The Pelican’s Perch

I’ve read plenty of reviews for this movie after I saw it, as it’s jam packed with plot and things happening, thus it can be pretty confusing, but I didn’t like the professional take most reviews had.  So, I’m going to do the opposite and keep it stream of consciousness style, which, with a movie as complex as The Watchmen, might end up being the best route for those of you who haven’t seen it anyway.

So, Michelle and I went to this movie Sunday on a whim, showing up at the ticket counter at 1:05pm, asking for a ticket for the 1pm show, so saying we went to this movie on an impulse isn’t an exaggeration.  We literally walked by the theatre, gave each other a brief understood look, and just went.  And boy am I ever glad we did.  Sitting here thinking of all the things I want to talk about is almost an overwhelming task, as the complexity of The Watchmen is astounding.  I think I’ll focus on the characters first.

Part of the reason the plot feels so dang complex is because of how much time you find yourself in the past, looking at each character’s background and how they came to be.  The opening credits were right up there with the rest of the movie as far as cool factor are concerned, with a slow motion montage of scenes from the original Watchmen crew frozen in various scenes as the camera slowly pans around each scene of them stopping bad guys, posing for pictures, and even talking to famous people like Andy Warhol.  All behind a Dylan song, which I found to be pretty cool.  The story really begins in 1985, with Nixon, in his 5th term as president, passing an anti-masked heroes law which has made them illegal for the past 15 years.

That kept most the heroes off the street, like Night Owl II and Silk Spectre II, but others refused and still roamed the streets, like the Comedian and Rorschach.  I have to say Rorschach is one of the cooler characters I’ve seen in a film in a long time, and his raspy voice makes Christian Bale’s Batman voice seem like child’s play.  But that’s for another discussion.  The real story begins with the murder of the Comedian.  It’s a murder Rorschach doesn’t believe is a coincidence, and one that leads him on his own personal mission to find out why the Comedian was really murdered, whether members of his old hero gang believe him or not.

I have to admit to not having read the graphic novel, so I can’t say whether it follows the story faithfully or not, but most reviews I’ve read say it only deviated from the book’s plot in a few places, most notably the ending, and that Zach Snyder (director of 300), did about as good a job bringing it to the screen as anyone could.  And most thought the task was nearly impossible.

The plot just gets super complicated from here, with the US and Russia being on the verge of nuclear war, and Rorschach’s mission turning up more and more clues that lead to mysteries unraveled, heroes being set up and backstabbed, and ultimately the heroes putting their suits back on for one last battle.

Thinking back, my favorite character may have been Dr. Manhatten, the blue guy you’ve all seen in the previews, who’s the only real “super” hero in the movie.  All the others are just really strong and good at fighting, but Dr. Manhatten’s nuclear accident has literally made him into a sort of God, being able to create and destroy anything with his mind, and develop an other-worldly sense of things in the universe that we find makes him less and less human as the film continues.  Billy Crudip’s acting as Dr. Manhatten was amazing, as he brought this emotionless, all CGI character to life.  The other characters I wasn’t too sold on.  Night Owl II was a quiet, unassuming character, but I just never connected with him as much as Michelle seemed to.

And Silk Spectre II, played by Malin Ackerman, was the one character I couldn’t get to win me over no matter how hard I tried.  Maybe it’s the fact the the whole first half of the movie, all I could think about was how she was the little sister in 27 Dresses, and now she was in this mega-blockbuster role.  She’s not a bad actress, I just kept feeling like she’d won the role in a contest or something.  But it’s probably just my fault, as I should have left the room last time I was home when my mom was watching 27 Dresses instead of staying on the computer, stubbornly listening to it in the background as my mom kept sighing at all the girly parts.  Yeah, it’s probably my fault, but I still think maybe someone else would’ve been better for the role.

Let’s move to how in the world they kept this film an R rating.  I thought I was prepared for the styilized violence, since Snyder did 300 after all, but man, there are some intense scenes.  One scene in the jail almost made Michelle sick, which I found kind of funny, but it was understandable as it was pretty dang nasty and gorey.  You can see the beauty in the violence much like you could in 300, but somehow, Snyder ramped it up even more for this film and at times even I found myself with my head in my hands, almost chuckling to myself at how absurdly violent the last scene was.  On top of that you have sexually explicit scenes all over the place.  Not necessarily a lot of sex scenes, although there were some, but more just showing the human body in general.

It’s clear the people working on the film saw the human body as an art form, much like in 300 with all the soldiers 18 pack abs, so you even get used to the male frontal nudity by the end of the movie.  I’m talking mostly about Dr. Manhatten, whose blue man group could be seen in at least 90% of his scenes.  Which, when you really think of it, showed just how little interest he had any more about petty human desires like clothing.  He just didn’t care.  But definitely go into the film prepared for styilized violence like you haven’t seen and some pretty sexually explicit scenes throghout.  It didn’t really bother me, but it may bother some of you that are more squeemish, or are thinking about bringing the young’uns.

So, how to wrap up?  I really haven’t told you much at all in this review besides my rambling thoughts.  The plot is complex and requires multiple viewings to catch everything you missed.  I’m certain I missed key things for over half the movie and will undoubtedly be checking it out two or three more times.  The characters are all interesting, some more than others, and they do an excellent job of not over-doing a backstory that must be told in order to understand everyone in the movie and all that is going on in the present.

I’m still up in the air whether I like the Watchmen more than The Dark Knight.  I know I like it as much for sure.  But as far as superhero movies goes, this one stands in a class all its own, often times barely feeling like a superhero movie.  And to that the fact that its length makes it feel like there’s eight or so endings (none of which I cared in the least when the story kept going), and you find yourself processing one of the most complex superhero movies we’ve seen in a long, long time.  Who knows if it’ll become a cult classic, but I felt plenty satisfied by our unplanned movie excursion and I know I’ll still be talking about it a week from now.  If you’re looking for the first epic movie of 2009, I can guarantee you won’t find anything even close to this complex beast of a movie.

P.S.  Completely forgot to mention all the amazing music in it.  Most reviewers were turned off by the fact that they must have spent nearly as much obtaining licenses to use the music as they did all the CGI, but I absolutely loved the use of all the songs like Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and Jimi Hendrix.  Heck, this is a music blog after all, here’s the list of songs in the movie.

• MTV Theme: Man On The Moon – Jonathan Elias and John Petersen
• On the TV and opening fight: Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
• Opening credits: The Times They Are a-Changin – Bob Dylan
• Dinner with Laurie and Dan: 99 Luftballons – Nena
• Funeral: The Sound Of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel
• Vietnam: Ride Of The Valkyries – Budapest Symphony Orchestra
• Bar in Vietnam: Me And Bobby McGee – Janis Joplin
• Street protest: I’m Your Boogie Man – KC & The Sunshine Band
• Laurie comes to Dan’s house: Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
• You’re My Thrill – Billie Holiday
• Protest (from the opera Satyagraha) – Philip Glass
• Something She Has To Do – Philip Glass
• Mars: Prophecies (from Koyaanisqatsi) – The Philip Glass Ensemble
• Mars: Pruit Igoe (from Koyaanisqatsi) – The Philip Glass Ensemble
• Captains of industry / assassination attempt: Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Studio Group (originally performed by Tears for Fears)
• Love scene: Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen
• Bar scene asking about Pyramid: Clyde – Waylon Jennings
• Flying to Antarctica: All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
• Leaving Antarctica: Requiem (Excerpted from Mozart’s Requiem) – Tyler Bates [Updated from original post]
• On the TV: Control Voice (from Outer Limits) – Vic Perrin
• On the TV: The Outer Limits Theme – Dominic Frontiere
• On the TV: Panic – Dominic Frontiere
• End credits: Desolation Row – My Chemical Romance
• Second end credits song: First We Take Manhattan – Leonard Cohen