Watchmen: Chapter II 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Watchmen: Chapter II 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

“Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.”

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 30, 2024

Based on the acclaimed comic series by artist Dave Gibbons and writer Alan Moore, Watchmen has been adapted in various formats several times during the last couple of decades; for starters, there's the 2008 "motion comic", Zack Snyder's well-known 2009 theatrical film, a video game, HBO's 2019 limited series. (Before all of those, a few films were pitched but abandoned, with names attached ranging from Darren Aronofsky to Terry Gilliam.) Fast-forward to 2024, and we've got yet another adaptation: a fully CG-animated two-part film scripted by J. Michael Straczynski, directed by Brandon Vietti, and supported by the close consultation of Dave Gibbons himself. Hurm.

For its time, Moore and Gibbons' original 12-part Watchmen limited series was a revelatory effort that influenced an entire generation of writers, artists, and fans in the same way that other landmark comics from that era did, including Moore's own V for Vendetta and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. Deliberate choices were made to help it stand out in the American-dominated market, such as regular use of nine-panel layouts, a unique color scheme courtesy of John Higgins, and even fake meta-advertisements created to give additional layers to Watchmen's unique but familiar characters and their world. What's more is that it was all built from the ground up, from costumes to characters, giving elements of Golden and Silver Age material a modern twist unburdened by decades of gnarled continuity. Watchmen is considered as part of the medium's Mount Rushmore, both for its ambitious vision and singular execution.

These are big shoes to fill, and some of its various adaptations have come very close to doing Watchmen justice but all have inevitably fallen a bit short in one way or another. (The notoriously grumpy Alan Moore removed his name from all of them, relinquishing primary credit to artist Dave Gibbons.) Staunch purists might favor the motion comic, and others may lean towards Snyder's cinematic take on the material which exists in three separate cuts. Whatever your feelings were on previous adaptations, though, Warner Animation's two-part animated movie arrived at a very peculiar point in time for the studio: their multi-year Tomorrowverse saga, hit-or-mostly-miss as it was, had just ended with a bloated, three-part Crisis on Infinite Earths film that, for the most part, fell flat. Needless to say, I popped in Watchmen: Part I with extreme caution, dreading the thought of sitting through another lukewarm take on classic material.

As my review clearly spells out, however, Part I was a surprisingly well-crafted film from almost every perspective: its high-quality visuals stood out from WB Animations usual output, obviously attempting to push boundaries in the same way that Moore and Gibbons' original comic did. The voice cast was well-rounded with no weak spots, the music and sound design were ace and, most importantly, the story generally remained unchanged from its original form and flow. (Small changes and shifts were made for cinematic reasons, of course, but nothing that might be seen as a red flag.) Ending on a cliffhanger and followed by an extended preview of this second part, it was a great effort overall and, to be honest, probably my favorite animated WB film in at least a year or two. The really good news is that Part II meets if not exceeds expectations, deftly following the original series' seismic second half withing skipping a beat.

There's at least one small asterisk, of course: the original series' structure has been more noticeably altered this time around and a few originally vague parts of the story are a bit more spelled out; not in a way that drastically (or even negatively) affects its narrative, but this may irk die-hard fans of the source material's last six issues. But all the basic beats are here: a deepening relationship between Nite Owl (Matthew Rhys) and Silk Spectre (Katee Sackhoff), their nighttime rescue and later jailbreak of Rorshach (Titus Welliver), the cosmic reunion with Mars resident Dr. Manhattan (Michael Cerveris), a search for the truth behind Pyramid Corporation, intercut snippets of Tales of the Black Freighter (narrated by Phil LaMarr), a near apocalyptic showdown and more, all given the visceral R-rated edge befitting of its source material. Honestly, why couldn't this have been three parts instead of Crisis on Infinite Earths?

As with Part I, Warner Bros. offers this native 4K production as separate UHD and Blu-ray packages, and each has proportionately solid A/V presentations as well as a few short but enjoyable extras. As of this review, no announcement has been made about the possibility of a future deluxe edition (or at least a space-saving two-pack).

Watchmen: Chapter II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the Blu-ray edition, available separately and reviewed here.

The native 4K source material of Watchmen, whose unique visual aesthetic is detailed above, makes this UHD the preferred way to watch it for obvious reasons, as this 2160p/HDR10 transfer seems to accurately support the creative team's choices. The ultra-smooth rotoscoped animation style and generally faithful color palette give this film a striking level of appeal, while the studio's mostly solid encoding on this dual-layered (66GB) disc doesn't seem to suffer from any prevailing compression artifacts. Linework is smooth and supple, black levels and contrast are right on par, and the film's often purposefully hazy appearance is maintained while other added affects, such as print damage and film grain (not to mention a light paper texture), add to the overall atmosphere in their own ways. Color values are appropriately bright and vivid when needed, punishingly muted other times, and flows nicely while making almost every scene feel like part of a whole. All told, it's a solid-looking disc that outperforms the Blu-ray in all the usual areas, even if every single difference isn't necessarily transformative, and should look quite good on medium to large displays.

Watchmen: Chapter II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I'd have loved Watchmen to push the WB animated envelope further with a full-blooded Dolby Atmos mix... but as-is, this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track still delivers the goods. Unlike its visuals, the sonic atmosphere of Watchmen isn't tied to any established roots, but this surround track generally plays it straight with a mostly front-loaded sound stage that widens when needed. It's lived up by more than a few well-placed discrete touches and other surround support for dialogue, sound effects, and of course the original score by Tim Kelly, whose music cues don't always call attention to themselves but nonetheless offer some much needed background support during several key moments. Overall, it's a fine effort that, within the confines of its format, doesn't show much room for improvement.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature... but not the extras, sadly.

Watchmen: Chapter II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with attractive cover art; a matching enhanced slipcover and Digital Copy redemption slip are also included. The included bonus features follow the lead of recent DCAU releases with a trio of short but enjoyable behind-the-scenes featurettes filmed simultaneously with those from Part I.

• Dave Gibbons and Watchmen: Endgame (7:16) - Watchmen's celebrated artist and co-creator talks about the very real challenge of he and Alan Moore filling a 12-issue limited series when they originally thought it was half that length. (Creative problem solving and a renewed focus on character backstory seemed to be the most logical answer, obviously.) Also featured are comic editor Barbara Kesel, DC head honcho Jim Lee, and director / producer Brandon Vietti, who all offer their thoughts on the series' second half and recurring themes, Tales of the Black Freighter, the overall story's unusually large scope, and of course its lasting legacy.

• The Art of Adaptation: Building to the Final Act (10:05) - Participants from the first featurette -- and a few new ones, such as producer Jim Krieg and storyboard artist Danica Dickison, and producer Cindy Rago -- return for another discussion about visual aesthetics the book- to-screen adaptation, which of course has the original series at its disposal for a storyboard guide. Much like the similar adaptation featurette from Part I, it features a decent amount of before-and-after comparisons spliced with these bite-sized interview clips.

• Designing Watchmen (22:01) - This slightly more in-depth piece again features almost all of the same participants and a few others, chief among them Dave Gibbons, and each of them talk candidly about the film's futuristic world-building, characters, and costume designs. Like the previous two featurettes, Watchmen's story and its visual adaptation are front and center including the rotoscope-style animation and 3D renderings, which are compared and contrasted with original comic panels, storyboards, and pencil sketches.

Watchmen: Chapter II 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

WB's two-part animated adaptation of Watchmen had extremely big shoes to fill and, in my opinion, fills them nicely even after the release of several other takes on its celebrated source material. The original story and characters are condensed but otherwise unchanged and its striking visual aesthetic pays tribute to the boundary-pushing work of Watchmen artist / co-creator (and consulting producer) Dave Gibbons. Much like the first chapter, this second half is supported well on either Blu-ray or the preferred 4K package, with both formats offering proportionately solid A/V presentations and a trio of mostly short but very enjoyable bonus featurettes. My only slight reservation here is that both parts will likely be re-released as a seamless deluxe edition or at least a space-saving two-pack... but again based on the strength of its main feature, I wouldn't blame anyone for buying it right now. Recommended.