Mar 14th
Watchmen (18)
Odeon Wimbledon

US 2009. Paramount/Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures/DC. 160m. (IMAX DMR version)

In a near-apocalyptic alternative 1985, the supremacy of President Nixon's prime deterrent "Dr. Manhattan" is undermined by a secret adversary out to murder the Watchmen.
Gloomy and violent adaptation of a gloomy and downbeat superhero comic book with attitude, set in 1985 but looking very little like it (some of the other period flashbacks look pretty ropey too), with a Nixon that sports a ridiculous prosthetic nose that is as simplistic as the story's politics. The complexities of the story could have been told in half the length.

Written by: David Hayter, Alex Tse, from the graphic novel by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons.
Producers: Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Deborah Snyder.
Director: Zak Snyder.
Starring (in no particular order): Billy Crudup ("Dr. Manhattan"), Matthew Goode (Adrian Veidt/"Ozymandias"), Patrick Wilson (Dan Dreibery/"Nite Owl"), Malin Akerman (Laurie Jupiter/"Silk Spectre"), Jackie Earle Haley ("Rohrschach"), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Edward Blake/"The Comedian"), Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, Laura Mennell.
Photography: Larry Fong.
Music: Tyler Bates.
Production Design: Alex McDowell.




WATCHMEN. One for admirers of the comic book only, of which there are many.