WATCHMEN REVIEW!!! (Exclusive Series)
- Matt Palmer
- Apr 17, 2023
- 3 min read
Initial release date: March 6, 2009
Studios: Warner Bros./Paramount/Legendary Pictures/DC Entertainment
Plot: In an alternate 1985 America, costumed superheroes are a part of every day life. When one of his former comrades is murdered, masked vigilante Rorschach uncovered a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his tired associates, only one of which has true powers. Rorschach glimpses a far reaching conspiracy involving their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the world's future.
Cast
Malin Akerman - Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II
Billy Crudup - Dr. Manhattan/Jon Osterman
Matthew Goode - Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias
Jackie Earle Haley - Rorschach
Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Edward Blake/Comedian
Patrick Wilson - Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl
Carla Gugino - Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre
Matt Frewer - Moloch
Stephen McHattie - Hollis Mason
Laura Mennell - Jenny Slater
Rob LaBelle - Wally Weaver
Gary Houston - John McLaughlin
James M. Connor - Pat Buchanan
John Shaw - Doug Roth
Robert Wisden - Richard Nixon
Writer(s): David Hayter (X2: X-Men United; The Scorpion King; X-Men)
Alex Tse
Director: Zack Snyder (Netflix's Army of the Dead; Zack Snyder's Justice League)
Rated R for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language (163 minutes)
A few nights ago, I had the chance to check out the 2009 movie adaptation of Watchmen. When it was initially released, the movie did receive some mixed reactions from both critics and the viewing audience.
Watchmen delivers a dark alternate look of the early 80s as someone is going after the heroes one by one and killing them. The opening sequence was extremely intense and amazingly shot. Quite a few slow motion shots but that is probably the kind of shot that Zack Snyder likes best since there's plenty of slow motion shots in most of his movies.
Quite a few of the visual effects shots are great and the characters are spot on to the source material. Now, before watching the movie I looked up some info about the graphic novel since I wasn't really too familiar with it. And, from what I can tell, the movie adaptation is pretty close to the source material, but can be wrong!
Sure, Watchmen can be really violent but that's a typical Snyder action movie. The only down side of the movie is that there are a few parts throughout the movie that sort of drags. If you saw the movie let me know your thoughts of the movie adaptation of Watchmen!
Watchmen can be found on the HBO Max streaming platform!
Here are some interesting tidbits for the 2009 movie Watchmen:
All of the US flags in the movie have 51 starts, because in the movie's alternate history, Vietnam became the 51st state after America won the Vietnam War.
Jackie Earle Haley was the only one of the main actors who was already familiar with the comic book. He actively campaigned for the part of Rorschach.
The movie's first trailer, which premiered with The Dark Knight, sparked so much interest that it sent the graphic novel back onto the best-seller list. Barnes & Noble reported selling out of the novel nationwide.
There are over 1100 visual effects shots in this movie.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Edward Black, the Comedian. Morgan initially turned down the role after reading the first three pages of the script, assuming the character was only a cameo. His agent persuaded him to read the entire script and then make a decision.
In 1986, producers Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver acquired the movie rights to Watchmen for 20th Century Fox. After author Alan Moore declined to write a screenplay based on his story, Fox enlisted writer Sam Hamm (Batman/Batman Returns).
Fox put the project in turnaround (or development hell) in 1991, and the project was moved to Warner Bros.
In October 2001, producer Lawrence Gordon partnered with Lloyd Levin and Universal and the project ultimately fell apart once again. In July 2004, it was announced that Paramount Pictures would produce the movie and ultimately placed it in turnaround.
In October 2005, Gordon and Kevin met with WB once again to develop the project. Tim Burton at one point expressed interest in directing, but ultimately turned it down. WB approached Zack Snyder to direct after being impressed with 300.
As of 2022, it has made $152 million from domestic DVD and Blu-ray sales.
Watchmen was released at midnight on March 5, 2009, and earned an estimated $4.6 million for the early showing. The movie earned $24.5 million in 3,611 theaters during its first day, and later finished its opening weekend grossing $55 million.
It ended the domestic run with $107.5 million, being the sixth highest-grossing R-rated movie of 2009, behind The Hangover, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, Paranormal Activity and It's Complicated. The movie collected $77.8 million in other territories, bringing its worldwide total to $185.3 million.
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