Watchmen
Chapter 2
[4K]
Did you think Watchmen Chapter 1 was going to be that good? Shocking, wasn’t it? Everything adapted from Alan Moore is almost doomed to fail, either because the person adapting it doesn’t understand the source (*cough* Snyder! *cough*), or because they simply arbitrarily disagree with Moore’s details of the story (*cough* Wachowskis! *cough*). So, for some bizarre, inexplicable reason, DC decided to flog a dead horse, bring us Watchmen again, but this time, faithfully adapt it. Who could have guessed – WHO – that it wasn’t Watchmen fatigue that we’re having, but a longing for the original story.
So, yes. Chapter 1 was great. It was great to be back in that world, revisiting this mystery knowing how it was all going to end, HOPING they would end it the same way. Chapter 2 takes off right where the first one ended, with Laurie now living with the Night Owl and Rorschach in jail. Seeing these characters depicted on screen, with actual performances, really helps their personalities shine. Rorschach is deluded but a good detective, Night Owl is a nerd who just loves the protocol of the job, Laurie has her training to fall back on, Ozymandias is a total narcissist, and Dr Manhattan kind of a…mystery. How anyone could want a relationship with him boggles the mind. Living with that guy sounds like a nightmare. Anyway. As Chapter 2 rolled along, I didn’t want to do any web searches to see what was faithfully adapted and what wasn’t. What I saw on screen seemed about right, and that’s good enough for me. The ending hits like it should and that Black Freighter story overstays its welcome. I’m cool with that.
Watchmen Chapter 2 is the proper conclusion to a low key, faithful, and hopefully not unnoticed, adaptation of arguably Alan Moore’s greatest work (I don’t know, I still like From Hell better). It’s not perfect (some of the animation is CLUNKY), but I’m glad they got it right. Oh, please tell me they got it right. The man deserves as much, doesn’t he?
