Watchmen

I enjoy watching films based on comic books or graphic novels. Especially ones that can relate well to its source, have a good combination of sound, action and acting quality, for example Superman, Batman or even Wonder Woman. These films are light-hearted and never usually step in the realms of the dark side. Well Watchmen did it differently; it pushed the envelope and stepped into the dark side. And what do ya know, it did well at the box office.

Watchmen is a film based of the DC graphic novel by Alan Moore and is about a gang of superheroes who all go about their day to day lives. However, they are supposed to be watching over the world and the events that occurred in the year it is set, 1985. A lot of incidents happen in 1985 which gives this film its dark side and give the watchmen a lot to deal with as the film progresses. Especially the main incident of murder of one of the members of the watchmen, which leads a vigilante named Rorschach on a investigation to piece it together. This in turn leads to some unexpected circumstances.

For the first 15 minutes of this film I was confused and struggling to follow the storyline. This was probably because I hadn't read the source material, although I did manage grasp parts of the main story. Then again, the elements of music, sound and special effect type action made this film more enjoyable to watch.

The sounds and music from this film fits well, but in some parts could have been better. The noise of the wind fits well as with the rattling and clanging echo when Dr Manhattan views a montage and flashback scene in Spectre's mind. Then again the classical music afterwards and when Rorschach is working works well with this film too. But there are some times where I felt there could have either more music or more sound. Those are the times when its just plain dialogue. But maybe that's the way its meant to be.

The action is pretty intense and hardcore. Just five minutes into the film there is a fight scene that is intense with knives guns and things being smashed. This is the kind of stuff that most action films lack and this kind of action is what makes this film more enjoyable. However, it does get very brutal with the bashing scene between a male and female member of the watchmen and Dr Manhattan's killing of humans one by one with a stream of blue laser of something. But all in all, the action is entertaining, which means it has done its job.

I felt this was a great and enjoyable film though, even if I did find it hard to follow. There were a lot of flashbacks in this film and I guess all of that jumping back and forth is what lost me. But then again, maybe I should have read the source material first to get a much better knowledge and idea of what the film is going to be about. But as mentioned before, many elements made this film enjoyable to me.