Watchmen (2009)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  5 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: On the one hand, with 'Watchmen,' you definitely have to admire Zack Snyder for getting this ambitious project made as well as for executing it in such a rich and stylish manor. Now by rich I don't mean hyper-intelligent, but it is definitely appealing to watch something this large in thematic and visual scope. Couple that with some vaguely investing characters and the many scatterings of eye-candy and dark humour and what you get is a film that's occasionally investing and sometimes strangely appealing.
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Whilst some progression can be seen in the fact there's more of an explorative narrative built around the themes here than there was in the terrible '300,' the way Snyder deals things still suggests he hasn't really cracked delving below the surface, as it's all about statement rather than exploration. Indeed as opposed to using narrative and visual cues to steer the audience to think for themselves, 'Watchmen' is a film that spends an awful lot of time (a really, really long time actually) discussing its many themes in a very lateral way - either through literal discussion from our characters, or through very gimmicky and often mis-understood visual moments. This means the whole thing feels wildly convoluted and overlong when in fact it's all rather surface-level portrayals.
  VERDICT: Zack Snyder's 'Watchmen' tries to force a narrative from his pseudo-intellectual depth, but at least this time it's all done in a way that will largely have you vaguely entranced.

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