This is a spoiler free review for the first episode and initial impressions of HBO’s Watchmen series.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

This may come as a surprise, but HBO’s latest television series is based off an award-winning comic book by Alan Moore, titled The Watchmen. A film was adapted in 2009 by Zack Snyder, meeting mixed reviews, but otherwise well received. The story focuses on a retired group of superheroes that are reconnecting to solve a possibly catastrophic conspiracy. The film is set in an alternate version of 1985. That’s important to note going into this new series.

Masks

HBO’s current take on the Watchmen is set in our present time. We get to see the affect that the events from The Watchmen has had on the world. The changes feel minor, but some things feel like a dystopian future. This impact from the original story has led society to hide themselves behind masks. The reasons are explained in the show, but there’s some deep meaning behind this. Especially with the show’s theme being centered around the subject of race. If you’re a fan of the source material, you’ll notice that this is a bit out of place. Hopefully they will explain how we got to this place as the show goes along.

Thoughts

As a fan of The Watchmen, I was very excited to hear about this show. And I’m proud to say, it definitely does not disappoint. It’s very well written (so far), and the cinematography is better than I was expecting. You don’t have to be a fan of the comic book or 2009 film to get into this series. It starts from zero, with little nods and tie-ins to the comic book that only a fan would notice. These won’t confuse the average viewer, though.

Check out HBO’s new series, Watchmen, only on HBO.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sean Smith

Student Author - Fall 2019

Sean Smith is a student at Gulf Coast State College. He’s obsessed with film to the point of blurring the realities between it and real life. When he’s not rewatching The Office to see if Pam is the TRUE villain of the series, he’s working full-time and doing homework (like this). FADE OUT TO BLACK