To say thatZack Snyder’s filmography has been a divisive one would be an understatement, and the claim thatWatchmenis his best film may not go over well with fans of his larger work in the DC franchise. Snyder’s passionate fanbase has constantly voiced their support for his adaptations of the modern DC Cinematic Universe, which began in 2013 withMan of Steeland continued with 2016’sBatman v. Superman: Dawn of Justiceand 2017’sJustice League. While the extensive amount of reshoots by Joss Whedon onJustice Leaguedrew sharp criticism from Snyder’s fanbase, his 2021 director’s cut was released on Max. The retitledZack Snyder’s Justice Leagueseemed to go over well with fans of the previous films, even if those out off by the confusing story, religious allegories, and lack of compelling characters didn’t see much of an improvement.
Snyder’s DCEU films may have been divisive, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a few more solid hits on his resume. 2004’sDawn of the Deadtook on the difficult challenge of following up George Romero’s original masterpiece, which is considered to be one of thebest horror films ever made. Surprisingly, Snyder’s remake managed to distinguish itself in enough ways that it was a worthwhile version of the story in its own right. He also made a memorable comic book adaptationwith 2007’s300, a film that made use of his hyper-stylized storytelling techniques in a much more satisfying way. That being said,Watchmenremains the best work of Snyder’s career so far.
An Understanding of the Themes
Any adaptation ofWatchmenis an inherently challenging one, as the original graphic novel is cited as one of the most important achievements in the history of pop culture storytelling. Alan Moore has written several masterpieces that have redefined the superhero genre, butWatchmenquestioned whether superheroes had a role in society at all, and what their effects would be. Snyder’sWatchmendoesn’t change nearly a thing about the original source material, which makes sense for this type of adaptation.
The criticism of superheroes’ unlimited power to make determinations about “justice” is something that Snyder attempted to tackle withhis DCEU films, but his lack of writing skills made it challenging for those films to serve as proper criticisms of the genre. It felt strange for Snyder to be attacking a genre that he was so often indulging in; it felt off to be asked to root for heroes who were capable of such graphic violence.
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Comparatively, Jackie Earl Haley’s Oscar worthy performance as Rorsach isn’t asking for the audience’s forgiveness in the same way that Henry Cavill’s Superman or Ben Affleck’s Batman were, as the audience is supposed to be disgusted with him. Moore has often mentioned that those that thought that Rorsach was a hero did not understand the point that he was intending to make.
Visual and Stylistic Innovations
Snyder is certainly a stylist, butWatchmenallowed him to indulge with some interesting ways to make the source material interesting.Watchmenis a fairly dense graphic novel with a lot of details, character names, and themes that merit multiple readings to fully comprehend. As a result, any film adaptation needed to find a way to keep the material engaging. Considering that Snyder’s changes to the story itself were minimal, he had more freedom to exercise his creativity in some of the stylized set pieces.
Even in his worst films, Snyder rarely fails to make great choices when it comes to the soundtrack. Opening the film with Bob Dylan’s timeless classic “The Times They Are a-Changin'” was a great way to pack in a lot of expositional material that explained the development of the original World War II-era superheroes that became the modern “Watchmen.” Using Dylan’s work was also clever given that the song contains allusions to the political, social, ethical, and economic changes that take place between the end of World War II and the genesis of the Cold War.
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Snyder also cleverly chooses to end the film with a cover of Dylan’s “Desolation Row” by My Chemical Romance. Dylan’s song contains many allusions to pop culture and mythical figures, and ending the film with a cover song reflects that as the opening moments suggested, the times really were changing. His music choices remain exceptional throughout, particularly during the electrifying opening sequence where the Comedian (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is killed that is set to “Unforgettable.”
Clever Changes to the Story
AdaptingWatchmenis a challenge considering how legendary the original source material is, and fans of the graphic novel were justified in their initial skepticisms on whether a film or television series could ever do it justice. Snyder made the choice to remove the “squid fall,” which may have felt a little too goofy within his R-Rated adaptation. While it makes more sense given the context of the graphic novel, adding in more exposition about the squids would have only added to a film that was already almost three hours long. Using Dr. Manhattan as a scapegoat made sense, as having the world turn on the character that was an allegory for God was an interesting way for Snyder to reflect on Moore’s themes.
The 2019 HBO miniseries from Damon Lindelof is superior to Snyder’s film, but that series was produced under very different circumstances that gave it more creative freedom to make changes to the text. Rather than adapting the original graphic novel, Lindelof’s show is a legacy sequel that examines the impact of the events of the original source material in modern times. The toxicity of Rorschach has inspired a white supremacist movement, reflecting the toxicity of modern comic book fans and the tragic rise in racist groups in the last few years. This was a great way to continue the story, but as a straight-up adaptation goes, Snyder’s 2009 film is just about the best version of the story that fans could have asked for.
