan Crocker of total film awarded at four fifth Stars writing C it's hard to imagine anyone watching The Watchman as Faithfully as Zack Snider's heartfelt stylized AAP uncompromising uncommercial and unique 122 When comparing the film with the original Source material Ian Nathan of Empire felt that while it isn't the graphic novel Zack Snider clearly gives a toss creating a smart stylish decent adaptation one 123 Nick Dent of timeout Sydney gave the film four out of five in his review of February 25th praising the film's inventiveness but concluding while Watchman is still as Rich daring and intelligent and action film as there's ever been it also proves more absolutely right that Watchman is inherently unfilmable as a comic book Watchman is an extraordinary thing as a movie it's just another movie a wash with Sound and Fury 124 some critics who wrote negative reviews dislike the film's use and depiction of the Cold War period setting stating that the films attempt to use the 1980s fears that never came to pass felt dated and that Snider's slavish Devotion to Faithfully adapting The Source material as literally as possible did not allow his work to exhibit a creative distinctiveness of its own and that as a result the film and its characters lacked vitality and authenticity Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post for example wrote Watchman is a boar it sinks under the weight of its reverence for the original 125 Devon Gordon wrote for Newsweek that's the trouble with loyalty too little and you alienate your core fans to much and you lose everyone and everything else 131 Owen gla's Entertainment Weekly review reads Snider treats each image with the same stuffy hermetic reverence he doesn't move the camera or let the scenes breathe he crams the film with bits and pieces trapping his actors like bugs wriggling in the frame 130 Snider never pauses to develop a vision of his own the result is oddly Hollow and disjointed the ACT is moving stiffly from one overdetermined Tableau to another said Noah berlatsky of the Chicago Rita 126 David Edelstein of New York agrees they've made the most reverent adaptation of a graphic novel ever but this kind of reverence kills what it seeks to preserve the movie is embalmed 127 Joe morston of the Wall Street Journal wrote watching Watchmen is the spiritual equivalent of being whacked on the skull for 163 minutes the reverence is inert the violence noxious the mythology murky the tone grandios the texture glutenous 10 129 Donald Clark of the Irish Times was similarly dismissive Snider director of the UNS subtle 300 has squinted hard at the source material and turned it into a colossal animated story board augmented by indifferent performances and moronically obvious music cues 132 the trade Magazine's variety and The Hollywood Reporter were even less taken with the film Justin Chang of variety commented the movie is ultimately un done by its own reverence there's simply no room for these characters and stories to breathe of their own accord and even the most fastidiously replicated scenes can feel glib and truncated 128 and Kirk hyat of The Hollywood Reporter writing the real disappointment is that the film does not transport an audience to another world as 300 did nor does the Third Rate Chandler es narration by rorat help looks like we have the first real flop of 2009 five analyzing The Divided response de Boucher of the Los Angeles Times felt that like Eyes Wide Shut The Passion of the Christ or fight club Watchmen would continue to be a talking point among those who liked or disliked the film Boucher felt in spite of his own mixed feelings about the finished film he was oddly proud that the director had made a faithful adaptation that was nothing less than the boldest popcorn movie ever made Snyder somehow managed to get a major Studio to make a movie with no stars no name superheroes and a hard ey rating thanks to all all those broken bones that oddly off putting our ship sex scen and of course the unforgettable glowing blue penis 133 director Christopher Nolan claimed that Snider's version of Watchman was ahead of its time and that it should have been released post Avengers he also noted that the idea of a superhero team which it brilliantly subverts wasn't a thing yet in movies film review after the revelation of The Dark Knight here is Watchmen another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie it's a compelling visceral film sound images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel it seems charged from within by its power as a fable we sense it's not interested in a plot so much as with the Dilemma of functioning in a world losing hope that world is America in 1985 with Richard Nixon in the White House and many other strange details although this America occupies a parallel universe in which superheroes and Mast Warriors op at the film confronts a paradox that was always there in comic books the heroes are only human they can be in only one place at a time with a possible exception to be noted later although a superhero is able to handle one dangerous situation the world has countless dangerous situations and the super resources are stretched too thin faced with law enforcement Anarchy Nixon has outlawed superhero activity quite possibly a reasonable action now the murder of the enigmatic vigilante the comedian Jeffrey Dean Morgan has brought the Watchmen together again who might be the next to die Dr Manhattan Billy kruder the only one with superpowers in the literal sense lives outside ordinary time and space the forces of the universe seeming to coil beneath his skin oand is's Matthew good is the world's smartest man the night owl Patrick Wilson is a man isolated from Life by his Mastery of Technology R shat Jackie Earl Haley is a man who finds meaning in patterns that may only exist in his mind and silk Spector Roman 2 Ma and aiman lives with one of the most familiar human challenges living up to her parents in this case the original Silk Spectre carlao Dr Manhattan is both her lover and a distant Father Figure living in a world of his own these characters are garbed in traditional comic book wardrobes capes boots gloves belts masks props anything to make them one of a kind rawat's cloth mask with its endlessly shifting ink blots is one of the most intriguing superhero masks ever always in constant motion like a mood ring of the ID Dr Manhattan is contained in a towering muscular naked blue body he was affected by one of those obligatory secret experiments gone wild never mind the details what matters is that he possibly exists at a Quantum level at which particles seem exempt from the usual limitations of space and time if it seems unlikely that Quantum materials could assemble into a tangible physical body not to worry everything is made of quantum particles after all the there's a lot we don't know about them including how they constitute Dr Manhattan so the movie is vague about his precise reality I was going to say silk Spector Roman 2 has no complaints but actually she does the mystery of the comedian's death seems associated with a plot to destroy the world the first step in the plot may be to annihilate the Watchmen who are all that stand between Etc it is hard to see how anyone would benefit from the utter destruction of the planet but remember that in 1985 there was a nuclear stand off between the United States and the Soviet Union that threatened exactly that remember better dead than red there were indeed cold Warriors who preferred to be dead rather than red reminding me of David Merrick's statement it's not enough for me to win my enemies must lose in a cosmic sense it doesn't really matter who pushed the comedian through the window in a cosmic sense nothing really matters but best not meditate on that too much The Watchmen and their special gifts are all the better able to see how powerless they really are and although all but Dr Manhattan are human and back the home team their powers are not Limitless Dr Manhattan existing outside time and space is understandably remote from the fate of our tiny planet although perhaps he still Harbors some old emotions those kinds of quandaries engage all the Watchmen and are presented in a film experience of often fearsome Beauty it might seem improbable to take seriously a naked Blue Man complete with discreet genitalia but Billy Cruda brings a solemn Detachment to Dr man man hatan that is curiously affecting does he remember how it felt to be human no but I'm a few bars kud up does the voice and the body language which is transformed by software into a figure of considerable presence Watchmen focuses on the contradiction shared by most superheroes they cannot live ordinary lives but are faded to help mankind that they do this with trademark names and appliances goes back to their origins in Greece where Zeus had his Thunderbolts Hades his three-headed dog and Hermes his winged feet could Zeus run fast did Hermes have a dog no that level of symbolism is coiling away beneath all superheroes what appeals with Batman is his Humanity despite his skills he is not supernormal Watchmen brings surprising conviction to these characters as flawed and minor Gods with Dr Manhattan possessing access to godhead on a plane that detaches him from our daily concerns indeed from Days themselves in the film's most spectacular scene he is exiled to Mars and in utter isolation reimagines himself as a human and conjures or discovers I'm not sure an incredible City seemingly made of crystal and mathematical concept this is his equivalent to 40 days in the desert and he returns as a savior the film is Rich enough to be seen more than once I plan to see it again this time on a Max and we'll have more to say about it I'm not sure I understood all the nuances and implications but I am sure I had a powerful experience it's not as entertaining as the dark Dark Knight but like the Matrix films lot and The Dark Knight it's going to inspire fevered analysis I don't want to see it twice for that reason however but mostly just to have the experience again Zack Snider's movie version of the DC Comics graphic novel Watchmen is a fantastically deranged epic it might be making a bid for floored Masterpiece status except that it is probably more floor than Masterpiece there are dull moments and moments of inspiration moments of sublime CGI trickery and repeatedly moments when you suspect that a much-loved pop rock standard is being bashed out on the soundtrack to make sure your interest levels don't Flatline it is a radioactive Mosaic of bizarre touches and surreal tweaks pop culture and News Real History are audaciously morphed into a counterfactual landscape against which has played out the strange story of paranoid and vulnerable human beings who were once superheroes but no more owing to public disillusion with unaccountable Vigilantes they have been forced to abandon their vocation a post-modern Twist also explored by the our Disney classic The Incredibles it is 1985 but not as you know it Richard Nixon is still in charge having passed a law allowing himself more than two terms he is in any case wildly popular owing to the hugest victory in Vietnam this is because the Americans had on their side awesome superhero Dr Manhattan Billy crudup a flaming blue Colossus with blakean musculature and Godlike powers to bend nature to his will he is one of the Watchmen the now disbanded crew of superheroes including oand is Matthew good Silk Spectre to me aaman Night Owl to Patrick Wilson rhat's Jackie Earl Haley and the comedian Jeffrey Dean Morgan The Watchmen are in fact the second generation descendants of a pre-war Super Crew called the Minutemen with the original silk Spector Carla Gugino and the original Night Owl Steven MCAT The Watchmen are hardly straightforward good guys they include someone truly despicable the comedian is a rapist murderer and fascist stooge a Hitman for tricky Dicky he is shown as being the second gunman on the grassy null who assassinated Kennedy in 1963 this sequence is stunningly convincing but disgusting as he is the comedian's depravities are to be surpassed by The Mad hubris lurking within the disbanded watchman's ranks the hubris that might destroy Humanity itself there is something exhilarating in the sheer Madness of Watchmen a wacky world turned upside down famous people from history are always getting dreamed like cameos costumed combatants flit across the screen in the company of Nixon Henry Kissinger and Pat Buchanan the watchman's existence pokes some sharp satire at the bited capeless Warriors of conservative America the synaps frazzling ambition of Watchmen is impressive as it lurches from hyperal Earth to photoal Mars it is dizzy crazy and quite sexy when it's not being self-indulgent and pointless if it doesn't quite hang together or add up or stick Faithfully to the comic book original these offenses aren't major what a spectacle said in an alternate 1985 with Richard Nixon still in office and nuclear war with the Soviet Union imminent it's a densely plotted sociopolitical charged tale of costumed crime Fighters driven to existential despair by a world that seems both hard to save and hardly worth saving though it cries out for equally audacious cinematic treatment the novel instead has been timidly and efficiently streamlined by David hater X-Men X2 X-Men United and Alex C who struggled to cram as many Visual and narrative details as possible into the films one 161 minutes before it becomes a meditation on the nature and value of heroism in uncertain times Watchmen is first and foremost who done it the victim is Edward Blake Jeffrey Dean Morgan formerly a vigilante known as the comedian who's attacked by a mast Intruder in his upper Story New York apartment and hurled to his death in suspended slow motion the murder triggers a reunion of sorts for several of the comedians Associates who before Nixon outlawed masks costumed Superheroes Were collectively known as The Watchmen these include Dan dreber Patrick Wilson a nebbishy gadget expert who Longs for the days when he fought crime as the birdlike night owl his ex partner rwat Jackie Earl Haley face concealed by a mask bearing an ink flot pattern a raspy voiced sociopath with a knack for breaking tough guys fingers smart Golden Boy Adrien VAP Matthew good who has successfully licensed and merchandised his identity as OAS the smartest man in the world and sexy Lori Jupiter me aaman who had a superhero's Legacy forced on her by her mother and predecessor Sally Cara gjino and then there's Lor's lover John ostman better known as Dr Manhattan the product of a government accident that destroyed him yet also gifted him with regenerative superpowers this blue hued Godlike being has been deployed as a tactical Weapon by the S military inhabited with eloquent gravity and Hyper intelligent Detachment via motion capture techniques by Billy crudder and endowed with a ripped physique and true to The Source material an often visible set of Cerulean genitalia is easily the film's most imposing creation of the group only rat suspects a link between the comedian's death and the encroaching threat of global Annihilation and fears a conspiracy to eliminate the Watchman entirely subsequent twists an attempt on bat's life a media disaster that sends Dr Manhattan into self-imposed Exile on Mars raw shates framing for murder only seem to justify the Gathering paranoia these threads of played out in a tight chronological Continuum with a series of flashbacks that delve into each Hero's Origins and unique worldview as in the novel they provide some of the most gripping moments Dr Manhattan's backstory in particular achieves a near mystical awe thanks to the superb musical choices of Philip Glass PR iigo and prophecies from katti from the clues and in jokes embedded in Larry Fong's widescreen compositions and Alex mcdow's vaguely retro Gotham Noir production design to the meticulous narrative framework and whole chunks of dialogue lifted from the novel there's no question Watchmen reps some sort of ultimate Fanboy Delight whether it's dreer's flying owl ship or the Staggering glass Palace Doctor Manhattan conjures up on Mars the filmmakers have spared no expense in their mission to visualize every frame yet the movie is ultimately undone by its own reverence there's simply no room for these characters and stories to breathe of their own accord and even the most fastidiously replicated scenes can feel glib and truncated as Watchmen lurches toward its apocalyptic and slightly altered finale something happens that didn't happen in the novel wavering between seriousness in Camp and absent the cerebral tone that gave weight to some of the book's headier ideas the film seems to yield to the very superhero cliches it purports to subvert while Snider still exalts in gratuitous splatter sword off limbs dangling human entrails a very random display of adolescent vampirism he demonstrates a less oppressive directorial hand than he did in 300 avoiding that film's ultr processed digital look and shooting almost entirely on carefully mounted sets the pick was lensed in Vancouver William hoy's editing is fluent and measured even when it crosscuts rapidly in an attempt to Echo the jumpiness of gibbons's comic book panels while none of the actors leaves an indelible impression Haley's feral farity Rach narrating most of the film in grvy voiceover makes the most of his few unmasked appearances Wilson is touching as a man emerging from physical and psychological impotance and good is appropriately Fay as the self-styled vate Robert wisdon appears in a few scenes as tricky dick himself complete with comically elongated nose but doesn't quite give Frank langella a run for his money slightly skitso soundtrack is packed with hits from artists including Bob Dylan Simon and gar funcle Leonard Cohen and Billy Holiday some of which are used in two distractingly obvious or ironic of fashion the most period appropriate tune of the bunch may be Nina's cold war protest song 99 left balance movie review it's 1985 but it's a 1985 you'd be utterly unfamiliar with Richard Nixon is serving his fifth term costumed vigilante superheroes some call them have been outlawed and from the window of a New York Penthouse a man plunges to his death