Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (September 25, 2024)
Across 1986-87, a limited-series comic called Watchmen created a sensation. This led to a mix of cinematic adaptations that continues apace with 2024’s animated Watchmen Chapter I.
Set during an alternate version of 1985 in which the US won the Vietnam War and Nixon remains president, Watchmen posits a world in which superheroes have been banned.
Most go underground or into retirement. Only two heroes – nearly omnipotent Dr. Manhattan (voiced by Michael Cerveris) and hotheaded Comedian (Rick D. Wasserman) – operate with government approval.
Borderline psychopathic Rorschach (Titus Welliver) continues to do his thing as a vigilante, however. When government official Edward Blake gets murdered, Rorschach discovers that Blake was The Comedian, and he sets out to solve the crime.
This leads to a potentially deeper plot. Questions remains whether The Comedian’s death was an isolated incident or a grander scheme to eliminate superheroes from the world. As Rorschach attempts to discover the truth, we follow his former compatriots and learn more about their lives and situations.
If that synopsis looks familiar, it’s because I used it for prior Watchmen reviews. This 2024 version follows a 2009 ”motion comic” take as well as that same year’s big-screen adaptation.
2019 brought a ”limited series” that expanded on the Watchmen universe but for once didn’t tell the same story. Chapter I goes back to the source for yet another retelling of the narrative from the 1980s comic.
Or half of it, at least. As implied by the title, Chapter I brings only part of the story, with Chapter II due for release in 2025.
If one expects Chapter I to tamper with the source, one won’t find much in terms of deviation. For better or for worse, the film adheres closely to the original comics.
In theory, I don’t mind this. However, given that we’ve already seen other adaptations of the property, I can’t help but wish that Chapter I branched out in some ways.
The Complete Motion Comic took its title seriously and literally reproduced the original graphic novel. At nearly five and a half hours, it becomes easily the most extensive take on the property.
The theatrical Watchmen spanned 162 minutes, and the “Director’s Cut” found on the home video release went 186 minutes. Filmmaker Zack Snyder put out an even longer edition of the movie via a 215-minute Collector’s Edition that incorporated Tales of the Black Freighter.
In the original graphic novel, a kid read a Black Freighter comic and we saw snippets of it that acted as a form of Greek Chorus to reflect on the main narrative. Snyder largely left this material out of his live-action film but allowed it back into the 215-minute edition.
One assumes the combined two chapters of this animated Watchmen will total about 168 minutes. That means it doesn’t have the space to reproduce everything from the source but it still allows for the project to cover most of the narrative.
In any case, even though it may edit out some information to fit that running time, Chapter I still sticks closely to the comics. As mentioned, this might not become the best choice due to the Been There, Done That factor.
I simply question whether fans “need” another fairly literal retelling of the tale. I thought Snyder did very well with his live-action version, and the “Motion Comic” acted as a good solution for those who wanted an elongated animated production.
Well, semi-animated, as the “Motion Comic” created modest movement. It also used one actor for all the voices, so Chapter I clearly offers a more traditional animated project.
I just can’t help but find it unnecessary, though perhaps I might feel differently if it showed a bit more pizzazz. With such a literal reproduction of the source, Chapter I lacks a lot of life and it seems more dutiful than creative.
Although Chapter I proves watchable, it just never connects with what made Watchmen special. It feels as though the filmmakers worried that if they tried anything fresh, fans would reject it so they played it safe.
It doesn’t help that neither the animation nor the voice acting work especially well. In the former domain, we get computer-created cartoons that move in an awkward and off-putting manner.
The animation rarely feels natural. Although the film reproduces the look of Watchmen acceptably well, the oddly smooth visuals create a disconnect.
None of the actors manage to do much with their parts either. Welliver makes Rorschach sound more like Krusty the Clown than a psychotic anti-hero, and the others just blend into the background.
Because the source remains so compelling, Chapter I keeps us with it. Unfortunately, it winds up as a lackluster retelling of the tale.
