Watchmen Complete Motion Comic - DVD Review
Warner Premiere, DC Comics Adapts Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons Comic
Mar 6, 2009
Feeding the frenzy provoked by Zack Snyder's live-action adaptation of Watchmen, comes Watchmen: The Motion Comic, Warner Premiere's attempt to bring writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' graphic novel to life.
While completists will thrill to see the entire story (including the Tales of the Black Freighter subplot) in a limited motion picture form, those with a more casual interest in this classic graphic novel will find it excessive.
Watchmen: The Motion Comic Narrated By Tom Stechschulte
What's a motion comic? For the uninitiated, it basically puts the graphic novel onscreen with narration and limited animation. Imagine a radio play put on TV with (mostly) static images. The major advantage for hardcore fans is that, unlike the movie, every word of Moore's brilliant prose is in this motion comic.
WP was also smart enough to get Gibbons and original colourist John Higgins back to do the animation for this DVD. There isn't anything to add about their art that hasn't been said already, but Gibbons and Higgins gave the images a slightly worn, vintage quality, as if the viewer was seeing an older film. Given that Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985, that decision adds to the atmosphere.
While we're on the subject, it does look cool to see the design on Rorschach's mask melt and shift during each scene in the original images.
However, there are drawbacks. The first is that narrator Tom Stechschulte voices every character in Watchmen, including the female characters. While Stechschulte does the best he can to give some variation, the fact that it's only one person gives the voices a certain sameness, especially in the scenes between Sally and Laurie Juspeczyk.
The other major concern is the fact that, if you want to watch the whole thing in one sitting, that you have to sit through the credits for all 12 episodes. Sure, you can fast-forward, but WP should have considered this when putting together the DVD.
DVD Extras
Other than a trailer for the upcoming Tales of the Black Freighter DVD, the only other special feature is a look at the Wonder Woman direct-to-DVD movie starring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion (click the link for a review).
The Final Analysis
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic is strictly for completists, and those who didn't like the live-action film. Casual fans will be more than satisfied with Zack Snyder's flick, which streamlined the plot brilliantly and captured the essence of Moore and Gibbons' original vision.
But if it comes down to a choice between the motion comic and the graphic novel, choose the graphic novel. At the end of the day, books are better.
Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic gets a 6/10.
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