The Watchmen are not like any superheroes you've seen in the movies before. Michele Manelis explains why
Since its inception on the graphic novel page in the 80s, Watchmen has long been considered unfilmable. Even now that the technology has caught up with the superhero vision of the series' writers Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, it seems to belong to a much different universe to Dark
Knight or Ironman.
After all, the 12-novel series, which many aficionados in this genre regard as the best of its kind, was set in a parallel universe of a Cold War past where superheroes exist, Richard Nixon has somehow remained president after winning the Vietnam War and the US and the Soviet Union are edging towards a nuclear holocaust.
Now it's a movie. A densely plotted two and half hour film from Zack Snyder, the director who brought Frank Miller's Spartan war epic 300 to the screen. And like his previous effort, Watchmen doesn't flinch on violence.
"I wanted to assault the audience," said Snyder of the carnage. "My dad took me to see Apocalypse Now when I was a kid. And yes, it was inappropriate, but it changed me somehow. This movie may have the same effect and although it is R-rated and it's not for kids, maybe if you're a bad parent..."
Condensing this complicated series was one of Snyder's most ambitious challenges. "Of course I couldn't include everything or it would be a six to 10-hour movie. I had to make sure it had that impossibly cool Watchmen-esque tone to it, and for those people not familiar with the story, as far as the pop culture element is concerned, I think people will want to go see it," he says.
With a cast that includes Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Carla Cugino, there are no A-listers to distract and they give decent performances. For Snyder, his favourite character is played by Crudup, in the form of Dr Manhattan, a 6-foot tall, naked, blue man.
"He's a broken dude. He's scary," says Snyder.
Crudup (Almost Famous, MI3, The Good Shepherd) enjoyed his first taste of superhero-dom . "It was a thrilling component for me. This guy is supposed to be the empowerment of the super being, but he's kind of an asshole in the way of a douche-bag rock star who gets famous and all of a sudden forgets the people from his hometown and says, 'I'm going on the bus where the cool people go'." He laughs. "I mean, Alan Moore must have taken a great deal
of pleasure in writing this guy. Not only is there a God, but he's American. And a jerk."
Much has been made of Crudup's enhanced body which includes a penis enlargement. "We had dots stuck all over me so they can capture my facial expressions and movement later on and yes there were a few dots on my penis, too."
It was a similar process to the making of Beowulf a couple of years ago where the actors were covered in performance capture "dots" so that their movements had every dimension measured and tracked.
Crudup says, "I had a great deal of empathy for Dr Manhattan because there's a loneliness and isolation to him, but of course no one cares once they get to see his schlong."
Thankfully, Crudup isn't the kind of actor who wants to discuss the "craft" or the ins and outs of an actor's motivation. "As actors, we trick ourselves into thinking we're taking a role for one reason or another, but it's all down to the same thing. We're all playing dress-up in an elaborate way, and so this pointed that out very clearly. As much as I might like to pretend I'm doing something cool and extraordinary, I'm really just a 40-year-old guy playing dress-up."
The movie contains some disturbing sexual content including a rape scene, however, the nudity per se didn't bother Swedish-born Malin Akerman (27 Dresses, The Heartbreak Kid), who plays Laure Jupiter/Silk Spectre II.
"We have boobs on TV in Sweden and Norway so it's not a big deal for me. I mean, we all have sex and it's strange that it's become a fetishised thing. I thought it was important to show that it's not only violence going on in the graphic novels," she says.
"And don't get me wrong. I wasn't walking around saying, 'Please let me take my clothes off.' But when it's pertinent to the novel and to the film and as long as it's not gratuitous and it's beautifully done in a classy way, there's nothing wrong with it."
Adds Carla Cugino (Sin City), who plays Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre, the victim of sexual abuse, "I also have a more European aesthetic when it comes to nudity. I've done films where people will question me, like, 'So you took your clothes off!'," she says, rolling her eyes. "If you were in any other country in the world, as you know, that would not be an issue. I mean, Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Rampling - I'm sure no one asks them that question."
Unlike other comic book adaptations where the audience may not have read the original series, such as The Dark Knight, or Hellboy, this is not necessarily a standalone movie. But Crudup disagrees. "The movie's not just a good representation of the book, but a self-contained piece of art. When Lord of the Rings became successful, not everyone had read that, but it was still highly anticipated and well-received. It was a well-crafted piece of work. I hope this will be received in the same way."
The film was shot primarily in Vancouver for an alleged budget of US$100 million and the studio had its share of problems; 20th Century Fox tried to delay the film's release claiming it had never relinquished the rights to the comic, and accused Warner Bros of copyright infringement.
With lawsuits still pending the producers were not able to comment.
There are many messages to glean from watching the movie.
"I don't know about the political message of Watchmen," says Crudup "I have my own own ideas but to try to describe it would only be reductive to a book and a movie that I think has a potential to ask more questions and be provocative in a way I don't think I really could be."
Diehard fans of the comic book series will tell you Watchmen is of a different calibre than other graphic novels. Originally published by DC Comics as a monthly limited series from 1986 to 1987, it was later republished as a trade paperback and was regarded as one of the first superhero comics to present itself as serious literature.
It remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award and is the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.
Fans will be pleased to know that the director's cut, released theatrically later on in the year, is three hours and 10 minutes long.
There is also a dvd of The Black Freighter, the film's animated movie-within-a-movie, to be released next month.
Says Snyder, "It was obviously a challenge to make the movie, but it was also a responsibility because of all the fans. I couldn't believe I got the job.
"300 had just come out and the studio gave me some crazy rope to hang myself with.
"I hope I did it justice."
Watchmen who's who
Who: Doctor Manhattan
Real name: Jonathan Osterman
Played by: Billy Crudup
What: With his glowing blue appearance, the Doctor has the most unique and striking looks of the Watchmen super-beings. He and The Comedian are the only government-sanctioned superheroes following legislation banning their kind and the use of superpowers.
Who: The Comedian
Real name: Edward Blake
Played by: Jeffrey Dean Morgan
What: He's one of those likeable nasty guys. He's a soldier and a ruthless killing machine but, as we find out, he does have some sense of morality and compassion. The Watchmen story starts to unfold following his murder.
Who: Silk Spectre II
Real name: Laurie Juspeczyk
Played by: Malin Akerman
What: The daughter of Sally Jupiter (the first Silk Spectre) and The Comedian, with whom she has a strained relationship. She also has love interests with both Doctor Manhattan and Nite Owl. Watchmen writer Alan Moore included her because he felt the story needed a female hero in its cast of characters.
Who: Rorschach
Real name: Walter Kovacs
Played by: Jackie Earle Haley
What: He's a superhero-cum-vigilante and with his fedora hat and trenchcoat he resembles a mafia hitman, except for his white mask with morphing ink blots which shift constantly to reflect his emotional state.
Who: Ozymandias
Real name: Adrian Veidt
Played by: Matthew Goode
What: Brainy, physically powerful, and a self-made business tycoon. Veidt retired from superhero duty to devote his attention to his own enterprises but now he's back to save the world. But his plan, which the other superheroes are sceptical of, comes at a cost.
Who: Nite Owl II
Real name: Dan Dreiberg
Played by: Patrick Wilson
What: Instead of Batman, think Owl Man because many of Dreiberg's attributes conjure up images of the caped crusader. When his father left him a huge fortune he invested it in owl-themed crimefighting gear and gadgets.
LOWDOWN
What: Watchmen, the long awaited film by 300 director Zack Snyderabout a group of superhero vigilantes
Based on: The 1986 limited series comic book by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons
Opens: In cinemas today
