Watchmen (2009)

There has been a vocal minority which says Watchmen is not a frutrating mess, especially when watching the extended cut, which cleans up some of the storytelling.

I don't buy it.

Sure, an extended cut might clear up some of the storytelling, but the film's biggest flaws will still remain. Many have said the film starts with a great opening sequence. Well, the second bit with The Comedian's murder is pretty well done, but that was the second scene. First is a bit with President Nixon, which throws the film off track right off the bat. The impression -- I will not dignify this by calling it a performance -- of Nixon is terrible. If he wasn't called Nixon I wouldn't even know it was him.

The film repeats this mistake throughout the film, with terrible impressions of real people which only took me out of the action. Some of the impressions were so bad I just gave up trying to figure out who they were. But the impressions are so bad that they call attention to themself, because they sure aren't performances.

The musical choices are too on the nose. "The Times They Are A Changin'" is inspired for showing the alternate reality of these superheroes. But "The Sounds of Silence" does not work for a funeral, recycled Philip Glass for many of Dr. Manhattan's scenes, "Hallelujah" for a sex scene or all distracting decisions. And the decision for reusing the most famous music used in Apocalyse Now for a scene in Vietnam is flat out laughable.

And no amount of additional scenes will repair the uneven acting in this film. I'm looking at you, Malin Akerman. Never bought her as a hero. Plastic, plastic expressions at the wrong time. And even more frustrating, Carla Gugino would have nailed this role -- and she's playing Akerman's mother.

Matthew Goode plays the one emotion of smugness throughout the movie. Therefore, Ozymandias remains a type, and never a person worth following. And I've seen Bily Crudup be good before, so his whiff at Dr. Manhattan is even more frustrating.

There is a lot to like about this film, It looks great. Jackie Earle Haley is fantastic (the Rorsach scenes are the best by far), and I like Patrick Wilson's more subtle acting here too. Ultimately, I have to conclude this was too much for director Zach Snyder. This was a tough project to nail, and he made many poor decisions detailed above to make this a frustrating experience. Greatness just isn't achieved. Grade: C