AMB Reviews

*Written by Spencer Tennis, Guest Reviewer*

Watchmen: 9/10 Stars

Release Date: March 6, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity, and language. There is some extreme violence. Several people explode and one man is stabbed repeatedly in the head (blood is shown). A pregnant woman is shot. People are stabbed, kicked, punched, and ripped apart. All of it is very graphic. There is also full nudity of a man and several scenes with upper female nudity. Several graphic sex scenes, also involving nudity. About twenty uses of the f-word.

Review:

"Watchmen" is a very good movie.

In Short:

This movie was based upon a graphic novel. And though I felt like this movie differed from the comic book in several ways, I felt like it was an entertaining, yet graphic superhero film. Not many of the superheroes were given powers, but it was still interesting to see them fight evil. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

In Full:

In an alternate 1985 America, costumed superheroes are part of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock," which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is killed, the washed-up masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plan to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he teams up with his former crime-fighting legion - a  group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers - Rorschach sees a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and horrible consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity...but who is watching over the watchmen? The plot was decent enough, even though it strayed from the comic book at times.

The acting was pretty good as well. Nothing really stuck out to me, but it was all decent, none the less. Malin Akerman and Walter Kovacs were good as Rorschach and Silk Spectre II. Also included in the cast is "Spy Kids," Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre. As stated before, I didn't love the acting, but it was still good for a superhero film.

The visuals were awesome. They were the best part of the film. The explosions were top-notch and the fighting was very realistic and intense. There weren't really as many fist fights as I thought there was going to be, but the rest of the visuals, including the gun fights and explosions were great. They were very well done and high quality.

Some of the things I would've liked to see more of were (as stated above) the fist fights. This being an action and fighting movie, it didn't seem like there was too much of one-on-one, fist to fist fighting. Only one of the Watchmen was really given super powers as well, making it less interesting. I think more of the super heroes should've been given powers, as it would've added to the plot. Also, as noted above, this movie did have a tendency to stray from the graphic novel, and was much more violent in several parts. 

Overall, though it has its share fair of cons, I found "Watchmen" to be a very decent movie, with great visuals and acting. The plot was interesting and even though it could've been improved in several ways, I think that it was entertaining, cool, and a decent addition to superhero movies. It wasn't like many of them out there, making it more original. It's not for the younger viewers, but "Watchmen" is still a solid 9/10 stars.