Watchmen: Chapter I Review

 

Watchmen: Chapter I is an animated comic book movie based on the comic book, Watchmen. This is second movie to adapt the legendary comic, the first being the live-action Zack Snyder film. The movie's produced by DC Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, and Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Watchmen: Chapter I is written by J. Michael Straczynski and Dave Gibbons and directed by Brandon Vietti.

The story is, when one of their own has been murdered, a group of superheroes investigate why. What they don't realize is this the one responsible is aware they're looking into this and is planning to take them off the board, one by one.

Initial Reaction

Now initially I was looking forward to this,but then I remembered the live-action, and wondered what could they possibly do that wasn't already done in that movie?

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

One mix bag came from the voice acting. Now the actors and actress playing Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl, Dr. Manhattan, and Laurie, I thought were pretty good. They fit the characters. However while I didn't hate what the actors for Comedian and Rorschach were doing for them, I did think they tried a little too hard to make them sound gruff and rough. My overall thoughts of their performance was they were okay. Then we have the pacing. Much like the comic it's based on, the pacing can be very slow in same areas. Whether or not we cut to The Black Freighter story or not.

Pros

One aspect that was really good was the style. The movie did a good copying Dave Gibbons' art, but there were also moments where the movie was doing its own thing. Then there's the animation. Now there did seem to be a few times when people move just a bit like a robot, but those were only a few moments. Some you'll more than likely miss. With that out of the way, 99.99% of the movie actually does have some really good animation. The last thing I'll touch on is the tone. The movie really did capture the growing tense with an upcoming war, but also gave you a sense of danger for our characters and the investigation. Just like the graphic novel.

While not perfect, I do see quite a few fans being pleased with this, whether they're fans of the Zack Snyder film or not. Hell, I enjoyed and I am a fan of the Snyder film.

My final rating is, Good.

I'm all done here. Come back on Saturday, Aug 17th, for my review of, Alien: Romulus. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.