Our story takes place in an alternate 1985 – Nixon has been President for three terms and the U.S. won the Vietnam War. Superheroes have been banned; the U.S. is on the verge of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, "masks" are being killed, jailed, or discredited one by one. Are their removals related to the seemingly unstoppable escalation toward war?
It has been a long time since I have had to close my eyes to get through a scene in a movie. Zack Snyder's The Watchmen, like his previous film, 300, is extremely violent and contains disturbing imagery. Despite this, it is a compelling film; great visuals and interesting characters. This is not the typical comic book film. Definitely not for kids. Not for a lot of people. Don't go in expecting Superman to save the day. Indeed, the entire theme of both the book and film is to challenge the comic book convention. If someone had superpowers, dressed up in a costume, what would make that person any less susceptible to the same moral flaws (and in some cases, mental illness) the rest of us have?
Update: Here is a review by Roger Ebert and a follow-up character analysis of Dr. Manhattan.
1 comment:
Not for kids...not good. Shaun is already asking me over and over again to go see it. I never thought they would make a super hero type movie not kid appropriate. Well for the most part at least.
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