Upon discovering that his estranged girlfriend’s existence resulted from an unseemly affair between two former enemies, the unfathomably powerful nuclear superhero Dr. Manhattan reflects, “To distill so specific a form from the chaos of improbability, like turning air to gold. That is the crowning unlikelihood. The thermodynamic miracle.”
The above statement does more than express Dr. Manhattan’s restored faith in humanity. It also describes Zach Snyder’s uber-faithful attempt to make a film of Watchmen. Translating Alan Moore’s brilliant writing and Dave Gibbons’ luminous illustrations into a new medium represents a tall task indeed. Conventional wisdom decreed for years that this complex and unwieldy graphic novel was “un-filmable.”¹ While Snyder’s ambitious effort does not quite turn air into gold, it comes mighty close.
First, a disclaimer: I loved comic books as a kid. Late in elementary school, I stumbled onto a second-tier Marvel strip called Daredevil shortly after it was assigned to a young genius named Frank Miller. (Miller later graduated to The Dark Knight and Sin City.) Price increases combined with the dawn of adolescence weaned me off comics by the mid 1980s. But I still credit Miller’s brilliant storytelling with spawning a life-long appreciation for reading and with providing a needed refuge from my awkward pre-teen self during my parents’ divorce. In short, comics saved me. Yes, the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Part of my disclaimer, then, is that I am not sure how Snyder’s film plays to those unfamiliar with the graphic novel. The film so faithfully mirrors the book (it’s practically a storyboard for it) that the two fuse together in my mind. Extensive back-stories for each of the masked heroes are mercifully cut from the film, but knowledge of the original undoubtedly informs my appreciation of the latter. If you experience trouble following the film, I recommend reading the comic, a work of art cited by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best novels ever. Reports suggest that Snyder will also include much of the original material omitted from the film in the special features menu of the upcoming DVD.
Inviting a Christian audience to consume either version of Watchmen may seem irresponsible, especially to pop culture-weary brothers and sisters in Christ. While the story does contain more than its share of sexuality and violence, it simultaneously wrestles with important and weighty theological and philosophical issues. Countless sermons could and should be preached on Watchmen’s nuanced and allegorical treatment of predestination, miracles, the existence of God, human depravity, justice, and salvation. Few mainstream artistic texts so inventively grapple with these many important questions.
And how exactly did the depiction of sex and violence become the third rail of Christian criticism? While not for everyone, certainly not for children, Watchmen goes places familiar to the grittier passages of scripture. Nothing in Snyder’s film, for example, equals the bleak sexual violence depicted in “The Rape of the Concubine”(Judges 19). This is not to suggest that the film is blameless. Snyder crosses the border into gratuitous territory by making the love scene between Silk Spectre II and Night Owl more sexually explicit than in the discrete, shadowy panels of the graphic novel. The same could be said of the frequent, if admittedly, humorous reappearance of Dr. Manhattan’s glowing blue genitals. Unnecessary. But, like the horrific passages from Judges in which a young woman is raped and dismembered, Watchmen deserves to be considered within its larger narrative context.
With one painful exception, the actors prove up to the challenge of matching the visceral intensity of Brown’s flawed, twisted and pathetic collection of masked misfits. As Rorschach, Jackie Earle Haley channels the damaged little boy hiding within the psychotic moralist. When permitted to see his awkward face from behind his ink-blotted mask, we witness the pain and rage brimming beneath his laconic exterior.
Patrick Wilson’s Night Owl balances personal decency within a biting self-awareness. He knows how ridiculous he looks in that costume, especially sporting his 40-something spare tire, but given his narcissism, he can’t resist putting that cape on one last time.
All recognizable physical features of actor Billy Crudup disappear into the CGI baby blue glow that is Dr. Manhattan. Crudup’s detached voice marvelously expresses a cosmic genius gradually losing touch with his humanity—an evocation of Hal’s soothing drone from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Malin Akerman as Lauri Jupiter, aka The Silk Spectre II, stands out as the weak link in the acting ensemble. With perfect 80s hair and an athletic body, Akerman visually matches Gibbons’ illustrations. Unfortunately, her acting is equally two-dimensional. Akerman’s inexpressive face and flat line-readings marginalize the desperation and strength of Watchmen’s central heroine. A missed opportunity, the lack of depth in her portrayal will undoubtedly haunt the cult status of this ambitious film for years to come.
From its inception as a twelve-issue comic book limited series in the 1980s, Watchmen has battled preconceptions. By deconstructing the ideal of the noble superhero, it makes these mighty beings more human and frail than ever before. Working within the confines of a seemingly limited and juvenile genre, it fights and earns respect from the elitist fiefdoms of literature and art.
Finally on the big screen, Watchmen continues to buck expectations. Although far from perfect, this “un-filmable” film persists in raising messy questions and inspiring passionate discussions. Hopefully, these discussions may lead discerning people toward truth and wisdom.
__________
¹Mairi Mackay, “Filming the unfilmable: Zach Snyder on ‘Watchmen,’ cnn.com, http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/24/watchmenzacksnyder.screeningroom/index.html. <3.9.2009>
Robert Hubbard is Associate Professor of Theater and Speech at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.
