Watchmen (2009) - 13 questions

Question: For Silk Spectre 2's boots during the prison fight scene, being an alternate universe with very different technology, could she be able to remove her heels from her boots to do the fight scene, then reattach them afterwards?

Answer: Technically possible, however, with absolutely nothing in the film to support such a supposition, something that speculative could not realistically be considered a credible correction for the current mistake covering the topic.

Question: Who really killed the Comedian? I've always assumed it to be Veidt but after watching it again the other night, I saw that the assailant's mask is raised to show his face and it wasn't Adrian. The attacker seemed to have a salt and pepper mustache, but that might have been a trick of the lighting of the scene. (The Comedian's killer is shown in a series of flashbacks when Adrian explains everything to the other Watchmen while they are in Karnak.)

Answer: It was Adrian Veidt. Most likely, he was disguised in case anyone should see him entering or leaving Blake's apartment, or, in case he should not be able to defeat the Comedian.

Question: One thing that's been slightly puzzling me since I read the book (and watched the film): Does Rorschach know that he's entering The Comedian's apartment when he breaks in? or does he just go around randomly entering crime scenes?

Answer: He does, in fact, go around snooping around crime scenes. In the comic, he says "Investigated routine homicide. Found costume in Blake's wardrobe. Seems he was the Comedian."

Question: Why does the Comedian say, "I'm sorry, Mother," in the movie? He says this as he is dying and also when he visits Moloch. Could "Mother" be a reference to the two mothers of his children - the Asian one that he killed as well as Laurie's mom whom he raped? If this is not the case, then I just don't get it.

Answer: I always took it to mean that he was apologizing to his own (presumably dead) mother for being the kind of man he is; one he feels she'd have been disappointed in.

Question: In the scene where Silk Spectre shoots Ozymandias and he catches the bullet, can someone please explain where the gun just suddenly came from? Earlier in the film when she is escaping her government handlers she is shown briefly holding an automatic pistol but the one she shoots Ozymandias with is a revolver, and besides, there isn't exactly much space in her costume for concealing anything.

Answer: This is from IMDb and they list it as Incorrectly regarded as a goof because: "It is hard to catch, but she takes this from a guard at Sing Sing during the breakout of Rorschach. Later it can be seen tucked away in her belt."

Question: Does Rorschach's unusual mask get any explanation in the novel?

Answer: Do you mean how is it made? The explanation given is that he was working as a manual laborer in the garment industry when in 1962 "Special order for a dress in new Dr. Manhattan spin-off fabric. Viscous fluids between two layers of latex, heat and pressure sensitive." The girl who ordered it thought the dress was ugly and never picked it up. Rorschach used the material to make his mask.

Question: Some of the costumed heroes in the film (Comedian, Ozymandias, both Silk Spectres) appear with very minimal masks or even no masks at all while in costume. How are they supposed to be able to keep their identities secret?

Answer: The short answer is that they weren't really trying to. Ozymandias later revealed, and monopolised on, his costumed identity, Comedian was officially endorsed by the U.S.A. Government at the time so his real identity would have been public record, the first Silk Spectre publicly revealed her identity after retiring, though there is no evidence that the current Silk Spectre has. There is no evidence (even in the graphic novel) that anyone tried to hide their identity to the extent that other comic-book heroes like Batman/Superman do. The only exception being Rorschach where even his follow costumes don't know his real identity until they bust him out of prison.

Question: I don't quite understand why Dr. Manhattan had to kill Rorschach. That is, I don't quite get why that was the only solution. Rorschach was a valuable member of the Watchmen, and in the type of world they were in (chaos, corruption, murder, etc) one would think that they would want to keep as many of themselves banded together as possible. Couldn't some sort of negotiation or compromise have been reached/agreed to by Rorschach instead of him being killed?

Answer: He has spent years as a costumed vigilante despite the fact that it was illegal. He has a very strict idea of what is right ("never compromise") and has proven himself incapable of doing otherwise. So no, there was no real chance of negotiating with him - Rorschach himself made it clear he'd have to die if they wanted his silence.

Question: Is there any explanation regarding Adrian Veidts' fighting skill? All Watchmen are obviously very well trained in unarmed combat, but Adrian easily takes out both Night Owl and Rorschach attacking together, and he manage to grab a bullet fired from close range. I'm curious if it's explained in novel or somewhere in the movie that I might have missed.

Answer: Veidt has, through unspecified training, become able to use considerably more of his available mental capacity at any given moment than the average human. This allows him heightened intelligence, speed, reflexes and coordination, allowing him to easily out-think his opponents and accomplish physical feats at the absolute peak of human possibility. More than enough to give him an edge over the well-trained Nite Owl and Rorschach.

Question: Perhaps I'm missing something here but given what we see in the opening montage it's public knowledge from the get go that Sally Jupiter is the Silk Specter (given she's seen holding a certificate from the police with both names on it and the bomber plane we see has her actual surname painted under her portrait on its fuselage rather than her crime fighter moniker). While I'm aware this is a carry over from the graphic novel, the logic of this still makes no sense. She's supposed to be a masked superhero like the other Minutemen, reliant on her mystery and sexual appeal to subdue villains, why put herself at the unnecessary risk of being even more vulnerable to retribution by letting everyone know both of her identities?

Answer: The concept of "dual identities" is a convenient story device for comic books. However given the ways in which the "masked vigilante" phenomenon evolved in the Watchmen universe, it is often little more than a policeman on steroids with a mask. Given that mentality, it makes sense. Policemen do not work in anonymity. And while they may worry about repercussions on their families from time to time, in general most of their personal lives stay safely away from their professional lives, aside from the time they have to devote to being a keeper of the peace.

Question: Ref. the switching of stilettos to flat soles during action sequences (as in Watchmen/Silk Spectre), is there really any way round this in practical terms? Even if the heels were to be put on as CGI, the actors' stance would have to be altered as well. Anybody got a way round this problem at the moment?

Answer: A good editor will catch shots that too clearly expose the flat heels. In this film, that simply didn't happen because they are woefully obvious throughout the jail fight scene. Another choice is to have the stunt woman wear high heels. This will limit her options during the action, but in this example, there was little shown in the fight that was very risky. Spectre threw a kick here and there, in slow-motion- no fast-moving sequence of multiple martial arts moves. The last option would be to CGI the fight- which is expensive and puts the stunt woman out of work.

Question: I've just finished reading the Graphic Novel and I was just wondering, since Synder did such a faithful adaption why did he include super-powers to the heroes in the film, since the heroes in the comic don't have any.

Answer: What makes you think he did? None of them display any more powers or special abilities than what is shown in the graphic novel. Some of these might be exaggerated (Rorschach walking in the Arctic wearing only his trenchcoat, for instance), but as this is shown in the novel as well, you can not say that Snyder changed this in his adaptation.

Question: How does the public know they are called "Watchmen"? Was information slipped from the 1966 meeting when Ozymandias calls the group "Watchmen"? I wonder this because I don't know why the public would spray paint, "Who Watches the Watchmen?"

Answer: The group of heroes in the movie are not specifically called "The Watchmen". The phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen" comes from "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, and refers to any group of people who polices the public (especially vigilantes). Basically, it means "they are watching us, but who is watching them?"