Release: Watchmen

 

Watchmen

Genre: Thriller/Drama/Superhero

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Writer: Alex Conn

Based on DC Comics characters

Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Justin Timberlake, Katherine Langford, Tony Curran, Matthew Fox, Allison Janney, Dominic Sessa

Budget: $100,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $62,801,464

Foreign Box Office: $55,184,452

Total Profit: -$82,398,092

Reaction: Watchmen is not the first DC Comics Universe production to flop at the box office, but it turned out to be a costly one. With previous adaptations fresh on the mind, a director foreign to studio productions, and the filmmakers distancing themselves from comic book films, the odds were probably stacked a little extra against this one.

"Aaron Eckhart’s Comedian is magnetic, Tony Curran’s Rorschach seethes with nihilistic fury, and while some fans may struggle with the film’s introspective pacing, it lingers like a specter long after the credits roll, a stark meditation on power and deception. It’s a masterwork of mood and vision, but not always of heart." - Seth Black, Los Angeles Times

"A big budget Jim Jarmusch DC Comics adaptation is exactly as joyless and mismatched as it sounds. Major scenes and moments from the comic are lobbed out for seemingly no reason. Alex Conn's script seems deathly afraid of anything resembling action or excitement, and despite a rather brief running time, has the pacing of a depressed snail. The comic has dozens of fascinating characters to use - but none are properly developed or utilized, and others are bafflingly replaced by a new 'original' character that only detracts from the film." - David Ehrlich, IndieWire

"Jim Jarmusch's Watchmen falters under the weight of its own artistic pretensions and a fundamental misunderstanding of the source material. The film’s truncated runtime sacrifices the moral complexity and philosophical richness of the comic in favor of loosely connected character vignettes. The casting never feels right, and Jarmusch feels even worse as director. Alex Conn's adaptation feels hollow, failing to capture the essence of the comic. It's never a good sign when the writer of a big budget comic book adaptation tries to foolishly and adamantly maintain that Watchmen is not a comic book film when that's exactly what it is (I'd like to see Conn argue that against DC's lawyers)." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

Rated R for graphic superhero violence, sexual content/nudity, language, and scenes of peril.