David Pierdomenico
Love him or hate him, none can deny that Zack Snyder has certainly left his mark on Hollywood. He’s directed some of the most popular comic book films in recent history and was the de facto architect of the DCEU until stepping down following a family tragedy. However, out of all of his films, many of which are incredibly polarizing, none showcased his skillset better than 2009’s Watchmen; a film that is now shockingly 10 years old!
Well Established Storyline
Over his career, Snyder has always done best when adapting a pre-existing work with a strong, already established story and themes. 300 was such a success because Snyder didn’t have to do much in terms of writing, rather he just took an awesome story and visually translated it from comic book to screen. And the result was an admittedly cheesy, but overwhelmingly fun and entertaining cinematic experience. The same happened again with 2009’s Watchmen. Here was a fascinating story about superheroes, set against an alternate history of the 20th Century, complete with deep philosophical themes about the morality of vigilantism.
Snyder’s fascination with exploring philosophy and his affinity for damaged and very intense characters fit perfectly with this narrative as he got to tell the stories of Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, and the Comedian. In many ways, Watchmen was the perfect film adaptation for Snyder to helm. This is all the more evident from the abysmal response of his 2011 film Sucker Punch. As per usual it has stunning cinematography and visual effects, but its storyline makes absolutely no sense and believes it’s much smarter than it really is. Without a strong narrative foundation to stand on, Snyder tends to veer off into strange and incoherent territories.
Lending to his Visual Style
As previously mentioned, Snyder’s greatest strength lies in his visual aesthetic. Even in his films that are critically panned (like Sucker Punch and Batman v. Superman), many of his shots and frames look like beautiful paintings. If one were to simply take screenshots of some of his scenes, they would be considered great works of art. And it was in this category that Watchmen really allowed him to shine. Visually speaking, comic books are known for their beautiful and fascinating imagery, something which Snyder was easily able to utilize. Not since Robert Rodriguez’s adaption of Sin City has a film felt so much like a comic coming to life right from the page.
In addition to visuals, Snyder has always done a great job with implementing music into his films. Some say that his scenes look like music videos, and while that can be true at times, it can also make for incredibly poignant scenes. When he’s on his A-game, he’s able to create truly brilliant pieces of cinema like the entire opening montage to Watchmen, feature Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’” to the beautifully haunting Comedian funeral scene as we listen to “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. In other films like Suicide Squad (which Snyder had nothing to do with), the soundtrack was quite distracting. But because of Watchmen’s real world 20th Century setting, Snyder was able to use popular songs of the time, which conjure up images of the 60’s and antiwar protests, and use them to effectively tell his story set during those decades.
Trying to Replicate it in the Future
One of the biggest issues fans took with the DCEU was the incredibly dark and gritty tone, along with an overabundance of self-importance. It seemed that rather than faithfully adapt the characters of Batman and Superman, Snyder wanted to turn them into PG-13 versions of Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan. Batman’s overall brutality and tendency to straight up murder people seemed very similar to Rorshach’s incredibly pessimistic view of society, and Superman’s lack of emotion and distance from humanity seemed to mirror the very much detached Dr. Manhattan.
Because Watchmen had been such a success, Snyder tried to use those same elements, but failed to understand that what worked for one film, doesn’t always work for others. One of the many problems with the storytelling of Batman v. Superman, is that it feels like the film is trying to do way too much all at once. Watchmen juggled multiple storylines like this, and benefited from a long runtime. But again, he had a strong story already established in that case, whereas he was left more to his own devices for the DCEU.
Even ten years later, Watchmen remains a classic, and one of the best comic book films ever made. It’s unfortunate that Zack Snyder was never able to replicate the success he had with it. But perhaps, much of that was caused by him trying to redo the very same things that made it a success to begin with. Either way, we can always look back on this film as Snyder’s crowning achievement. It’s had staying power in rather unique ways. US Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez quoted the iconic Rorschach line “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me!” in reference to fellow Congressmembers who feared her radical views. That’s the beauty of Watchmen, it allows us (via superhero fiction) to analyze very real world issues. And we can always be mindful by asking ourselves, “Who watches the Watchmen?”
