Finally, a video defense of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen

The video is interested in Watchmen less as a piece of cinema than as a piece of philosophical commentary. Its oddly high-concept narrator celebrates the film’s flawed, morally complex heroes, all of whom subvert traditional superhero archetypes. And he digs deep into the film’s philosophy by breaking down the ways in which Ozymandias’ consequentialism (the ends justify the means) stands in contrast to Rorschach’s deontologism (you must judge people by their actions, not the consequences of those actions). The video praises the fact that Snyder’s Watchmen allows you to empathize with both of these view points, without offering a clear cut hero and villain.

What the review doesn’t touch on one way or the other is whether or not Snyder’s Watchmen undercuts the complex morality of Moore’s comic with its adaptation choices—something the film’s detractors often argue, including this other video essay from last year. In other words: Does the film’s deconstruction of superheroes work when it’s also glorifying violence to the point that their actions seem “cool” rather than horrifying? By eschewing that question, Wisecrack basically ends up arguing that there’s plenty of thematic heft to Snyder’s adaptation, regardless of what it may have changed along the way. And for those looking for a defense of Watchmen, that’s about the best one they could hope for.

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