Who watches the Watchmen?

MANILA, Philippines - United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp. brings the world of Watchmen on the big screen adaptation of the celebrated graphic novel, brought to life for the first time by director Zack Snyder.

In New York, 1985, a world darkened by fear and paranoia, human beings who once donned masks to fight crime now hide from their identities. The ultimate weapon — an all-powerful superbeing — has tilted the global balance of power, pushing the world implacably closer to nuclear midnight. Desperate men conjure desperate measures in the stark face of Armageddon.

Spray-painted across a wall in the shadows of a dark, gritty New York alley is a question that pervades Watchmen: “Who watches the Watchmen?” Snyder offers, “Who has the right to say what’s right and what’s wrong? And who monitors those who decide what is right and what is wrong?”

Watchmen first appeared as a 12-issue limited comic book series. It was originally published by DC Comics from 1986 to 1987, then republished as the now-legendary graphic novel.

When it was released, Watchmen resonated with a generation raised with the prospect of nuclear war, not as an abstraction but a palpable reality. It has been praised for giving voice to the anxiety and unease of the times, the fear and awe of power and its abuses, and the cloud of paranoia and impotence experienced every day by average people.

The story introduces a handful of characters that have been called “more human than super”— real people who deal with ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings and who, aside from Dr. Manhattan, are without superpowers. 

Watchmen is now showing in theaters.