WATCHMEN

I approached this film with some nervousness given that it received mixed reviews and given that I thought Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ was dire.

The fact that many critics thought the best part of this very long film (160-plus minutes) was the montage during the opening credits wasn’t very encouraging either.

Still, I had enjoyed the graphic novel and so I looked forward to reacquainting myself with it given that I had pretty much forgotten how the story unfolds.

Some reviewers thought that the story was too complex to be filmed but I found it straightforward enough once I had got clear in my mind who was who. 

The film is visually impressive, and very much feels like a graphic novel brought to life. Sometimes CGI can take me out of a film but here it didn’t, perhaps because even the scenes depicting normal reality are quite stylised so that any CGI didn’t especially stand out.

Some reviewers complained that Snyder followed the source material too slavishly and didn’t bring anything of himself to it. On the basis of ‘Man of Steel’ I for one am glad he simply concentrated on doing a competent job of translating the novel to the screen. 

I was also thankful that Terry Gilliam gave up on directing it, ‘Brazil’ being one of the most visually unappealing films I have had the misfortune to sit through.

I was in such a forgiving mood when watching this film that I wasn’t even bothered about an aspect of Dr Manhattan’s nudity (ahem) that received a lot of attention upon the film’s release. 

OK, so this film is no masterpiece but the quality of the source material and of the visuals were sufficient for me to enjoy the ride.

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do