“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

– Roman poet Juvenal in Satires.

So often, the general public takes it for granted that someone will protect them. With stories featuring The Phantom and The Shadow as preludes to the birth of Superman and Captain America, there’s clearly an audience for individuals who want to believe in beings with incredible gifts using those gifts to protect humanity from enemies domestic, foreign, galactic, and interdimensional. But a question starts to form regarding those whom we entrust to protect us: who watches them to ensure that they don’t abuse the trust we’ve afforded them? In a modern era wherein the stories of the Marvel Cinematic Universe grapple (some overtly, some far less so) with the notion that overview is necessary to prevent misuse while real world tragedies supported by multinational governments continue seemingly unabated, the 12-part DC Comics series Watchmen, created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, first published in September 1986, feels incredibly potent. Previous adaptations include a motion comic in 2008, a feature-length film by Zack Snyder (300) in 2009, and as a live-action sequel television series in 2019, a now a brand-new iteration joins the ranks with director Brandon Vietti’s (Superman: Doomsday) take on the rich text of a tale in the first of a two-part feature, Watchmen: Chapter 1, now available on home video.

October 1985, New York City: A murder victim is identified as Edward Blake (voiced by Rick D. Wasserman), vigilante name “The Comedian,” and the police are immediately baffled given his reputation of during pre-Government/current-Government work days. Concerned that this is the beginning of a larger threat against costumed vigilantes, paranoid hero Walter Kovacs/Rorschach (voiced by Titus Welliver) not only investigate places the police won’t, but tries to deliver a warning to his former Watchmen teammates in case it’s more than paranoia. Though none heed his warnings, trouble does come for the seemingly indestructible Jonathan Osterman/Dr. Manhattan (voiced by Michael Cerveris) and brilliant Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (voiced by Troy Baker). Are these old threats coming to collect their due or new ones that upturn society as it exists by removing these old heroes from the collective board? It’s one minute to midnight on the Doomsday Clock as global tensions threaten to come to a boil and the remaining heroes seem to be on the run and unable to help.

A lot’s been written about the comic Watchmen since its initial release. One can explore the narrative as a searing exploration of the failure of society to regulate itself, for society to implement systems without any sense of oversight, for them to consume without consideration (you’ve heard of the fragrance “Nostalgia,” right?), that good intentions don’t erase horrifying mistakes, the depressing realization that global unification may only really occur with an external threat (see: various genocides occurring right now, as well as multiple wars dealing in resources), and, of course, the realization that putting one’s faith in a superhero to protect us may mean trusting a kinder, gentler fascist than the one they fight. The fact that the original 12-issue series was meant to be a one-and-done and may have, for better or worse, created the common graphic novel (one in a series of slights by DC against Moore), setting up the story to become an almost mockery of itself as people cosplay as Nite Owl, Silk Spectre #1 and #2, and the others, strangely idolizing the characters Moore and Gibbons didn’t want readers to identify with. It’s a weird thing in which the very thing that’s popular shouldn’t be as exalted, even if it deserves it. That said, this film version, while incomplete as both a first part of two and because it must cut or reframe the source material, still manages to make one feel like they’re experiencing Watchmen uniquely. For instance, Vietti incorporates the in-comic and in-movie comic story Tales of the Black Freighter by, at times, cross-cutting with other sequences, thereby connecting the message of the in-world comic with the events as they happen to the characters of Watchmen. It’s not told this way in the source, but it works to add scope and intensity. Sometimes this means reordering scenes in the comic so that they flow more naturally in a film, but it doesn’t do it in a way that takes away from the intention or meaning of the moment. It’s a difficult task that, largely, Vietti and his team navigate smoothly. Much of the credit here should go to writer J. Michael Straczynski (Changeling; Ninja Assassin) who had the unenviable task of narrowing the first five chapters into an 81-minute feature which utilizes the natural cliffhanger of that issue to smartly close out the film. But much like each issue had its own in-world adverts, news clips, and more, so does Chapter 1 include some nice bonuses for over the credits. Though the live-action version is stellar in how detail-oriented it is and faithful it is to the source (minus changes big and small), Chapter 1 is far more faithful, and not just because it keeps the squid. Or, at least, there’s fair suspicion that the squid will appear given the inclusion of it within The Comedian’s monologue in the flashback story Moloch (voiced by Jeffrey Combs) shares with Rorschach. His commentary about what he saw and identifying the people he knows to be on the island is struck from all editions of Snyder’s version, but is maintained here. This implies a great deal regarding the faithfulness to and integrity of the original story, an aspect which is integral to communicating the precise intention of the story (making Dr. Manhattan the threat to rally the world against in Snyder’s version has never sat right with this reviewer).

In terms of the presentation itself, this review is based on a 4K UHD edition provided by WB Home Entertainment and not a digital presentation. As such, there’re high expectations for a 4K UHD presentation and, while the film looks and sounds great, the bitrate on the video is surprisingly low. A live-action 4K UHD disc should be in 60-80 Mbps for a great picture and Chapter 1 hovers between upper 40s and low 50s. It’s incredibly odd because the visual presentation has dynamic color thanks to maintaining the period 1980s look of neons running through society, as well as elements like the vibrant blue of Dr. Manhattan, the deep purple of Ozymandias’s costume, and the chestnut brown of Rorschach’s jacket. All this to say that the film looks great despite possessing a bitrate that’s more common with a standard Blu-ray or just higher.

The bonus features are few, brief, and, yet, rich. In under 19 minutes, home viewing audiences are walked through the making of the film via Vietti, Gibbons, and other members of the Warner Bros. Animation/DC Entertainment production team. The first, “Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Chapters I-VI,” focuses more on the source material with Gibbons and others talking about the origin of the comic (DC having picked up some characters via purchase and looking for something to do with them), the process of creating the original story, and the adaptation process. The second, “The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story,” focuses more on the literal act of adaptation, detailing the thought process of the visual style for the film, acknowledging the hefty task of cutting material without losing the total weight of the story, and even walking through the process of adjusting vertical still images for portrait moving frames. While I would disagree with one person’s comment that Chapter 1 looks even better than the source material, I would at least agree that the 3D animation and attempt to maintain that 1986 visual style does help ground the film at a specific time and place incredibly well, making for an absorbing experience.

The announcement of Chapter 1 seems, in and of itself, a bit of a cash-grab considering the previous releases, but it does manage to impress as a more (so far) faithful adaptation of the limited series. The trick is that in order to really grasp what Vietti is going for, viewers may need to be familiar with the comic. That aforementioned sequence with the credits is only really interesting if you’re already invested in Hollis Mason’s (voiced by Geoff Pierson) backstory as the original Nite Owl, for example. But, for those who are familiar, this is about as close as we’ll get to seeing Watchmen animated without extensive CG work and high-priced stars. With luck, we may even get the squid … but time will tell. Until then, keep your eye on the watchmen. Someone has to.

Watchmen: Chapter 1 Special Features:

• Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Chapters I-VI (9:02)
• The Art of Adaptation: Introducing the Story (9:49)

Available on digital August 13^th, 2024.
Available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray August 27^th, 2024.
Chapter 2 available later in 2024.

For more information, head to the official Warner Bros. Pictures Watchmen: Chapter 1 webpage.

Final Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Categories: Home Release, Home Video, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming

Tags: 4K UHD, action, adaptation, Adrienne Barbeau, adventure, Alan Moore, animation, Brandon Vietti, comic book, Corey Burton, crime, Dave Gibbons, DC Entertainment, Dwight Schultz, Geoff Pierson, Grey DeLisle, home release, home video, J. Michael Straczynski, Jason Spisak, Jeffrey Combs, John Marshall Jones, Kari Wahlgren, Katee Sackhoff, Kelly Hu, Matthew Rhys, Max Koch, Michael Cerveris, mystery, Paramount Pictures, Phil LaMarr, Rick D. Wasserman, Titus Welliver, Troy Baker, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Bros. Pictures, Watchmen, Watchmen: Chapter 1, Yuri Lowenthal