Watchmen: Chapter 1
[4K Ultra HD]
Sure, Alan Moore is controversial but he’s also right most of the time. Even the worst Alan Moore work is kind of good, when you think about it. Can you blame him for wanting to have SOME sort of ownership over his comics? He only turned against the adaptations of his work once it became obvious that they would never remain true to their source material. His books still get made into movies, and he’s OK with it as long as they take his name off it. The man has integrity.
I never thought we’d ever get a faithful adaptation of an Alan Moore’s work. And I never thought we’d need to revisit Watchmen. Haven’t we beat that horse to death? There were even comic books prequels and sequels. I haven’t read them, but I don’t know of anyone who praises them. Whatever the case, I love Watchmen, but I still think From Hell is a better piece of work.
Look, I really wanted to hate this cartoon (oh, sorry, MOTION PICTURE ADAPTATION), but from the get-go, I just can’t figure out why I would. It just recreates this world and the mood so well. I like that the cast is a bunch of no-names, and that the characters are being portrayed with the same depth and complexity as they did in the comics. The subtlety is still there and they even got Rorschach right: brilliant but also sad and pathetic. He’s SUPPOSED to sound like he’s trying to frighten “villains” with that voice. He’s SUPPOSED to sound dumb. Sure, the animation is rigid and takes a little getting used to (and some movements look unnatural enough where it can be distracting) but can still be lush at times. Also, I’m still missing now the Black Freighter story fits into all this, but it’s there, just like in the comics.
This Watchmen adaptation clearly respects the source material. Spoiler alert, I’ve already seen Chapter 2, and I think I like this part better: maybe because it has more Dr. Manhattan? The story is so powerful and relevant that one can still easily get sucked in even 40 years later. What’s more, I think Alan Moore would like this. Wow!
