Watchmen

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Price: £19.99

Reviewed by Fergus McShane

1 Star 2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars 5 Stars (2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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Many have tried and many have failed to adapt Alan Moore’s meandering comic book Watchmen. Zack Snyder has been the latest to tackle the epic comic and surprisingly he seems to have pulled it off.

After a lengthy legal battle between Paramount and Fox threatening to destroy Watchmen before it even hit the screen; Alan Moore’s discontentment with his work being adapted to cinema; and one of the largest groups of diehard fans waiting with bated breath… the odds were stacked heavily against Snyder’s adaptation.

Astonishingly what emerged is a wholly enjoyable and immensely sized extravaganza. Keeping firm hold of the best aspects of the book while losing the parts mainstream audiences wouldn’t accept from a realistically styled film, Watchmen comes as yet another new way for the superhero movie to go.

At times Snyder’s style may be on the indulgent side, similarly to that seen in 300, but as an ode to Moore’s epic Snyder has stayed mainly faithful. Following the escapades of what would really happen if there really were superheroes among us, Watchmen is a weird and wonderful rehash of history.

For the sheer size of the film Snyder will take the plaudits. It may not reach the quality of the book, but really it was never going to. And if anything, Watchmen’s greatest success will be attracting those unfamiliar with the comic to a new world of everyday superheroes.

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