By Katie Burnside
Deemed “unfilmable,” the 12-issue comic book series “Watchmen”
finally became a reality as it opened in theaters Friday, March
6.Staying true to the series, the film did well in portraying
crucial scenes that made the comic famous, but also seemed
confusing to those who only went to watch another comic book action
movie.”Watchmen” is set in an alternate United States where Nixon
is on his third-term and superheroes surfaced to help the
government win the Vietnam War. In a gritty 1985, the Soviet Union
has breached territorial borders and a nuclear war seems
eminent.Masked vigilantes have become the villains in the public’s
eyes, and superheroes have gone into retirement due to government
crackdowns.The plot focuses on the hardships and deconstruction of
the protagonists as they try to investigate the murder of a
government superhero, Edward Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and a
possible plot to terminate the heroes.The reunited heroes,
including Silk Spectre II (Malin Ackerman), Dr. Manhattan (Billy
Crudup), Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) and Rorschach (Jackie Earle
Haley), try to help each other prevent their own annihilation, but
in doing so they discover a deeper plot to kill millions of
innocent civilians.The previews persuade moviegoers that the film
is just another comic book movie. However, the film delves deep
into a darker realm that strips down the superhero persona and
glorifies the conflicts and struggles they have to go through.The
film catches the audience’s attention right from the beginning with
an opening credit sequence that features Bob Dylan’s “The Times
They Are A-Changin'” and depicts images of a changing America along
with the fates of the first superheroes. It is here that viewers
get a good sense of the beginning struggles of the heroes.The
featured songs throughout the film seemed out of place with the
movie, but Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower” and other
like-era songs allowed the audience to stay interested for the
whole 2 hours and 43 minutes.Some scenes throughout the film seemed
daunting for those who are unaware of the film’s origins.Violent
fight scenes depict scarlet blood and bones protruding out of
gangster’s arms and legs. The character Dr. Manhattan has the power
to explode humans, and a scene where a prisoner gets his arms sawed
off gives the audience an eyeful of gushing blood and spattered
walls.Domestic and sexual violence scenes set the dark tone of the
film featuring rape and the killing of a pregnant woman.One theme
that made the film stand out from any Spiderman or Batman movie was
the amount of blatant sex scenes and male frontal nudity that
seemed to appear suddenly. Dr. Manhattan was seen several times
throughout the film without clothing and always made it a point to
be facing the audience so everyone could see how well equipped he
was. Silk Spectre II and Nite Owl II share a steamy sex scene
complete with breast exposure and positions involving a chair. With
the little oddities here and there that made the film more
appealing as compared to other superhero films, they also backfired
and made the movie somewhat confusing. But despite these tiny
flaws, the film overall was enticing and kept the audience
questioning what would happen next.This isn’t your average
superhero movie, but instead more of an anti-hero movie that helps
us to realize the true struggles that those we have to look up to
go through.Reach Katherine Burnside at
Copy Editor@thepolypost.com
FilmSchoolRejects.com
Explicit scenes, dark tone carry ‘Watchmen’
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