ALL SCI-FI

[Maurice]

My problems with the film largely hinge on Snyder missing a key element of the story: that these "heroes" are, with one exception, mere mortals who play dress up for various personal reasons; only Dr. Manhattan is actually a super being. So when Snyder portrays things like the Comedian's head smashing through a countertop instead of his skull being crushed like an egg, etc., it makes these mortals seem superhuman in a way that undermines the notion that being truly superhuman distances one from their essential humanity: i.e. Dr. Manhattan. The violence in the comics is ugly and brutal and humanly small. The violence in the film is OTT, as if it's supposed to be exciting instead of appalling.

In all these ways, and more, Watchmen manages the neat trick of being incredibly faithful to the source material whilst simultaneously missing the point.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles