The key question for Watchmen: Chapter I (now streaming on Max, in addition to VOD services like Aazon Prime Video): TO SQUID OR NOT TO SQUID? Previous adaptations of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbonsâ groundbreaking and influential DC graphic novel (read: comic book for people who are old enough to buy cigarettes) wrestled with the idea of whether or not to drop the infamous jumbo cephalopod on NYC or not â Zack Snyderâs 2009 film Watchmen avoided it, while Damon Lindelofâs HBO sequel series leaned into the weirdness and explored the aftermath of the mess. This version of Watchmen is such a straightforward animated adaptation â directed by Brandon Vietti, whoâs helmed several of DCâs direct-to-video animated films, and scripted by longtime comics creator J. Michael Straczynski â thatâs so faithful to the source material, itâs almost certain to go FULL SPACE SQUID on us. Not that weâll find out until Chapter II debuts in 2025, though. So I guess itâs a moot point. Apologies for the digression. Now letâs get into whether or not itâs worth tackling the first half of this endeavor.
WATCHMEN: CHAPTER I: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Itâs 1985, on an alternate timeline where Nixon is still president and where the U.S. won the Vietnam War (these two things, youâll note, seem very much connected). Superheroes were outlawed in 1977 and have been labeled vigilantes â rightly so in some cases, because some are OK people and others, well, arenât. One of the latter ones was The Comedian, aka Edward Blake (Rick D. Wasserman), and note the past tense. He was shoved out the window of his high-rise apartment and went splat on the sidewalk. Did he deserve it? I dunno, but as we learn in flashbacks, he was basically a fascist psychopath. One of his former superhero-squad teammates, Rorschach, nee Walter Kovacs (Titus Welliver), a smelly weirdo in a trenchcoat and morphing-inkblot mask, theorizes that Comedian was the latest in a string of murders aimed at taking out former superheroes. Now, Rorschach is a nut who journals-slash-narrates like he embraced all the wrong stuff from Taxi Driver, and his theories absolutely should be questioned, but he may have a point. Something fishy is going on around here.
Rorschachâs skeezy âinvestigationâ involves shaking down jokers at a local bar (he breaks fingers until he gets answers, although he doesnât really get any) and touching base with his former Watchmen comrades: Nite Owl/Dan Dreiberg (Matthew Rhys), a middle-aged sort-of-schlubby type who seems aimlessly retired. Ozymandias/Adrian Veidt (Troy Baker), a gazillionaire egotist who heads his own megacorp and sells action figures of himself. Silk Spectre/Laurie Juspeczyk (Katee Sackhoff), whoâs in a bit of an identity crisis since sheâs married to Jonathan Osterman/Dr. Manhattan (Michael Cerveris), a perpetually nude and seemingly all-powerful and immortal atomic entity of a guy who can manipulate matter at will and doesnât experience time in a linear fashion like the rest of us, and therefore is under U.S. governmental jurisdiction and often functions as a cold observer of human suffering, except when his mere existence seems to be staving off nuclear war with Russia. I feel like Laurie may need more than just a divorce lawyer.
The deaths, funerals and reunions find the deeply discontented Laurie moving out of Dr. Mâs abode and reconnecting with Dan while Rorschach makes the rounds and sniffs out clues like a noir detective. We get multiple flashbacks to terrible moments in Watchmen history: The Comedian torching children in Vietnam, The Comedian sexually assaulting Laurieâs mother, the first Silk Spectre (Adrienne Barbeau), etc. In the present, Dr. Manhattan learns he may be â whoops! â toxically radioactive, Dan and Laurie feel their superhero mojo returning after theyâre cornered by street thugs, Veidt ruminates in his gilded tower and Rorschach pays visit to an old retired supervillain. Meanwhile, the world around them is slowly going to heck as U.S.-Russia tensions escalate and doomsayers walk the streets with THE END IS NIGH signs.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: This Watchmen is a helluva lot like DCâs two-part animated adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in the sense that theyâre slavishly devoted to the visual style of the source material, and take very few liberties with the story and tone. (And both original stories are pivotal, groundbreaking moments not just in the comic book arts, but written fiction in general.)
Performance Worth Watching Hearing: Note how Welliverâs take on Rorschach changes between flashbacks and the narrative present, from light sandpaper to straight-up gravelthroat tones.
Memorable Dialogue: Nite Owl and The Comedian break up a crowd of protesters in a flashback:
Nite Owl: What happened to the American dream?
The Comedian, cackling: It came true!
Sex and Skin: Dr. Manhattanâs hastily doodled wang, a brief shot of Laurieâs hindquarters.
Our Take: The conundrum with adapting Watchmen is thus: How do you justify its transmogrification to the audio-visual medium without compromising its powerfully resonant themes? This animated version skews conservative. Itâs essentially a âmotion comicâ version of Moore and Gibbonsâ original work, keeping the bookâs myriad points-of-view intact (e.g., Dr. Manhattanâs self-narrated origin story, Rorschachâs hard-boiled narration, and Laurie and Danâs stabilizing and relatable throughline) and never altering the text or subtext. Granted, the bookâs density necessitates some streamlining, so Watchmen: Chapter I feels like a Cliffs Notes version. The squid is almost a certainty.
But itâs a reasonably engaging Cliffs Notes version. The animation is solid but not exceptional, par for the course for DC animated films. And Vietti ably builds dramatic tension and stages action sequences with admirable vigor. Scripter Straczynski makes the smartest move here, choosing not to excise The Black Freighter, a comic book within the Watchmen narrative that layers in a metaphor about survivalism and human nature that enriches the story; lesser minds would deem such a thing superficially expendable, when itâs actually indispensable.
Some will inevitably say Viettiâs unwillingness to take any creative liberties in Watchmen: Chapter I makes it difficult to justify its existence, but the story remains potent in a modern context, where fascism has crept back into the political and social light, and old existential fears have been freshened. The way Mooreâs story tackled quasi-patriotism, international tension and general Earthly instability feels too painfully relevant. In an ideal world, Watchmen would feel quaint and dated, but sadly, itâs not.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Watchmen: Chapter I is a highly watchable mixed bag. Fans of the comic â many of whom derided Snyderâs movie version, which I will continue to defend as being Better Than You Remember â may enjoy this animated version, despite it being more of a reiteration of the source material than an adaptation. It meets expectations and thatâs about it, as is the M.O. of DCâs direct-to-video animated films.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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