Watchmen (2019)

After the crap-fest that was Zack Snyder's version of Watchmen, the epic comic book series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, it is something of a surprise that anyone would attempt to touch it again. But Damon Lindelof, instead of doing a reboot of the original comics, chose something different, and in the HBO series of last year created something of a masterpiece.

This Watchmen is a sequel to the original, taking place about 25 years later. While the original Watchmen, which was an examination of vigilantism as seen though the prism of superhero comics (the title comes from the saying, "Who will watch the watchmen?") centered on the fear of nuclear war, this one touches on the key issue in America today: race.

To summarize the plot of Watchmen is folly. I wouldn't want to spoil it anyway, as I knew nothing about it going in and that's the best way to experience it. It does help to have read the original book. In 1985, in order to put the Americans and Russians on common ground and avoid Armageddon, a superhero calling himself Ozymandias creates a monster that crashes into New York, killing three million people. Everyone assumes it's an alien attack, and the nations unite.

This Watchmen is set in Tulsa in 2019, but the first images are from almost 100 years earlier, when a young black boy watches a silent movie that features a black hero. His movie is interrupted by the Tulsa Massacre, in which white people killed scores of black people, who had thriving businesses there. The choice of Tulsa is key, as this event has been getting more and more attention lately (at the time, it was hushed up by the press). That boy will end up becoming the first masked superhero, Hooded Justice.

Cut to 2019, an alternate future where there is no Internet or cell phones, and occasionally baby squids fall from the sky. Police have to wear masks to protect themselves from vigilantes. A Klan-like organization, the Seventh Kavalry, is up to something, and some dedicated police, including Regina King and Tim Blake Nelson, are trying to stop them. Meanwhile, two different factions are looking to capture Dr. Manhattan, the most powerful being in the universe, and steal his power.

If that isn't enough, Ozymandias is in exile, in what appears to be an English manor house. He is surrounded by servants who appear to be clones, who make him a birthday cake every day. Just where he is and why I won't give away here, as it is one of the best parts of the show.

At times this is all hard to follow, but rewarding. The ninth and last episodes is one of the best hours of television I've seen in a while. I couldn't believe that everything would be wrapped up, but it was, amazingly satisfactorily. What's also to be admired is that Lindelof has indicated that there will not be a second season, at least not for now, avoiding the inevitable decline that many of these series undergoes.

The acting is superb. King makes a fine lead, while Lou Gossett Jr. is the elder Hooded Justice. Jean Smart, of all people, is a tough as nails FBI agent (and former costumed vigilante, who was in the original book), while Jeremy Irons is deliciously hammy as Ozymandias. I could watch Irons do anything, and he really makes this part his own.

At times I found the series so engaging that is was disturbing. I'm always squeamish with shows or movies about white supremacists, as they are so loathsome, but of course we know what they will get in the end.