Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
The printed page comes to life and the acclaimed comic gets a new adaptation
Tags: The Watchmen Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Mar 11th, 2009
I can’t really fault “Watchmen” for content at this point, it has been over 20 years since its initial publication. Besides, it’s just so damn good. I remember each month when it initially was being published simply hanging on each panel and waiting eagerly for next month’s installment. Over 12 issues we got the kind of depth in storytelling that one rarely gets in any medium, let alone comics. The limited run series set the standard that still holds today for what is capable with the format.The story is either readily familiar to you or if you don’t know much about it, it is perhaps better that way and this isn’t the best introduction. The setup is failry easy to detail without giving away much of the plot, so I’ll stick to that. In 1985 most costumed heroes have been outlawed. Only a handful remain, some operating despite the illegal nature of their endeavor. When an old hero is killed, it would at first appear random, but the idea of a “mask killer” just won’t go away.
Leading the investigation is a hero called Rorschach, a man who lives on the fringes of society and is a bit unhinged himself. His methods are a bit brutal and extreme, but effective. Along the way we meet a couple of others that have been forced into retirement but are drawn into the investigation.
The story is a mystery, really, more than anything, and only uses the medium of comic books and the superhero as a tool to tell its story and examine its themes of madness and extreme behavior. There are questions posed, subtly, that make the reader examine their own conscience and look at what is right versus wrong.
Many years ago I sold my original 12 issues for rent money, but still have an omnibus edition of the series with all 12 issues. In anticipation of the upcoming film I reread the story a few months ago, so it was with great anticipation that I placed “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” into my player. I was eager to see how the comic would be transformed in this method.
What I originally remember about motion comics was that they were little more than still images with a moving camera, zooming in and out, panning around. This was more than 20 years ago and the technology has changed considerably since then. Now on Blu-ray we get one of the most acclaimed comic stories of all time presented in a brand new way.
Through various computer programs and with the original comic’s illustrator acting as a consultant, the acclaimed story is now more than just static images, but nearly a full animated feature. This is more than just slow reveals of images within a panel, but clever uses of computer animation to move fingers, arms, background objects and more to create a fully fleshed out and living universe. The execution is such that this nearly qualifies as an animated feature.
There are two things that hamper “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” from being as good as it could be. The first is the voice work. Don’t get me wrong, Tom Stechschulte does a good job, but he tackles every word himself. He does a few of the characters very well, and others he doesn’t prove as effective. I would have preferred at least a couple of different voice actors – not necessarily one for each character, but some variety would have gone a long way.
I will say, however, the sound effects and music are particularly good.
Perhaps the bigger problem with this is that is isn’t actually complete as it says on the case – or title. The motion comic is edited. Perhaps this is why the writer, the celebrated Alan Moore, was not given any credit. This is twofold crime against the writer, as both credit is not duly given and his work edited. It is also a crime against the viewer as they are led to believe that this is the complete comic, and it isn’t. There is also some reediting of sequences, but this is clearly done for visual flow and not as big of a deal.
Running at five and a half hours, this is a long piece to watch and needs to be taken in over time. Sure, you could sit and watch it all in one sitting, but this was episodic in nature, and still needs to be treated as such. It is because of this that the editing of the words is such a problem, because if you are going to spend the time to sit through and watch this, you want the whole thing.
Still, despite the flaws, “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” is worth checking out for fans. The original printed form is still by far the best way to get it (I haven’t seen the live action film yet) but this comes … well, close.
As for special features, we get a look at the upcoming Wonder Woman direct to video feature – which is an advertisement for another product so it doesn’t count. We do, however get “Watchmen Video Journal #4: Dave Gibbons” where the illustrator waxes poetic about how the live action film is staying true to the source material, especially in the look and feel. This lasts less than three minutes and is ultimately disappointing. I think it will be simply part of the special features on the DVD and Blu-ray of the live action film.
You don’t need to like comics, superheroes or animation to enjoy “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” but it doesn’t hurt. It does bring the acclaimed comic to life, but abbreviated – so the uninitiated may want to either catch the live action film first or read the printed work before diving into this.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Great story + The "animation" is well done |
8.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Not actually complete witha variety of edits - No credit to Alan Moore who wrote the text |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Fans will greatly appreciate this, but it isn't the greatest introduction. | |
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Tags: The Watchmen
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Mar 11th, 2009 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
