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WATCHMEN DARVREVIEW Return to Main Page Return To Reviews Watchmen Warner Bros., 2009 MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO MOVIE THUS FAR I waited DECADES to see Spiderman done properly in the movies. Even then, the simple story of guilt, honor and growing up felt a little puerile to my advanced age. I loved Batman and the spectacle of the first one was a lot of fun. And Jack was Jack, of course. The rest of them until �Batman Returns�...eh...Even farther back, the first Superman movie was fun, but nobody has ever been able to adequately portray Lex Luthor. The rest of them...eh...X-Men was a great trilogy and I especially like the last one. Mythologically, most super heroes are driven by intense criminal urges they feel which are the psychic wound left by some primal trauma. Their dilemma is their impotent personality which cannot act outside of strict moral boundaries, while still having the means at their disposal, whether financial and technical or actual super powers does not matter, by which they CAN act. They create an alter ego who CAN do what they personally cannot and slowly BECOME that masque and their �real� identity becomes the mask behind which they hide. This of course is not true of Superman, whose real identity is Kal-el, Superman, and whose alter ego is Clark Kent (Can�t). As pointed out by the character, �Bill,� at the final showdown in �Kill Bill,� Kent is Superman�s CRITIQUE of the human race, is what Superman thinks of as an average guy. But Spiderman is motivated by guilt over his uncle�s murder, which he believes he could have prevented. Batman is motivated by revenge for his parent�s murder before his eyes. Often, these tortured souls experience intense violent impulses, criminal desires, which they must somehow vent but can only allow themselves to perform against those who they deem as deserving such punishment. The self-righteous vigilante as emotionally-disturbed compulsive criminal. Then we come to heroes like the X-Men, mutants with super powers for which they are socially stigmatized. Oddballs, outcasts, they are revered and feared simultaneously. Their conflict with humans nearly results in all-out war with humans. These heroes are more complex personalities, capable of vicious acts for personal reasons. In some ways, they are more the victims of their powers than willing avatars. Most modern superheroes with super powers were either born with them or acquired them by some bizarre accident. X-Men also have personality differences between themselves and have romances with each other that can end. This can go way beyond the policy arguments between members of the Justice League of America or the petty squabbling of the Avengers. WATCHMEN creates, at least for me, a new wrinkle in the genre meditation on the archetypal superhero. The characters are of several types: Doctor Manhattan, perhaps the most intriguing super hero with true transhuman abilities. His shining blue body is reminiscent of Krishna or Vishnu, yet his bald muscular physique is rather like the Silver Surfer. He can see his own past and future, can be in many places at once, can access the akashic field logos and instantly know things, and can teleport anything anywhere and use imagination to fashion or destroy anything. The problem is: he has a hard time relating to humans incessant deliberate misinterpretation and intrigue; Rorschach, a hard-boiled detective wearing a mask (comprised of constantly changing inkblots) and a trench coat. Somewhere between the snarling, morally judgemental Sgt. Belker (Animal) of Hillstreet Blues and Mickey Spillane�s violent Mike Hammer, but cutting a sociopathic swath reminiscent of Mickey Rourke�s Marv in �Sin City.� Rorschach arrests but also exectutes criminals. In his words, �Men get arrested; bugs get put down.� The Comedian - if Ernie Kovacs became Sgt. Rock, but then just decided he didn�t give a crap anymore and was as capable of heinous behavior as heroic acts, you�d have this cigar-chomping, 30 caliber machine gun wielding, special forces black ops superstar. His abusive physical violence towards women instantly slaps an �R� on this movie long before the sex scene between Miss Jupiter and Nite Owl happens (a scene so orgasmically graphic it also requires an "R" rating;) Ozymandeas, the smartest man in the world who has sold his hero image to toy marketeering and bankrolled himself into a multimultibillionaire. He is intent on ridding the human race of its major problems All of these characters have morally questionable stuff going on -- it is difficult to root for them as champions of goodness -- they tolerate outrageous behavior performed by other super heroes, can be foul mouthed and have signature character flaws and weaknesses. They are inexorably drawn together in a tightening web of misdirection and intrigue which culminates in the classic mystery movie revelation of "what-will-have- happened" after it has happened. Very cool. And this revelation blows the modern superhero mythology sky-high and into the 21st Century! This story is as deep and thoughtful as �V For Vendetta,� but is even more clearly about AMERICA�s own bent toward fascism and totalitarian mindsets. It�s like: what if the Fifties never ended but just got more and more repressive and weird? Nixon is in his fifth term. I love the look of the movie. While clearly influenced by film noir and the washed out look of �1984" or the revivals of the Flash Gordon look like �Sky Pirates,� I think we can say that movies like �Sin City� also have an influence here. Plus, of course, all the comics that are background to these movies. This movie is not for little kids. Extremely graphic violence includes: bodies exploding into bloody smears; dream sequences of being ripped apart by nuclear explosions; cold-hearted gunning-down of defenseless women and children; dogs ripping a child apart; and a bare-fisted attempted rape. A meat cleaver, metal-cutting chainsaw and boiling oil are used to produce their obvious effects by unflinching camera work that shows you the part you usually don�t have to watch but know is happening. I, however, find this as it should be. I rather think that Americans are too inured to violence by cinematic IMPLIED violence. I sometimes think this is why we so eagerly go to war on the other side of the world, killing hundreds of thousands of people who didn�t deserve it. It just isn�t real to us. This is the reason the OVERT violence is in this movie, since it is all about how our attention is diverted (with our implicit collusion) from what we do to other people, using violence, in order to get our way. I�ve seen numerous complaints on-line about the length of the movie. All I can say is that my attention was RAPT through the entire length of it. I fell asleep out of BORDEOM at �The Dark Knight.� Perhaps it is because I do enjoy the Mystery genre of fiction and have some facility piecing together the clues that kept me locked in, but I think it was also because I also study mythology and see movies of this kind in that light. I shall have a lot to think about regarding the sacrifice of Doctor Manhattan and shall wonder what ever became of him. Definitely picking up the DVD when released! See You In The Dreamtime! Return to Main Page