Few people can make an R-rated film so elegant and literary.Bob Dylan’s “The World Is Changing” opens the violent chapter, with a melancholy and slightly careless hum, paired with a shocking picture of social style – the bloodbath of the Vietnam War, the shooting of flower-laying girls by the army, and the mass display of Soviet military exercises. The nuclear bomb …… seems to be slowly unveiling a corner of the dark curtain of that world, the breath of despair wrapped in what seems to be old film clichés come to the surface, the taste of doom at this time but more romance belonging exclusively to Dylan.The world is changing.
When the ambitious heroes with the American dream to defend justice, but ultimately lost to human nature after seeing the world. From the U.S. bank robbers hit by the cape rolled into the door, to the Tian’e Man arrested for alcoholism, to the side of the tragic death in bed, the climax is nothing more than the comedian hiding in the shadows after Kennedy was shot the grim and disdainful look back, as if nothing happened, the expression tells the biggest joke in the parallel world. History and imagination are so perfectly joined at this moment, the mischievous adaptation instead makes so unreal history ridiculous, as if such a fate is the original trajectory of the world – let a fallen hero who suddenly woke up to the world can not be saved to assassinate the ruler who created the bubble of the American dream. The bubble shatters at this moment, leaving the world to reveal its hidden hideousness beneath the pomp and circumstance.Masked vigilantes watch over the world as Watchmen are born before the clock of doom to take over a shaken society and become the people’s only protector, but do not want to face the darkness while being eaten away by a darker truth. The first comedian to react, with a bit of resignation and self-deprecation, “breaks the can”. He shot the protesters and pregnant women (who were still pregnant with his child), he drank and smoked, tried to molest his teammates, and fell out with everyone, so desperately decadent because he saw through the fate that he should have known long ago – superheroes from the beginning to adhere to the wrong beliefs, they are above law and order, obsessed with preserving the world But no one has ever thought that if the world can no longer be saved, who will save themselves?Who watches the Watchmen?When the heroes bowed to humanity, the war between good and evil evolved into a futile and lonely struggle under a dark curtain for people who could barely be called good. Once the ambition of the clouds was shattered by the tragic reality, the messenger of justice stumbled in the dream, facing the dark side of human nature that could not be eliminated, and chose to withdraw from the stage of history. To be precise, it was not their own choice – any hero faces nearly the same fate – from being suspected to being admired, until abandoned by a terrified populace after the mission is completed, those whom they tried to protect with their lives.Everything is as Joker said. All the heroes are very similar to the villains, despite saving the world, but can not escape the fate of being “as lepers” swept out of the door. What people need is a hero who shows up to help in times of crisis, and when the crisis is over, nature returns to the right track, and the worship of heroes turns into fear of power, and those past heroic deeds become a declaration of potential threats in front of most people.So the comedian laughs heartlessly and mockingly throws a line at the uncomprehending night lord II – “See, the American dream has come true”.The hero is nowhere to be found. The Night Lords and Silk Ghosts are immersed in memories that cannot be extricated, not so much for nostalgia as for condemnation of the times; their heirs return to normal life, hiding from their respective fears and careful not to touch the past; Ozymandias’ ambition has gone beyond the scope of common understanding; Dr. Manhattan faces the quiet nuclear threat, but no longer has the drive to save the world.The comedian’s remark some years ago finally revealed the essence of the Doctor – you don’t care about humanity! Yes, when becoming a god, and human beings have no connection, the earth is full of ugly humanity in front of what is worth to stay? Therefore, when the innovative plan of “killing 15 million people to save the world” was revealed, Dr. Manhattan cooperated unexpectedly. It was the greatest prank in human history – when mankind unanimously pointed the finger at the former heroes, the world was more harmonious than ever. The age of heroism went up in smoke with the dazzling blue light of the nuclear explosion, and when 15 million innocent lives were lost forever after the conspiracy, everything cleared out and a utopia above the ruins seemed to rekindle with hope.People were able to continue their lives under the protection of the Watchers, but were eventually destroyed by them again. The only way to save the world turned out to be death.Rorschach could not figure this out. The violent hero, the “sociopath”, who sees no one in a bad light, traces the truth of his old friend’s death step by step, pokes the conspiracy of Ozymandias step by step, and at the same time implicates the tragedy and comedy of that dark era, allowing the viewer to witness the cruelty and romance of Sin City style. Anger explodes at the moment Dr. Manhattan decides to keep the secret, and in the face of God’s compromise, he nonchalantly says, “If you had cared in the first place, none of this would have happened. The never-compromising Rorschach thus became the last casualty, ridiculously, for the peace of the world.But humanity finally needs a new utopia, even if it is rooted in lies it is so fragile. The Earth was finally saved, all thanks to the plan of the “smartest man” and his impeccable bandit logic.What did Ozymandias, the “King of Kings”, think about standing on the ruins? The satisfaction of having changed the course of history, or the disappointment of having lost something? It does not matter, because everyone who lives has got what they want. The love between the second generation of the Night Lord and the second generation of the Silk Ghost is the natural course of events, the Doctor has taken refuge in another “less complicated galaxy”, the world has also been longed for peace, that not long ago the death of 15 million people has become a small episode to achieve the “commonwealth of mankind”. Destruction brings salvation, and destruction achieves the ideal society that heroism cannot achieve.But it never ends. The appearance of Rorschach’s diary at the end of the film hints at an even more tragic and chaotic future. Even the omnipotent Dr. Manhattan has something he can’t do – change human nature. It just so happens that human nature is the source of evil, and we are temporarily saved, but that does not mean future happiness. Perhaps this cold joke is the best irony of the conceited modern man.Zack. Sneed’s dark and romantic style, so that the night rain, ice and snow, poor streets and alleys constitute a unique post-apocalyptic rhythm of the picture. The dark hues and never-clear skies set off the film’s obscurity and make people’s moods sink heavily from beginning to end. Some shiny little details are worthy of praise, such as Rorschach’s poetic and fascinating narration; the figure of Dr. Manhattan reflected in Armstrong’s helmet during the moon landing; the doctored classic post-war photos, all of which are full of the director’s heartfelt wisdom and make people marvel at the clever welding of history and imagination.
The two most remarkable details, one is the nuclear device to start, the instrument in the blue light suddenly shrinks in the dial, the hour hand points to 12:00 1 minute short of the time, associated with the whole film throughout the doomsday clock, the implied arrival of the end is self-evident, and before the appearance of Watch in the picture, the minute hand has been dangerously close to 12:00. The Watchmen are the only ones who can translate the word “Watchmen” to “Watchmen”. The ink blot test chart scattered from the purse also symbolizes the failure of Rorschach’s personal rebellion.
The second detail is the comedian’s smiley face logo, which carries a little red from start to finish, grinning at the world, seemingly continuing the owner’s satirical style. This tragedy begins with a blood-stained smiley face and ends with a smiley face stained with tomato juice, or rather, it is a new beginning, and the tragic fate of mankind does not end.
Watchmen’s action sequences are a continuation of what Zucker did in “300” – fast and slow editing, which seems to be his new style of violent aesthetics. But the action scenes are just the spice of this serious R-rated film. In the end, it is the same as the Black Knight, not a superhero film, more like an urban epic, after all, the original won the Hugo Award, the film is certainly not cheesy. So instead of being an action movie, it’s a literary film with a bit of gore that doesn’t seem to leave much hope for humanity, but makes people hopelessly obsessed with the darkness and the group of people who own the night. This is probably the way the world is supposed to be.*other*In fact, the theatrical version has done a good job of showing everything Zach wants the audience to see, and this Ultimate Cut is a gift to the fans – richer and fuller, depicting more perspectives, showing the post-apocalyptic picture from almost every level.It’s great to see something like this in this era of Twifan, and it’s great that Hollywood has a talent like Zack Sneed (who’s a great writer). I’m glad that Hollywood has a talent like Zack Sneed (sweat~), and I’m glad that there’s an Alan Moore on the other side of the world. Moore, who contributed a Hugo Award-winning comic, he made mankind once again profoundly introspective.I’m glad we have Watchmen to watch.