THIS IS THE WATCHMENIEST ‘WATCHMEN’ GIFT SET EVER MADE
Director Zack Snyder’s film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal comic series Watchmen is diffiult to process. One one hand, it was a monumental achievement that Snyder was even able to translate half of the material in the groundbreaking graphic novel to the screen, but on the other, there was a lack of gravity to the whole thing; a gnawing empty feeling that the themes of Moore’s story weren’t coming through.
It was like Snyder baked a perfectly shaped Twinkie that was nice and spongy and golden on the outside, but then he forgot to fill it with the most important ingredient. You need that creamy filling to bring it all together. (Wow, did I really just compare a story about cold war paranoia, generational conflict, the ponderance of time, political strife, and the existential horror of our very existence to a Twinkie? Yup, guess so.)
Anyway, despite that glaring flaw, I enjoy the film a great deal, especially Jackie Earl Haley’s dead-on depiction of the unwavering yet disturbed Rorschach. If you also like the film and the graphic novel, and have $ 75 hanging around, Warner Bros has just the thing for you — this ridiculous Watchmen Collector’s Edition, which includes the Ultimate Cut of the film (that’s the Director’s Cut with the animated pirate story Tales of the Black Frieghter inserted into the move when relevant), the complete motion comic, a DVD of the theatrical cut, and a hardcover edition of the Watchmen graphic novel, all wrapped up in a sweet lenticular box. The set is due for release on Nov. 13, just in time for the Holidays. Nothing says “Christmas” like Rorschach throwing the contents of a deep fryer directly into someone’s face!
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