Cold War paranoia disguised as a superhero whodunit.
A defining growing-up moment for the art form.
A deconstruction of the idea of a comic book in general.
A guiding light for the angriest people on the internet to read the exact wrong way.
Like its Doctor Manhattan,Watchmenexists in many times, many moods, many dimensions at the same time.
But the one thing it is most definitely not…is a badass action story.
Image via Warner Bros.
It’s essentially a reverse Alan Moore situation.
What Snyder eventually did with the Super/Bat men of the world is illuminating.
You see it in Clark Kent learning to fly with a mixture of terror and elation inMan of Steel.
Image via Warner Bros.
In the warehouse fight fromDawn of Justicethat turnsBen Affleck’s Batman into a one-man wrecking crew.
This sense also permeates Snyder’sWatchmen, and it’s the exact reason the movie feels so wonky.
But at no point do I believe Snyder himself shares this view, even while telling that exact story.
Image via Warner Bros.
IfWatchmencame out in 2019, the headline “This Nite Owl Fucks” would be everywhere.
Here, I’m trying to get across a bit of both.
I really do find Snyder’s filmsWatchmenincluded!dynamic on a visual level.
Image via Warner Bros.
They’re cool shots in cool movies, and they’d all make cool coffee table books one day.
Its a genre-busting movie."
So what kind of storyteller, if not Snyderking of the badass superherocould have pulled this off?
Not without some irony, it had satisfied my appetite for super-heroes.
