Zack Snyder’s filmography has been a topic of great debate among fans. While some regard Watchmen as his best work, others argue that his larger contributions to the DC franchise are more impressive.
Snyder’s passionate fanbase has constantly expressed their appreciation for his adaptations of the modern DC Cinematic Universe, which began in 2013 with Man of Steel and continued with 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League.
Why Watchmen Is Zack Snyder’s Best Movie
Although the extensive reshoots by Joss Whedon on Justice League were harshly criticized by Snyder’s fanbase, his 2021 director’s cut was released on Max and was well-received by fans of the previous films.
However, those put off by the complex story, religious allegories, and lack of compelling characters did not see much improvement in the retitled Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
While Snyder’s DCEU films have been divisive, he has a few solid hits on his resume. His 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead was a worthwhile version of George Romero’s original masterpiece, and his 2007 adaptation of 300 was memorable and satisfying. However, Watchmen remains Snyder’s best work to date.
Adapting Watchmen was a challenging task, given that the original graphic novel is considered one of the most important achievements in the history of pop culture storytelling.
Alan Moore’s masterpiece questioned whether superheroes had a role in society at all, and what their effects would be. Snyder’s adaptation didn’t alter the source material, and the criticism of superheroes’ unlimited power to determine “justice” that he attempted to tackle with his DCEU films was not as effective due to his writing skills.
It felt strange for Snyder to be attacking a genre that he so often indulged in, and it was off-putting to root for heroes capable of graphic violence. Jackie Earl Haley’s Oscar-worthy performance as Rorschach was not asking for the audience’s forgiveness in the same way that Henry Cavill’s Superman or Ben Affleck’s Batman were, as the audience was supposed to be disgusted with him.
Snyder’s creativity shines through in his stylistic choices in Watchmen. The graphic novel is dense with details, names, and themes that require multiple readings to fully understand, so any film adaptation needed to keep the material engaging. Snyder’s music choices were exceptional, particularly the opening sequence set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”
The use of Dylan’s work was clever, as the song contains allusions to political, social, ethical, and economic changes that occurred between the end of World War II and the genesis of the Cold War. Snyder also ended the film with a cover of Dylan’s “Desolation Row” by My Chemical Romance, which contains allusions to pop culture and mythical figures, reflecting the changing times.
Snyder made clever changes to the story, such as removing the “squid fall” and using Dr. Manhattan as a scapegoat. While the 2019 HBO miniseries from Damon Lindelof is superior to Snyder’s film, it was produced under different circumstances that gave it more creative freedom to make changes to the text.
Lindelof’s show is a legacy sequel that examines the impact of the events of the original source material in modern times, reflecting the toxicity of modern comic book fans and the tragic rise in racist groups in the last few years. However, as a straight-up adaptation goes, Snyder’s 2009 film is just about the best version of the story that fans could have asked for.
To say that Zack Snyder’s filmography has been a divisive one would be an understatement, and the claim that Watchmen is his best film may not go over well with fans of his larger work in the DC franchise.
Snyder’s passionate fanbase has constantly voiced their support for his adaptations of the modern DC Cinematic Universe, which began in 2013 with Man of Steel and continued with 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League. While the extensive amount of reshoots by Joss Whedon on Justice League drew sharp criticism from Snyder’s fanbase, his 2021 director’s cut was released on Max.
The retitled Zack Snyder’s Justice League seemed to go over well with fans of the previous films, even if those out off by the confusing story, religious allegories, and lack of compelling characters didn’t see much of an improvement.
Snyder’s DCEU films may have been divisive, but that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a few more solid hits on his resume. 2004’s Dawn of the Dead took on the difficult challenge of following up George Romero’s original masterpiece, which is considered to be one of the best horror films ever made.
Surprisingly, Snyder’s remake managed to distinguish itself in enough ways that it was a worthwhile version of the story in its own right. He also made a memorable comic book adaptation with 2007’s 300a film that made use of his hyper-stylized storytelling techniques in a much more satisfying way. That being said, Watchmen remains the best work of Snyder’s career so far.
An Understanding of the Themes
Any adaptation of Watchmen is an inherently challenging one, as the original graphic novel is cited as one of the most important achievements in the history of pop culture storytelling. Alan Moore has written several masterpieces that have redefined the superhero genre, but Watchmen questioned whether superheroes had a role in society at all, and what their effects would be. Snyder’s Watchmen doesn’t change nearly a thing about the original source material, which makes sense for this type of adaptation.
The criticism of superheroes’ unlimited power to make determinations about “justice” is something that Snyder attempted to tackle with his DCEU films, but his lack of writing skills made it challenging for those films to serve as proper criticisms of the genre. It felt strange for Snyder to be attacking a genre that he was so often indulging in; it felt off to be asked to root for heroes who were capable of such graphic violence.
Comparatively, Jackie Earl Haley’s Oscar worthy performance as Rorsach isn’t asking for the audience’s forgiveness in the same way that Henry Cavill’s Superman or Ben Affleck’s Batman were, as the audience is supposed to be disgusted with him. Moore has often mentioned that those that thought that Rorsach was a hero did not understand the point that he was intending to make.
Visual and Stylistic Innovations
Snyder is certainly a stylist, but Watchmen allowed him to indulge with some interesting ways to make the source material interesting. Watchmen is a fairly dense graphic novel with a lot of details, character names, and themes that merit multiple readings to fully comprehend. As a result, any film adaptation needed to find a way to keep the material engaging. Considering that Snyder’s changes to the story itself were minimal, he had more freedom to exercise his creativity in some of the stylized set pieces.
Even in his worst films, Snyder rarely fails to make great choices when it comes to the soundtrack. Opening the film with Bob Dylan’s timeless classic “The Times They Are a-Changin’” was a great way to pack in a lot of expositional material that explained the development of the original World War II-era superheroes that became the modern “Watchmen.” Using Dylan’s work was also clever given that the song contains allusions to the political, social, ethical, and economic changes that take place between the end of World War II and the genesis of the Cold War.
Snyder also cleverly chooses to end the film with a cover of Dylan’s “Desolation Row” by My Chemical Romance. Dylan’s song contains many allusions to pop culture and mythical figures, and ending the film with a cover song reflects that as the opening moments suggested, the times really were changing. His music choices remain exceptional throughout, particularly during the electrifying opening sequence where the Comedian (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is killed that is set to “Unforgettable.”
Clever Changes to the Story
Adapting Watchmen is a challenge considering how legendary the original source material is, and fans of the graphic novel were justified in their initial skepticisms on whether a film or television series could ever do it justice. Snyder made the choice to remove the “squid fall,” which may have felt a little too goofy within his R-Rated adaptation. While it makes more sense given the context of the graphic novel, adding in more exposition about the squids would have only added to a film that was already almost three hours long. Using Dr. Manhattan as a scapegoat made sense, as having the world turn on the character that was an allegory for God was an interesting way for Snyder to reflect on Moore’s themes.
The 2019 HBO miniseries from Damon Lindelof is superior to Snyder’s film, but that series was produced under very different circumstances that gave it more creative freedom to make changes to the text. Rather than adapting the original graphic novel, Lindelof’s show is a legacy sequel that examines the impact of the events of the original source material in modern times. The toxicity of Rorschach has inspired a white supremacist movement, reflecting the toxicity of modern comic book fans and the tragic rise in racist groups in the last few years. This was a great way to continue the story, but as a straight-up adaptation goes, Snyder’s 2009 film is just about the best version of the story that fans could have asked for.
