so it's been over a decade since watchmen came out in theaters for the first time
and when it originally released it was met with mixed reviews across the board there were people
who saw the powerful messages quality filmmaking and unique adaptation behind the film while others
disliked the film for these very reasons since its release many people have discussed the approach of
watchmen after re-watches and in this video i'm going to be adding my own thoughts towards why
i believe watchmen was underrated for its time and why i personally appreciate the key elements
of the film today i am covering watchmen in the build up to the release of zack snyder's army
of the dead and i have covered a lot of his work on the channel over the last few months
so i will be looking at more films by the director as time passes if you want to keep up to date with
all of this content then don't forget to subscribe to the channel and turn on your notifications also
if you enjoy this video remember to give it a like rating but without further ado
let's dive into the reasons why i believe watchmen was ahead of its time
so in 2007 director zack snyder took on the task of adapting alan moore and dave gibbons
watchman famous for transforming dc comics watchmen had a troubled history of making it
onto the big screen but when we reached the year of 2009 it was finally released the reaction to
the movie was polarizing with some loving the film for its visceral atmosphere and others not liking
this particular approach but years later after the continuing growth of the superhero genre
watchmen continues to be talked about by fans and even by some who have changed to their opinion on
the film zak snyder's watchmen came during a range of darker comic book movies like the dark knights
and it was the anti-hero film with real world themes adult situations and moral complexity
it wasn't afraid to ask a lot of the questions we think about while watching the senseless violence
that dominated many of the blockbusters of then and now but how does watchmen feel now that we're
an audience guided by the moral subjectivity of something like the avengers well watchmen
is set in a parallel 1985 in which heroes existed before the us government banned them and in the
opening scene one of the ex-superheroes of the old team is murdered and a former member of his
team decides he's going to solve the crime what follows is a comic book adaptation of intriguing
moments and characters a visual storytelling feast and relations to relevant issues that
are even more prominent in today's world for me the first of many great aspects of watchmen
starts with the adaptation of dr manhattan and few fictional characters remain as perplexing
as he does here is a being who is on the potent yet limited by determinism he can see the future
yet he gets surprised he looks like a human yet acts like an alien and he is worshipped like a god
yet remains controlled by man bringing this character to the big screen was no easy task
but zack snyder alongside his visual effects supervisor john dj cinematographer larry fong and
actor billy crudup managed to do it dr manhattan was more than just a dazzling example of cgi
and however he was a philosophical being that elevated the movie above the constraints of a
superhero film his questions about the nature of humanity and ultimate conclusion that miracles
are more common than we think make for some of the movie's best moments and also ones that we want to
grapple even after the credits roll i feel like i noticed something new that the character says
every time i watch the film and with his dialogue being delivered so quickly it's almost a perfect
fit for a character that is beyond but also behind everyone else snyder took risks with the film
and the way we see the movie come together through the events of dr manhattan is something that
really helps to elevate these risks and speaking of risks this is my next point it is a well-known
fact that hollywood is not as willing to take investment risks as it was back in the day movies
cost a lot to produce and distribute and even if there are no guaranteed profits to be made then
you can expect a project to be put at the back of the list and it was a miracle that watchmen
even got greenlit considering that it was rated r starred a cast of relatively unknown actors
and had a budget of over a hundred million dollars but add on to the reasons that it included graphic
violence sexual content and social political themes and you have a movie that did what many
other entries in the superhero genre fail to do and that was taking risks for better or worse
watchmen faithfully adapted most of the elements from its famous comic pushing them into the
landscape of today making it an example of a comic book adaptation that situates in its own list
moving on we get a display of relevant and ongoing themes such as rural decay
classicism and nuclear acceleration every single one of these issues was major when alan moore
first wrote watchmen and has only gotten worse in the decades since characters like the comedian
rorschach and the second nighthow all represent different sides of this society in particular
the comedian has come to view everything as a joke taking advantage of situations as they arrive
because he feels the traditional man cannot do anything in the face of government decisions
knight owl 2 on the other hand is much more optimistic thinking that they can make the world a
better place rorschach falls in between these two characters sharing the comedian's cynical nature
but also believing that one can work to create a better tomorrow no matter how miniscule the
efforts are we see these same factions play out in modern politics where anti-authority
and authority continue to clash in sometimes violent ways watchmen essentially touched on a
lot of the themes that still remain powerful to this day and when a work of fiction
especially a superhero adaptation does that it means it has aged very well now sure a lot of this
was taken from the graphic novel but to adapt it into a visual and audio medium with the style and
flavor that zack snyder brought it is definitely something to celebrate as stated above watchmen
is both famous and infamous for attempting to be as faithful to the original graphic novel with
the exception of the ending many scenes from the film were lifted straight out of the comic
with snyder literally using gibbon's panels as the film's storyboards in doing so watchmen
remains the only superhero film to genuinely feel like a graphic novel everything about it from the
production design to the costumes to the vfx to the editing were all created to evoke the sense
that you were reading the watchmen comic in motion picture form something genuinely great when you
consider all superhero films are based off comic books zack snyder's style is almost the definition
of a popular or sensational auteur from his slow motion to his heightened and realistic take on cgi
he has a distinct look and feel to all of his projects when watching the film today it's
hard to believe that these special effects are not from the modern era it's a beautiful and stylistic
movie that has frames that could be framed as paintings and we see this continue in his
most recent work with the dc eu making us question superheroes by using almost religious-like imagery
to get us talking about the many ideas and events in the movie one of the things i personally adore
about his films is how he uses many longer takes to echo this effect that i was discussing the
traditional cgi superhero film has a quick pace to the edit and the shorter takes don't always
impact the audience in correlation with what's going on even in watchmen we get longer visual
takes and appropriately framed images that breathe while they are on screen and even if you come away
disappointed with one of his films the imagery and filmmaking always sticks in the back of your mind
it's art that lasts and one that truly understands what medium it is a part of the final point which
i want to make is one that applies to some of my favorite superhero films of all time
movies like the dark knights logan joker captain america the winter soldier are examples of films
that all do this and watchman is no exception this revolves around the approach of grey characters
and storytelling superhero movies these days tend to fit into a structure of good versus evil
it is an ancient conflict that has led to some of the greatest myths and stories ever told but it
can also simplify things to create a justifiable situation even among sympathetic villains there
is usually a trait that makes them just evil enough to make the hero look considerably better
what was great about watchmen and the films i listed before was that it turned this structure
on itself superheroes were now vigilantes punching criminals actually broke bones and
doing this for a long time mentally wore down on both the heroes and society in general beating up
gangs while making a community safer did nothing to stop the larger political threats that loomed
above watchmen showed us how vigilantes can do as much harm as good in the bigger scale of things
and how this understanding can create muddled yet strangely rational thoughts about the upcoming
future when a film has done this it has pushed beyond the boundaries of regular action fair
and don't get me wrong i think watchmen has issues like in its pacing and screen time development
but the heart of the movie and its themes are always there to be discussed throughout
the entire running time it makes the film interesting and something to talk about long into
the future rather than be a film which we already have a full answer to after we've watched it once
these are the types of films that i consider to be ahead of their time
and they lodge themselves into pop culture to be investigated a little deeper
but that was my video essay for zack snyder's watchmen and why i think the film was underrated
it's all subjective and again i'm sure many will disagree and not like the approach that snyder
went for but that's what i have took away over the years of re-watches i did like the
film when it came out but over time it has only got better with more meaning on every revisit
we'll have to see how army of the dead turns out when it releases later this month on netflix and
i will be doing videos on the film so look out for all of the contents that i post let me know down
below what your thoughts are towards 2009's watchmen and do you agree with the points i
have raised in this breakdown for more videos on zack snyder's work including the director's cut
of justice league and army of the dead when it releases later this month then subscribe to the
channel and turn on your notifications also if you enjoyed this video remember to leave
a like rating but anyway i hope you guys enjoyed it i've been cortex and as always make some
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