Danny Wattley Movies
300's Zack Snyder brings Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' critically acclaimed comic book Watchmen to the big screen, courtesy of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures. Set in an alternate universe circa 1985, the film's world is a highly unstable one where a nuclear war is imminent between America and Russia. Superheroes have long been made to hang up their tights thanks to the government-sponsored Keene Act, but that all changes with the death of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a robust ex-hero commando whose mysterious free fall out a window perks the interest of one of the country's last remaining vigilantes, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). His investigation leads him to caution many of his other former costumed colleagues, including Dr. Manhattan, Night Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), and her daughter, The Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman). Heralded for bringing the world of superheroes into the literary world, Watchmen gave the super-powered mythos a real-life grounding that had been missing in mainstream comics to that point. The film adaptation had languished in one form of development hell or another for years after the book's release, with various directors on and off the project, including Terry Gilliam, David Hayter, and Darren Aronofsky, as well as Paul Greengrass, whose eventual dismissal stemmed from budget conflicts with the studio. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, (more)
- 2002
While on a visit to Metropolis, Clark Kent (Tom Welling) surreptitiously uses his superpowers to save a homeless man from being killed by a speeding car. Unfortunately, Clark's good deed is witnessed by corrupt police detective Sam Phelan (Cameron Dye). Threatening to reveal Clark's special gifts to the whole world, Phelan tries to blackmail the boy into helping him cover up his misdeeds -- and when Clark refuses, the ruthless detective frames Clark's adoptive father, Jonathan (John Schneider), for a recent crime. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
The SG-1 team lands on the planet P3X797, a world evenly divided into a "dark" and "light" side. On the "light" reside the Untouched, an advanced civilization not unlike the Earth's ancient Minoans. On the "dark" live the Touched, a primitive, warlike tribe. An alien virus infects all the team members except Jackson (Michael Shanks) and Teal'c (Christopher Judge), transforming them into the brutal Touched. Jackson races against time to find both cause and the cure for this disturbing metamorphosis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The can't-miss teaming of Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn is squandered on a clumsy, illogical romantic melodrama. Running across her old boyfriend Gibson at a Wisconsin gas station, Hawn is astounded that he seems not to recognize her. How could she have known that Gibson was put into the Witness Relocation Program after testifying against a homicidal mob boss (say, don't they usually alter your appearance when they put you in that program?) Curious over Gibson's furtive behavior, Hawn unknowingly sets herself up as a target for the bad guys. The whole affairs culminates in an after-hours showdown at a zoo (a plot device vastly improved upon in the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle Eraser). While Bird on a Wire admittedly has its moments of enjoyment, most of the film is on a par with Gibson's embarrassing, homophobic scene with a pair of epicine hairdressers. And whoever heard of the Chinatown section of Racine, Wisconsin? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, (more)
