Title: Watchmen.
Creator: Damon Lindelof.
Director: Nicole Kassell, Stephen Williams, Steph Green, Andrij Parekh, David Semel & Frederick E.O. Toye.
Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Nick Cuse, Lila Byock, Christal Henry & Carly Wray.
Original Story Based on Writer and Illustrator: ALan Moore & Dave Gibbons.
Release Date: 2019.
Length: 9 Episodes.
Genre(s): Action, Drama & Mystery.
Cast: Regina King, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Sara Vickers, Jeremy Irons, and many more!
My Overall Rating:★★★★★★★★★☆ (9/10).
Some franchises lay the groundwork to a world too rich and detailed to ignore. Despite telling the story that the creator wanted to tell, they also end up inspiring and inviting others to reflect, they incite these like-minded individuals to expand on what was accomplished while accepting and battling the pressure to match or outdo the predecessor’s success. Creator Dave Lindelof is one of them and he attempts a bold and ambitious adaptation of one of the most beloved and quintessential graphic novels of all time: Watchmen. Without being a direct and restricted adaptation of the source material, he offers a twist to it by setting his story years after the events in the comics as he presents a distinctive and engrossing social commentary on America and its abundance of racial tension and civil conflicts.
What is Watchmen about? Set 34 years after the events in the graphic novel, the show focuses on an alternate reality similar to ours and takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2019. This time around, Robert Redford is the president, the Internet does not exist, and the police wear masks to protect their identity from criminals, especially the returning white supremacist terrorist group known as the Seventh Kavalry, who, inspired by Rorschach’s writing and his iconic mask, have grown to despise minorities and the police that protect them. The story thus follows Detective Angela Abar (Regina King) who finds herself at the heart of a complex tale exploring the origin of the legendary vigilante Hooded Justice, the mystery behind the disappearance of Doctor Manhattan, and the evergrowing plague of racism and prejudice within society.
For those who fear that they won’t be able to understand this mini-series without having read the original graphic novel, fret not. Creator Damon Lindelof and his crew do an exceptional job in building the universe on which this story is set, making sure to explicitly cover all of the relevant events that took place in the original story while sprinkling a couple of Easter eggs for fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ masterpiece throughout the series. By making their work canon and fully embracing the repercussions of those events, they create a brilliant world that clearly suffers from societal issues parallel to the ones that viewers will quickly be able to recognize and relate to. It is in this conception that they achieve some of their best work, creating an immersive and unforgettable world where everything simply seems plausible and methodically engineered as multiple timelines are simultaneously explored and unraveled.
The series remains a self-contained tale that crafts a brilliant narrative focused on story-telling and achieves its goal to weave a message where perception is the key to understanding and the lack of it leads to a chasm, a divide among people that will inevitably plunge society into ruins. The same existential pressure felt through the graphic novel resonates just as strongly in this series where Regina King’s character serves as the vessel and the experimental guinea-pig to a much bigger scheme at play. Her incredible performance as Angela Abar/Sister Night also elevates this mini-series to unexpected heights and offers viewers the chance to experience one of the best TV series entertainment in the last decade. Add in actors Jean Smart and Jeremy Irons who respectively play some of the most memorable characters in this series—you’ll just have to watch and find out who they play—it is simply a delight to watch their character’s own stories unfold as their pasts are reflected through their complex personalities today.
Without revisiting the deconstruction of superheroes, this TV mini-series looks further into the construction of identity, whether it is individual or societal. Through nine distinct episodes, introducing new characters along the way, revealing unpredictable twists as well, the story is mostly strewn together by a constant focus on the past of this alternate-history America through flashback sequences cleverly directed, revealing turning point events, from the Tulsa massacre to a mass-extermination of a couple thousands of people. The pacing also dictates the tone but never fails to capture its unique style that keeps plenty of secrets safe from the viewer until the moment is right for it to shock and awe them into understanding how everything connects and makes sense.
Complemented by an impeccable score, beautiful contrasting cinematography, and resonant fighting sequences, the show does a spectacular job in sticking to its unique formula as it offers a stark and smart story. Originally planned as an ongoing series, creator Damon Lindelof has also made it clear that he has told his story within this one-and-only season and leaves the franchise to any other director who wants to tackle a new story, making it much more likely that any future season would explore a completely different story being told with a completely different cast. For the time being, this season alone has successfully collected 26 Emmy Award nominations and awaits for the winners to be announced on September 20, 2020.
Watchmen (2019) is an innovative and provocative adaptation of the classic graphic novel as it explores the complexity of the truth and one’s identity through a sprawling war for power and respect.
Based on the characters created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, this live-action TV Series adaptation of the comic book masterpiece Watchmen offers an authentic and original pseudo-sequel for fans to indulge.
Have you read any Watchmen comics?
Have you seen Watchmen (2019)? Will you? What did you think about it?
Share your thoughts with me!
Roars and Echoes 
Fantastic review Lashaan! The trailer looks great was that Don Johnson at the end?
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Thank you so much, Nicki! Yep, that’s him all right! 😀 He plays his part quite well too. 😉
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Amazing review! This sounds fascinating and so trailer. I will watch this.
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Thanks, Yesha! I’m glad that this interests you and I hope you have a good time with it when you get the chance to try it! 😀
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Review was exciting. Where did you watch this? Which channel?
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Thank you so much, Shalini! I appreciate it. 😀
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Yikes it was on HBO not Netflix. Don’t have HBO
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Yep, it’s an HBO show! And they have a lot of amazing shows too, making them my favourite channel of all those that exists. 😀
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It sounds really good! I thought I’d never watch it but I’m actually quite curious to watch it, now! 😂 Great review 😚
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Hahahahaahah I’m glad to hear that this convinced you enough to understand why it’s something you SHOULD give a try. 😉 Thank you so much reading, toi. ❤
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Yep, definitely not happening for me.
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Hahahha it’s funny to hear you state it. 😛 Almost like schadenfreude for me when it comes to all things Watchmen-related and you. 😀
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Well….now I’m torn, and that’s all because of your review😂😂 I had no real intention of watching this as I wasn’t particularly fond of the movie (as I mentioned last week), but having read this I can only say that I am at least intrigued. You certainly have a way of convincing people to watch something😅😅 And since I have a vacation anyway, I might spend some time with it 😊 Great post!
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Hahaahahaha mission accomplished! 😀 I think there might be plenty to enjoy in this one and if you do give it a try, I hope that your experience with it will be superior to the movie! 😉 Thanks for checking this out and here’s hoping you’ll hop onto this bandwagon soon. 😉
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Lol…well I will do my best to go and check it out at some point during my vacation😊 I hope I will get around to it and will be sure to let you know my thoughts on it 😊
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Very glad to hear you enjoyed this one. Sounds like it worked much better than the comic follow-on you recently reviewed. If I were still a regular TV watcher and had access to it I might just check it out. Nicely reviewed, Lashaan.
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Yep. It’s definitely better than Doomsday Clock Part 1 (currently finishing up Part 2 to really conclude if it’s an average or decent story though). I could recommend this series even to those who never read the comics or don’t care for it too. There’s so much more to it than just “superheroes”. Wish you could have had the chance to try it out though. I think you’d have appreciated the story a lot. Thanks for the kind words, my friend! 🙂
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Fantastic review, Lashaan! 😀 I decided that I like your gushing reviews the most – the enthusiasm is contagious 😉 You need to work on those thrashing reviews, though… 😂😂 As for the Watchmen TV series, you’ve sold it so well I’m inclined to try. And I do hope that at least here Jeremy Irons overcomes his fantasy/SF curse of very baaaad movies and even worse roles 😂😂😂
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Thanks, Ola!!!! I’m glad that this will have given you the necessary push to give the show a try. I do hope that it will surprise you in a good way and I look forward to hearing about your thoughts on it, even if it ends up being an abomination to you! 😛 As for Irons… Yep.. hahahaahah He did give us an interesting Alfred though! 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 But I think you’ll appreciate his character here a lot. 😀
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I am intrigued, indeed! 😀
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The trailer was really masterfully done.
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So is the show, if you ever want to try something out in your spare time. 😉
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I remember enjoying the movie when it first came out, but that was before I read the graphic novel. Haven’t watched it since, not because it changed my perspective, but because I was more into comics than movies at the time. So I’m not sure how I’d feel about it after reading the original masterpiece.
I’m not sure if I’ll ever find the time to watch this miniseries (It’s taken me 4 weeks to get 3 episodes into The Witcher). But I’m glad to hear that this one is good.
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If you ever want to re-watch Snyder’s movie, I recommend his ultimate cut (with the included animated sequences within the movie) to get the man’s full vision of his adaptation.
Ahh, yes. It’s why I’m also watching more movies than shows in general. At least now you know what you could check out if you suddenly have more time for a TV series. Thanks for reading! 🙂
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Mmh, I watched the movie (or half of it, I can’t even remember 😂) and wasn’t really excited about it, but now your review makes me curious to try it again, or to watch this mini-series ! Maybe I should give Watchmen another try 😁 Thanks for sharing Lashaan!
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I think this series will have much more appeal to people than the movie adaptation of the original graphic novel hahah Hope you enjoy this one if you ever give it a try then! 😀 Thanks for reading, Juliette!
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Amazing review as always! I also loved the show. Completely agree with you on how the showrunners made it as accessible as possible to people who hadn’t read Alan Moore’s work, but at the same time providing so many easter eggs for long-time fans!
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Thank you! Right? I love that it managed to have its own identity without being overshadowed by the original masterpiece. That’s how you do a solid adaptation! 😀
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Awesome review Lashaan and glad you enjoyed the series…or mini-series as it became. Although I think things became a but muddled towards the end I thought it was generally great – Regina King was a brilliant lead and Jeremy Irons as reliable as ever (man, I really wanted to see more of his Alfred in the DCEU…but with Ben Affleck returning, who knows?).
I totally agree about what you say regarding the accessibility of the series and the laudable efforts made to make it coherent for the uninitiated whilst infusing all of the familiar Watchmen elements that fans know and love. I do feel there’s more story to tell though and would welcome further seasons so long as the quality is there.
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Thanks, man! I’m glad that it still worked for you too despite those pacing issues you ran into, my friend. There’s so much potential for this Watchmen TV series universe, honestly. It would be a mistake for them to not find someone interested in directing another season even if it means new cast, new story, new direction!
Same, man. Hopefully we get a couple of sneaky sequences with him as Alfred in The Flash movie! It would be a fantastic final farewell. Especially if it is all in the hopes of creating a Flashpoint movie.
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