Watchmen: Chapter I

I do not write many thing here anymore, mostly due to the imbecile politics and character limit.

But. But this thing is ... good. And I want people to know it.

I'm not a shill, I'm not a bot, nobody paid me to write it.

I read the comic in the last millenium. As in, in the 90's. Still Iron Curtain, that was one of my glimpses of "The West". And I was truly impressed.

Then, they made a movie. Unfortunately, with a wrong ending - but with Malin Akerman (here replaced by Katie Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica, super nice touch).

And this, this is more than good. It just follows the comic book almost to the letter. Very, very impressed. I'd give it 8, but I'm bumping it to 9 because of fidelity.

"I am not locked here with you. You are locked here with me". I truly hope next two chapters are going to be a masterpiece. Please keep following the comic to the letter, not the simplified Snyder movie.

So, Watchmen is one of the most famous, one of the best and one of the highest valued graphic novels in the world.

So, why would we get another adaptation of it with a relatively cheap animation? It basically gets no advertising push and with little information about it (it doesn't even have a wikipedia page at time of writing this!).

Just seems like they are devaluing the IP by releasing it this way!

But that's the why, now we move on to the what - the actual product!

And dammit, I thought it was pretty darn good. Clearly a straight adaptation, but they did it well. It engaged me, I thought the animation style captured the feel of the book well, and the voice acting was pretty good.

So why I don't think this should exist, given it does - I have to admit it could have been way worse.

I expected this movie to be a full unabridged comic adaptation, but instead it's just a disappointing shot by shot animated remake of the live action version of "Watchmen", albeit the director's cut. If you've already watched Zack Snyder's live action movie, you'll be extremely bored by this movie. If you have only read the comics, you'll probably enjoy this adaptation. However, if you've only read the comics, the motion comic is far more complete than this.

I'm not sure how chapter 2 expects to cover the remaining ground of the comic in less than 90 minutes. Unless there's a director's cut of these animated films, I expect that a significant amount of story was unfortunately cut out.

It's okay.

If you've read the Comic or watched Snyder's adaptation, the story is pretty much the same thing, bit by bit. You could completely skip it and not lose much. But unlike the film (which has some good acting in some parts that might feel dull in this one), it does include the "Tales of the Black Freighter" section that Snyder didn't have space for. And well, the dialogue is always good to hear, and Rorschach a treat.. good enough to deserve a refresh every now and then!

As a note, this first film (of two) completes issue 5 of 12 from the comic.. which is almost half the story, and it lasts around 1 hour and 20 minutes. Second chapter is expected in 2025? For newcomers, waiting that long and needing to rewatch this sounds like a bad idea. Just wait and enjoy them together. Or read the comic, which was already great. The visuals are okay, I guess.. with 3D models and brush-stroke textures. It serves enough as a vehicle for what is the draw (story), anyway. And works well as an introductory way to consume Watchmen.

You know if you want to watch this or not.

I wasn't even aware this movie was out, but now that I'm watching it, I'm not sure why it was made. It's impossible not to compare it to the 2009 version-whether the theatrical or ultimate cut-since this feels like a shot-by-shot recreation. However, in comparison, the new version is pale and soulless.

The voice acting is mediocre and lacks emotion, while the generic music removes any edge the original had. Though this version is supposed to be a more faithful adaptation of the graphic novel, it feels rushed and leaves too many elements unexplored.

The animation is another disappointment. I've seen The Red Aim, the first animated adaptation, which used only one voice actor and simple motion effects from the original comics. That felt more compelling. Here, the directors and animators had all the creative freedom they could wish for, yet chose to create a PG adaptation that strips away everything that made the original story interesting.

Some reviews have called this fan service, but not every comic or graphic novel needs to adhere strictly to the source material, and taking creative liberties isn't always heresy.

The 2009 Watchmen was one of the best superhero films of its era. It arrived before superhero fatigue set in and before shows like The Boys redefined the genre. This new adaptation, unfortunately, serves as an example of how not to adapt a comic.