What is Watchmen?
Written by mordillo92
What is Watchmen?
The Story
Before you see the film after it hits Australian theatres on March 5th, discover what
Watchmen – a complex, multi-layered mystery, adventure – is all about.
The film is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the “Doomsday Clock” – which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union – is permanently set at five minutes to midnight.
When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up, but no less determined vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.
As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future.
Their mission is to watch over humanity … But who is watching the Watchmen?
The mystery, adventure
Watchmen is directed by Zack Snyder (
300) from a screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse, based on the award-winning graphic novel illustrated by David Gibbons and published by DC Comics.
Playing the film’s core group of “masks,” the masked adventurers at the centre of the story, are Malin Akerman (
The Heartbreak Kid) as Laurie Juspeczyk, also known as Silk Spectre II; Billy Crudup (
The Good Shepherd) as Jon Osterman, also known as Dr. Manhattan; Matthew Goode (
Match Point) as Adrian Veidt, also known as Ozymandias; Carla Gugino (
Night At the Museum) as Sally Jupiter, also known as Silk Spectre; Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley (
Little Children) as Walter Kovacs, also known as Rorschach; Stephen McHattie (
Shoot ‘Em Up) as Hollis Mason, also known as Nite Owl; Jeffrey Dean Morgan (TV’s
Grey’s Anatomy) as Edward Blake, also known as The Comedian; and Patrick Wilson (
Little Children) as Dan Dreiberg, also known as Nite Owl II.
Watchmen was originally published by DC Comics as a 12-issue comic book series between 1986 and 1987, before subsequently being collected into a trade paperback.
It is the only graphic novel to win the prestigious Hugo Award or to be named among Time magazine’s “100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923 to the Present.”
Meet the Characters
With a film adaptation, this gives Hollywood a chance not only to attract fans of the original comic book series, but your average movie goer alike. In light of the release, now is your chance to become familiar with the characters of
Watchmen.
Rorschach
Walter Joseph Kovacs
Motivated by a traumatic childhood and an unwavering sense of right and wrong, Walter Kovacs became the costumed hero Rorschach, wearing a trench coat, a fedora and a mask with a shifting, mirrored pattern of black shapes on a white background.
Highly skilled in physical combat and able to turn almost anything on hand into a makeshift weapon, Rorschach worked as a team with the second Nite Owl until costumed vigilantes were outlawed.
Nite Owl retired, but Rorschach refused to follow suit, operating illegally and becoming increasingly paranoid.
His journal is the regular record of all of his activities and his increasingly misanthropic musings.
The Comedian
Edward Morgan Blake
One of the most active vigilantes in the
Watchmen universe, Edward Blake operated as The Comedian for decades, in addition to working for the U.S. government in Vietnam and elsewhere.
Originally a jester-themed hero, he later took on a more militaristic outfit, in keeping with his violent solutions to most problems.
He is by all appearances a cynical egotist using moralistic vigilantism as a cover for his sadistic tendencies.
Dr. Manhattan
Jon Osterman
In the late 1950s, ordinary man Jon Osterman was ripped into particles in a science experiment gone horribly wrong, but his consciousness lived on and he managed to reassemble himself as a true superhuman, a glowing blue model of physical perfection, able to see the future and alter matter all the way down to the subatomic level.
His presence profoundly affects not just his fellow heroes, but also global scientific and geopolitical affairs.
However, his growing detachment from humanity has frequently left him indifferent to the world and the people around him.
Silk Spectre II
Laurie Juspeczyk
Laurie Juspeczyk was pushed into adventuring by her mother Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre.
The youngest of the Watchmen, Laurie was haunted by ghosts of her mother’s past, which complicated her own, limited activities as a vigilante.
She became involved with Dr. Manhattan and quickly retired her Silk Spectre identity as costumed vigilantes were outlawed, choosing to live with Dr. Manhattan at a private government institution.
Their isolated lives together make her witness and captive to his increasingly inhuman eccentricities.
Nite Owl II
Dan Dreiberg
Inspired by the original Nite Owl from the hero team known as the Minutemen, Dan Dreiberg used his skills as an inventor to become the second, much more gadget-driven Nite Owl.
Partnering with Rorschach, the two operated as a team, using Nite Owl’s Owlship, a round owl-themed craft named Archie, to quickly fly to the scene of the crime.
Relatively even-keeled when compared to his fellow heroes, Dreiberg retired when costumed vigilantes were outlawed and as the years passed he has fallen out of shape and been plagued by growing insecurities.
Ozymandias
Adrian Veidt
Adrian Veidt, acclaimed as “The World’s Smartest Man,” was inspired by the life of Alexander the Great to take on the costumed identity of Ozymandias.
Having trained his body to athletic perfection, he operated for only a few years before retiring, revealing his secret identity publicly, and building a financial empire based around his past as a costumed hero.
Determined to do true good in the world, he is one of the few vigilantes apparently free from psychological scars from his years fighting crime.
Clips & Trailers
For more, visit The Official Watchmen Countdown Thread over at MyBluRay to discuss your thoughts and opinions on the film.
In Cinemas Everywhere March 5th
Watchmen
The End is Nigh
You've read the comic; you've seen the movie; now play the game!
The first of a proposed episodic downloadable series,
Watchmen: The End is Nigh, is now available on both the XBOX Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store!