Ten years on, and there's still absolutely nothing like Zack Snyder's superhero neo-noir, Watchmen (2009).

[Director's Cut]. Spoilers ahead.Watchmen is one of the most visually stunning films I think I have ever seen. Larry Fong (cinematographer), illustrates each and every shot with a richness of detail that recreates that dreamy, larger-than-life, super stylised look of the graphic novel - with shots taken directly from comic book panels - it makes for some of the most gorgeous cinema. In terms of 'atmospheric', Watchmen is unparalleled imo.​https://preview.redd.it/wsx8pmvt4z341.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15247d8c7190c3f2bf27004cab8f1dc0c1eaf36f​https://preview.redd.it/e6yycpvt4z341.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=35d08b8363fbf0325baf1559e6c57a2208ab8403​https://preview.redd.it/4m46khwt4z341.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2783f61ce007fdad0956f9c3227878d890657c41​https://preview.redd.it/ozg0jlwt4z341.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f0af008a6e5b634d0c7b73874b31b9eeb8426f6​This film truly comes into its element with its night-scapes. The world Zack Snyder creates feels incredibly decorated with a brooding sense of bleakness - ultimately beautiful and moody - there's something so delightfully dreadful about his actors that are merely silhouettes in all that rain. So much rain. Rain porn.Watchmen also has a great soundtrack. Janis Joplin, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimi Hendrix and Billie Holiday - not to mention The Philip Glass Ensemble's rendition of Pruit Igoe & Prophecies - brilliantly scoring the birth of Dr. Manhattan. Not only do musical choices give context in this film, they allow Snyder to indulge his slow-motion sequences.The opening montage of this film is masterful. It tells so many little vignettes and captures enormous amounts of [alternate] American history and culture. What could have been done through a boring text crawl was done in five enjoyable minutes, accompanied by Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin'.In many ways, the moments where Watchmen works best is when it submits to its source material; it aims impossibly high and goes for the craziest, ballsiest ideas it can think of - and succeeds in creating a world with real texture and grit.I love everything about this movie. It's just so incredibly dark and different. The production design, dialogue, colour grading and film grain - everything oozes style.Watchmen deals with superhero realism in a way that I would consider niche to comic book films. Taking notes from Se7en and Taxi Driver, Watchmen is similarly toned in a dark, depressing world. Disguised as a superhero movie, I'd argue it's much more of a mystery/crime thriller neo-noir. In the same vein as Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy (specifically The Dark Knight, 2008), Watchmen tackles the superhero genre with characters more aligned as vigilantes - each with glaring flaws in their personalities. The gritty reality of superheroes is explored in both films, and to me they are incredibly similar tonally; but where TDK translates to screen what a superhero might look like in the real world, Watchmen asks the question, "If superheroes actually existed, would it really be a good thing? Would it really?" The answer, a resounding No.And that's how Watchmen deconstructs superhero mythology. Rorschach, although sociopathic and unstable, understands that. His fatal flaw - being unable to see grey.Rorschach is easily one of the most interesting characters from a comic book ever put to screen. A paranoid schizophrenic, suffering from DID and PTSD, he mirrors the concepts of humanity put forward by Dr. Manhattan. Where Dr. Manhattan understands that with mass genocide comes peace, Rorschach understands that peace by fear is not true peace. That mass genocide could never fix the faults in humanity.Now let's talk Jackie Earle Haley. His performance is nothing short of perfect. He nails the ferocity and black humour of Rorschach's internal monologue and narration of moral ambiguities. Matter of fact, this film is filled with some pretty amazing casting. Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I'd be hard-pressed to think of anyone else who would be able to pull off their roles with equal excellence. But JEH - just wow. His acting is phenomenal. He elevates this film from a comic book Adaptation to a borderline Horror, maybe even stepping over the line at some points. Multiple. GREAT. scenes.Such a good fucking film. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2qD454u