Set in the 1985 of an alternate past, “Watchmen” depicts what it would be like if Richard Nixon returned for a third term as President of the United States, at the helm of a country on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. It is not a matter of if the Soviets will attack, but when. In a time of chaos and unrest, a small group of crime fighters, known as the Minutemen, donned costumes and rid the streets of evil. The twist is that these superheroes are about as corrupt as the criminals they put behind bars. As the movie’s tagline asks, “Who watches the Watchmen?” The answer is more surprising than I could have imagined.
The movie opens with a bang (of a door, that is) as aged and retired superhero Edward Blake a.k.a. The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) receives an unwelcome visitor at his New York City apartment. Blake and an unidentified assassin duke it out in a masterfully executed fight sequence, culminating in the former getting tossed through a plate-glass window. It is The Comedian’s death that sets the events of the movie into motion, alerting his fellow masked heroes to the possible danger in store for them.
The death of one of the original Minutemen prompts a montage set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” summarizing the previous forty-some years in which the Watchmen were a commanding presence in the world. Starting with the original group of costumed crusaders and weaving through the years to introduce their capable replacements, the sequence is undoubtedly the highlight of the film. Dylan’s folksy tune is a superb complement to the series of flashbacks that introduce us to the title characters and how they were forced into retirement.
Although the second generation of Minutemen has been outlawed from wearing masks, this doesn’t stop Walter Kovacs’ alter ego, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), from putting on his ever-changing inkblot disguise to investigate the death of one of his own. Much of Rorschach’s story is told through voice-over entries of his journal, which convey his cynical view of humanity. Haley’s grisly portrayal of a troubled man with a skewed outlook on society is by far the best performance of the movie. His husky delivery of speech is as intriguing as it is haunting.
While Rorschach is convinced someone is planning to kill off the Minutemen, one by one his former colleagues accuse him of being paranoid, although the truth may be that they are simply reluctant to leave the seclusion of retirement. The list of retired heroes includes soft-spoken and nerdy Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson), who hasn’t felt complete since hanging up his Nite Owl costume and storing his owl-mobile (apologies for the bad pun), “Archie.” Then there’s the self-professed smartest man on Earth, Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), who is the only one to publicly reveal his true identity, making a lot of money in the process.
Rounding up the batch is Laurie Jupiter, a.k.a. Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) and live-in lover Dr. Manhattan, formerly known as Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup). The second Silk Spectre reluctantly garbed herself in form-fitting latex to follow in the footsteps of her mother, the first Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), who was an unfortunate victim of The Comedian’s sick sense of humor. Laurie’s relationship with Dr. Manhattan has hit a snag, due to his apparent lack of human emotions. As the only superhero with real superpowers in the movie, Dr. Manhattan has the ability to bend matter and teleport to any location around the universe, among other talents, as a result of a radiation accident.
For all of his incredible powers, Dr. Manhattan has trouble understanding the wants and needs of his lover, sending her into the arms of Nite Owl. Of course, the movie wouldn’t be complete without a lengthy and awkward sex scene aboard “Archie,” inappropriately accompanied by Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” Other than that flawed choice, the soundtrack is perfectly adequate. “Watchmen” fully deserves its R rating, both for gruesome (and highly entertaining) violence and full frontal nudity, courtesy of the very blue Dr. Manhattan; and in case you were wondering, he is indeed anatomically correct.