Director Zach Schneider
Movie Synopsis:
"Watchmen" (Watchmen) is a superhero movie based on DC Comics. Directed by Zach Schneider, the film is set in 1985, when the superheroes gradually disappeared due to government restrictions and suppression. Until one of them was suddenly murdered, the superheroes who were already in retired state gathered again and launched an investigation into the murder. However, the investigation revealed that all this was just the beginning. There was still something behind the murder. There is a bigger conspiracy hidden.
Movie experience:
The word-of-mouth of the guided cut version of "Justice League" made Zach Schneider exasperated. This kind of dark superhero movie was also accepted by more audiences.
But I want to say that compared to the guide cut version of "Justice League", the comic book "Watchmen" that Zhadao made a few years ago is a better masterpiece, and of course it's darker.
"Watchmen" is the most successful comic film in the hearts of fans.
It is different from the popcorn routine of traditional superheroes to save the world, but it fully exposes the aging, weakness, helplessness, and evil thoughts of superheroes .
The heroes who take off their suits are ordinary people. Everyone has their weaknesses and they will get old.
Before talking about the movie in detail, please think about a question first.
This picture should be familiar to everyone, yes, it is the tram problem!
Scenario 1:
A tram driver was driving, and suddenly he noticed that 5 workers were in front of his driving track, and the tram's brakes failed! These five people seemed bound to die. At this time, the driver noticed that there was another railroad track ahead. There was only one worker on this railroad track. He could turn his direction and drive to the next railroad track. That is, you can save 5 people by hitting one person to death,
Do you think the driver should change direction?
This is a very famous tram problem. Should we sacrifice a few to save the majority?
OK, don’t answer yet, please think about one more question:
Scenario 2:
The tram also failed. There were 5 workers in front of the rails who were about to be killed. You stood on the bridge and saw all this. Suppose there is a fat passerby standing next to you. If you push him down, he will fall on the rails and just stop the tram and save the 5 people. (Because you are too light, it won't help to jump down by yourself)
In this case, would you choose to push down the passer-by to save the 5 workers on the rails?
In order to save the lives of the majority, should the minority be sacrificed? Is the life of the majority more noble than the life of the minority?
This is a question about "fairness" and everyone has a different answer. Here is a book by Michael Sandel: "Justice"
Okay, please remember your "trolley answer", let's talk about the movie now.
"Watchmen" is a two-line narrative movie.
The main line of the story is that after World War II, the former Superhero League "Watchmen" chose to retreat due to the government's Keen Act, some worked for the government, some entered business, and some people still maintained justice in the dark.
This is the first generation of watchmen. Most of the people have a bleak ending and different deaths. Superheroes are also a piece of tofu when they get old.
This is the second generation of watchmen, the protagonist of the film. Most of the superheroes in "Watchmen" do not have superpowers, and can be regarded as ordinary people who can fight. Except for the blue Manhattan Doctor C, he is the only BUG-level hero.
There is another hero that is more interesting, the second "Year Owl II" on the right, he can be regarded as the Batman in the parallel universe, but he is more useless than the master.
One day, a member of the Watcher (the first on the left) was killed, and a huge conspiracy gradually surfaced, the main storyline.
The sideline of the story is the anime "Black Cargo Ship".
It tells the story of an evil black cargo ship attacking the ship on a sea, and only the captain survived. The captain struggled many times and wanted to return to his hometown to protect his family , but the darkness had gradually eroded his soul. Eventually, he lost his mind and killed his wife after he landed ashore, then turned and boarded the evil black cargo ship.
These two lines are complementary, and everyone may have a different understanding of who the captain of the black cargo ship is. I think he is the "Pharaoh", the man behind the scenes, the man who made the tram problem in the movie .
This sentence can be seen as an interpretation of his philosophy. The background of the story is that after the Vietnam War, during the Cold War, the two powers were at war, and the nuclear war of the Third World War was about to start. In this case, politicians are using their own calculations to test frantically on the edge of the war. Superheroes either go back to the world or are obsessed with technology, numbly ignoring the nuclear war that may destroy the world.
In this case, the pharaoh acted as the "villain" , pressing the tram button, rushing to a few people, and saving the world.
Pharaoh, as the man behind the scenes, did not write much in the early days.
Other heroes:
The focus of the previous story is on the heroes of Laughing Carpenter, Rorschach, Ye Xiao II, Sigui II, and Dr. Manhattan.
Laughter is a hero who is both righteous and evil.
He was a war hero and worked for the government, but he tried to rape the Silk Ghost generation, shot and killed pregnant women with his own children, shot like civilians, and even murdered the president. When the Pharaoh advocated the formation of an alliance to protect the world, he was the first to stand up and pour cold water. When the second generation of Ye Xiao questioned the world, he pointed at the protesting civilians and smiled and said, look, this is the American dream, it has been realized! He is a person who sees through the world, sees through the shady under the system, and understands the limitations of his abilities. So the old man was brutally beaten to death in his apartment. He was unable to fight back, and blood dripped on his smiling face badge, which became a scene of irony.
Rorschach is a hero who adheres to and dedicated his life to justice.
After the Keane Act was promulgated, Rorschach was the only hero who did not cooperate with the government and continued to defend justice in the dark, and he was also the first to discover that the laughter was killed. He regarded the death of the laughter as a signal against the watchman, and warned the rest of the people, and at the same time hoped that someone would stand up with him and find out the real murderer behind the scenes.
It's a pity that his former partner, the second generation of Ye Xiao, has become a useless person. He just drank a little wine and reminisced about the glorious years with the old man of the Ye Xiao generation. The second generation of Ye Xiao didn't care about the death of Laughing Craftsman, and he was deaf to Rorschach's warning.
Rorschach turned to Dr. Manhattan and his girlfriend Sigui II for help.
Dr. Manhattan is the best superhero in the film, a godlike existence.
He used to be a scientist. He obtained the super power to restructure his body because he accidentally entered a nuclear test. With infinite energy, arbitrary size, flying at the speed of light, foreseeing the future, he can be called a walking nuclear weapon.
Dr. Manhattan wanted to study energy issues with the Pharaoh and alleviate the crisis of nuclear war. Workaholic, while working, he used a clone to make love with his girlfriend Sigui II, so he hurt his girlfriend's heart. Regarding Rorschach's warning, Dr. Manhattan and Sigui II also didn't care.
Rorschach realized that his former comrades were unreliable, but he was jealous and chose to track down the black hand alone, but unexpectedly fell into the enemy's trap and was imprisoned.
Dr. Manhattan was also in trouble. He was stimulated by a conspiracy and went to Mars. However, the second generation of Ye Xiao and the second generation of Sigui have sparked love (the poor Dr. Manhattan has changed from a little blue man to a little green man).
An interesting scene is that when the second generation of Ye Xiao and the second generation of Sigui are indescribable, we can see the little fat on the belly of the second generation of Ye Xiao. Well, in this movie, the superhero is not eight pack abs. It has a soft and weak side, which is very real.
What's more true is that the Ye Xiao generation was later beaten to death by a group of punks in their apartment. The picture was too tragic. Huluo Pingyang is bullied by dogs, no matter how young you are, there are old times, even if you were a superhero.
This is almost the main content of the main story before the appearance of Pharaoh behind the scenes.
The black cargo ship in the auxiliary line corresponds to the threat of nuclear war in the main line. The above said: After World War II, the two powers were opposed to each other in the Cold War. The Soviet Union and the United States stocked a lot of nuclear weapons, and the war was about to break out. If a nuclear war breaks out, the world will also be destroyed. At this moment, Dr. Manhattan was still playing clocks on Mars, and he asked Sigui II to persuade himself to save mankind, just like a child. The laughter was right, "You don't care about humans at all."
Pharaoh’s approach was different. He harvested the energy of Dr. Manhattan, destroyed several international metropolises such as New York, Beijing, Moscow, and transferred the contradiction between the United States and the Soviet Union to the common enemy of Dr. Manhattan.
A trick to use a knife to kill is really wonderful...
Pharaoh used the sacrifices of tens of millions of people in exchange for the peace of the entire world.
Why do I say that Pharaoh is the captain of the black cargo ship? Because he is a person who has the courage to do the trolley problem, he not only chose to save 5 people (the first question), but also saved 5 people by himself (the second question). But the price is that he boarded the black cargo ship and became a part of the darkness.
Look back at these heroes:
Rorschach is my favorite hero. He is jealous and firm in heart. In order to stick to the justice in his heart, he gave up his life at all costs.
The Pharaoh is a great hero. You can say that he is immoral, but he dares to sacrifice a few and save the world requires extraordinary courage. (One more thing, I don't think he is completely correct, because the people who are "sacrificed" are innocent, and for them, the whole world has been lost.)
Dr. Manhattan is the most boring hero. Although he possesses the invincible abilities of the universe, he does not care about the world or human beings. What use do you want this iron rod...
The laughter, the night owls, and the silk ghosts are actually just ordinary people with strong fighting ability but weak hearts.
I love Rorschach the most and respect the Pharaoh. There is no superhero in the world. You can't choose why you live, but you can choose why you die.
(This is the scene of Rorschach's death. It feels very similar to the sails brought by the crew in "Black Cargo Ship". Rorschach’s martyrdom is indeed very similar to that crew member)
"Watchmen" perfectly embodies Zha Dao's directorial style: epic style, dark style, deep digging humanity and slow-paced narrative.
The 3.5-hour duration makes movie fans love to death, hate to death, but I still enjoy it, as long as it is not filmed as "Legion of the Living Dead", I can accept it for 8 hours.
Hope you will like it too. Believe me, this is a completely different superhero movie.
At last:
Regarding the above two tram problems, how would you choose?
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