DVD Corner

Watchmen: Chapter 1 Blu-ray Review

“Watchmen: Chapter 1” is faithful but lacking a spark.

If you were underwhelmed by Zack Snyder’s take on “Watchmen,” you now have a new option with the DC/WB Animation release “Watchmen: Chapter 1” (Chapter 2 is due next year). Adapted by J. Michael Straczynski, the first chapter faithfully covers the first six issues of the comic book mini-series complete with “The Tales Of The Black Freighter.” The story, as you probably know well by now, begins in 1985 with the death of The Comedian. It seems someone is targeting masked heroes and Rorschach is looking to get to the bottom of it. Rorschach proceeds to warn other former heroes (including Nite Owl II, Ozymandias, Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre II) about what is transpiring. Elsewhere in the story Dr. Manhattan transports himself to Mars to ponder life while an impending doomsday threatens humanity. As an added bonus, some material from “Under The Hood” is featured in the credits along with a teaser for Chapter 2. 

Do we need another “Watchmen” adaptation? Not really. With that said, “Watchmen: Chapter 1” manages to be an admirable adaptation based off of Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore’s seminal comics (although Moore has taken his name off the credits). It helps that writer J. Michael Straczynski of “Babylon 5” is adapting the material. He’s certainly an accomplished writer and he does a fine job of juggling the characters, the politics, the worldbuilding, the time jumps, the film noir esque murder mystery, and “The Tales Of The Black Freighter” (which uses the comic pages as a nice tribute to Dave Gibbons).

Where “Watchmen” falls a bit short is with the fluidity of the project. Brandon Vietti is no stranger to directing DC Animation projects and he does a commendable job here. It’s clear that he spent a great deal of time making this a more artful project that visually nails the tone of the source material. Unfortunately, Vietti rushes almost everything. The pacing moves too fast and there’s no real breathing room. There’s also a sort of disconnect with the characters. It feels like something is missing here and that more time should have been spent letting this first chapter breathe a bit more instead of rushing through the iconic story.

The voice casting is generally on point here. Troy Baker (Ozymandias), Michael Cerveris (Dr. Manhattan), Jeffrey Combs (Moloch), and Katee Sackhoff (Silk Spectre II) deliver the best performances. Sadly, Titus Welliver (who is generally a great actor) is just miscast as Rorschach. It just feels like he’s trying too hard.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.29:1 1080p. How does it look? The animation looks sharp in hi-def. Note: This title is also available on 4K.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The 5.1 track does the job here from the action to the voice acting.

Extras:
* Digital copy
* “Dave Gibbons And Watchmen: Worldbuilding”- Dave Gibbons, Jim Lee and others talk about the art, storytelling, worldbuilding, and influence of the “Watchmen” comics in this 9 minute featurette.
* The 10 minute “The Art Of Adaptation: Introducing The Story” covers this animated adaptation of the source material.

August 28, 2024 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, DC, Dr. Manhattan, J. Michael Straczynski, Rorschach, Watchmen Animated, Watchmen: Chapter 1 Blu-ray Review, WB Animation