Watchmen (2019)

In a word, Damon Lindelof's HBO-adaptation of the beloved graphic novel Watchmen is extraordinary. It is actually not really an adaptation, it is a sequel that takes place 34 years after the comic. It satisfies fans by respecting the source material in themes, characters, and structure. You don't need to be familiar with the original, but you can certainly better appreciate the brilliance if you are.

Lindelof uses Watchmen to make the an incisive, honest, and hard-hitting reckoning with race in America. Our hero is Angela Abar, played by Oscar-winner Regina King (and surely a future Emmy-winner). She is a former Tulsa police officer who has since retired but now dons a mask and costume as the vigilante Sister Night who collaborates closely with the police. In this alternate Tulsa, the police by law are now required to wear masks to protect their identities. It asks the question that the original did but brilliantly about the police: what do people feel empowered to do behind a mask? Tulsa was the sight of the real-life massacre in 1921 that demolished "Black Wall Street", one of the most prosperous black communities in the country at the time. This is an event that is inexcusably not taught in schools. Our society has not reckoned with the wrongs it has committed. And until it does, it will never move past it. Watchmen gives this massacre the respect it deserves. The ending is extremely satisfying. The story closes all its loose ends perfectly. The early episodes have you asking lots of confusing questions but if you can make it to the end, it will all make sense.

In addition to writing a compelling story, Lindelof has crafted beautiful character studies. Episodes 5, 6 and 8 are character studies of Looking Glass, Hooded Justice and Dr Manhattan respectively. Tim Blake Nelson's Looking Glass is probably the most interesting character and he is an excellent actor. Hooded Justice was the first masked crusader. Assumed white, he is cast black here and not only does it make sense, you realize he must've been black all along. Without spoiling it, his origin story makes clear that the first superhero had to be black, as the superhero emerges out of necessity. The symbolism obviously pointed to lynching; it was all right there and we didn't realize it. This episode, a bad trip on Nostalgia, is mostly in black and white and is filmed in what looks like one long take. Dr Manhattan's episode tells a beautiful love story to explain who he is. The music supervision is fabulous throughout the series, but this episode cleverly uses multiple songs with the theme "blue" as Dr Manhattan is blue.

This is a TV program for our time and for all time. 

Notes:

• Veidt's alien squid is literally Professor Daniel Deudney's theory on space politics! 
• We are not told who Lube Man is but in the supplemental documents online, we discover it Agent Petey. It's not crucial to know this, but it makes sense. Just like the original comic, there were supplemental materials; yes, even down to that level Lindelof respects the source material
• No season 2! The ending is so perfect and self contained, I'm ok with just one season.

Justice League (2017)

I know when we get these superhero movies, we should expect something derivative, but this was just too derivative. There was nothing original about this. It's more than just Marvel beating them to the punch. Boxes of energy? A God-like villain? A God-like villain with an M-shaped crown? The team of superheroes? I know this is the set-up movie, but the whole thing is set-up.  That's what the individual movies were for! We don't want more intro here. The best parts of the movie are Flash and Wonder Woman. Ezra Miller is charming and funny. He's the only person that doesn't take it all so seriously. That's really the heart of the problem. The movie takes itself too seriously. We've come to expect funny superhero movies. This isn't funny. It isn't as dark as some of the older DC movies, but it's too serious still. Also, Cyborg is kind of cool, Aquaman is still lame, and Ben Affleck looks terribly bored. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

There were very high expectations for this film, and I think it fell short. The first hour and a half of the movie is a total mess. It is a series of short vignettes (for an hour and a half!) of seemingly unrelated themes. It relies on you knowing the back story to draw connections between the vignettes on your own, but on the whole they do not really contribute to the overarching story in the film. Speaking of overarching story, there seems to be scenes missing or rather the movie simply skips over the explaining parts and just assumes that you know what's going on. My biggest qualm is that the movie removed these useful scenes, while keeping the useless ones that simply set up more sequels without resolution--such as that inexplicable dream sequence.

The music seemed a little stale. Hans Zimmer is usually a master of the superhero soundtrack. He rightfully recognized that this would be his last superhero movie, claiming that he has run out of ideas. His Man of Steel soundtrack was quite good. I think it might have worked better to have more "Man of Steel" music and less new stuff.

Ben Affleck plays a Batman that is fundamentally different from the Christian Bale Batman that we have come to know and adore. He really plays up the vigilante side of Batman--a back-to-basics of sorts. It is not a bad thing, just different. And I like that the Batcave is underneath Farnsworth House. Actually, more difficult for me was seeing Jeremy Irons as Alfred; for me Michael Caine will embody Alfred always. Wonder Woman was left very mysterious. There weren't really any answers and she appeared out of nowhere. If Gal Gadot's job was simply to be mysterious, then she did it well.

And if you were wondering why are Superman and Batman fighting then you were right to wonder. Don't let the super fans scold you for asking the right question. They shouldn't be fighting. They're on the same side.

And there were no extra scenes in the end credits! What kind of superhero movie is that?

I saw this movie at the historic Senator Theater in Baltimore. It is a gorgeous old movie house and it made the movie going experience well worth it.