The Screen Addict | Snyder
With Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon (2023) soon rising on Netflix, I decided to finally watch The Ultimate Cut of Snyder’s Watchmen (2009), which had been lingering on my stack of unopened Blu-rays for a while.
I’ve always admired Snyder. Ever since I saw his remake of Dawn of the Dead (2004) twenty-odd years ago, he had my full attention. Then of course came 300 (2006), and Snyder became one of the most interesting contemporary filmmakers overnight. Snyder’s name on a movie is definitely a recommendation for me, and I’ve seen – and loved – almost everything he has done so far.
Almost, because I’m less interested in the impossibly titled Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010), Snyder’s venture into animation. It’s been on my watchlist since its release almost 15 years ago, and I guess that says enough. To be fair though, I’ve kinda lost interest in animation as a whole over the years, so the lack enthusiasm for LotG:TOoG is definitely not personal.
Watchmen however, is a pitch-black masterpiece in my book. I’ve always been more into the darker stuff, and that is something DC just does so much better than Marvel.
This movie sucks you right in with its unique opening scene, followed by a title sequence that is nothing short of a work of art. To the tune of Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’, the film takes us through key moments of the 21st century, retrofitted with revisionist history and Superhero mythology.
Watchmen is one of the very few Superhero films that perfectly capture the soul of the comic book they are based on. I truly believe that Snyder and his team of visual artists managed to make the perfect film of Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s game-changing graphic novel. For me, Watchmen belongs on the very short list of flawless comic-book adaptations, where it joins Richard Donner’s Superman (1978) and Tim Burton’s Batman (1989).
I assign much of Watchmen’s excellence to Larry Fong’s stunning photography, which just leaves me breathless after every scene. I’m sure Snyder went wild with color-correction in post too, but judging by Fong’s beautiful work for other directors – Super 8 (2011), Kong: Skull Island (2017) – I believe a lot of the gorgeous imagery in Watchmen should be credited to the cinematographer.
Another thing I love about Watchmen, is that it's filled to the brim with undervalued players. People like Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino and Billy Crudup deserve to be in so much more stuff than they actually are at the moment.
My admiration of Watchmen is of course deeply personal. Like I said – I enjoy the gritty pics, and Snyder’s film makes several very obvious visual references to some of my favorites. Blade Runner (1982) being chief among them.
The 2009 release of Watchmen wasn’t exactly brief to begin with, but The Ultimate Cut nevertheless adds almost a full hour to the runtime. Among the treasure-trove of extra material, is a fun, hidden cameo by Gerard Butler that was cut entirely from the original film. I’m sure Butler did the part as a favor for the director who catapulted him to super-stardom with 300 a few years earlier.
HBO’s limited series Watchmen (2019) already illustrated the legitimacy of Snyder’s impending Ultimate Cut. Gibbons and Moore’s source material is so incredibly rich, that any attempt to cram it into a two, or even three-hour film would be ludicrous.
In conclusion – Superhero stories are often interpreted as allegories for religion and deities. Sometimes, the masked avengers are quite literally Gods. What I find so refreshing about Watchmen, is its blunt atheism. Dr. Manhattan, Watchmen’s pivotal character, is Gibbons and Moore’s metaphor for the idea that God didn’t create man, man created God. I am agnostic at best, and always happy to see a movie that acknowledges the unlikelihood of a higher power.
But maybe that’s just my dark demeanor talking…
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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict