Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic – Blu-ray Review

Prepare for Watchmania as the big budget Hollywood production of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s graphic novel prepares to launch on the big screen. The Motion Comic is like the audio book version of a graphic novel as a narrator reads you the text and they’ve even added in some animation (hence the motion).

It’s 1986, yet it’s not like any 1986 that we’re familiar with. Richard M. Nixon is president and the Keene Act has outlawed masked heroics. That hasn’t stopped some “masks” as the misanthropic Rorschach still patrols the streets. When a man is thrown out of his apartment building to his death, Rorschach discovers that the man was a superhero known as the Comedian. He contacts his old partner Nite Owl, who has become unsure of himself since having to hang up his alter ego, to assist him in the investigation. The reason that superheroes have become obsolete and outlawed is that a nuclear accident caused a man to actually have superpowers. Until then they were just people in masks and costumes that fought crime, but the accident gave rise to Dr. Manhattan who could control the atom. This gave the United States the advantage since Dr. Manhattan was unstoppable. He won the Vietnam War for the United States because of his power and invulnerability (and that’s the reason for the continuing Nixon administration). Manhattan and the Comedian were the only two heroes allowed to be in service since they were working for the government. Now the good Dr. has decided to leave the planet and reside on Mars and the Cold War has suddenly become red hot again and it looks like the world is going to erupt in war. Nite Owl and Rorschach slowly begin to uncover a plot involving the death of the Comedian, but can they solve the mystery before the world enters into a nuclear oblivion? I don’t want to give too much of the plot away because discovering Alan Moore’s prose and Dave Gibbon’s artwork are a joy. Moore usually bristles at even the mention of Hollywood glancing at his work, but maybe this motion comic of Watchmen might be more his speed (but I doubt he’ll even consider it. I wonder if he has a Blu-ray player? Doubtful.). A motion comic takes Gibbon’s art and adds some animated movement. It’s also narrated and really is like an audio book, but for graphic novels. The narration might be the odd point for many because instead of a full vocal cast one man, Tom Stechschulte, performs the duties. Audio book aficionados will probably not be fazed by his narration, but it gets a bit strange when he does the female voices. Each issues of the comic are presented and it totals five hours and twenty-five minutes. I recently read the collected work and I don’t think it took that long, but this motion comic adds another dimension that I would’ve enjoyed if I hadn’t already purchased the book in preparation for the film. This motion comic might be the purer form of the comic, but I’m sure that Moore just wants us to read the mystic power of his written words. Either way it’s a thrilling read/watch and I’m anxiously looking forward to seeing the film on the big screen (luckily those legal hurdles have been overcome. Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic is presented in a glorious 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). Special feature are a bit sparse. The “Watchman Production Diaries #4” is an interview with Gibbons about the film. Next is a 10-minute preview of the animated Wonder Woman DVD. You also get a digital copy for your PC or portable device. BD-Live features are also available (providing you have a capable player) and include an exclusive scene from the upcoming film. There’s also $7.50 worth of movie money in the case for when you do get to the theater to watch Watchmen. The motion comic is a geek’s wet dream and perhaps Alan Moore’s nightmare. It does offer a glimpse at the comic that might be more akin to his intent, but I bet he wouldn’t like it anyway. Oh well, I loved it and hope that we might see more comics done the same way. I guess we have to wait for big budget adaptations of whatever comic and the studio need for tie-ins for that to happen though. If you’ve got five hours to kill and want to familiarize yourself with the work on which the film is based then this disc is for you. More special features would’ve been nice, but five hours of Watchmen are nothing to sneeze at. Way to go WB! Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.