Watchmen Animated: Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood

Aroview: Short animated companion piece to dir. Snyder's blockbuster WATCHMEN tells the story of a castaway's desperate struggle to return home and warn his family of the impending arrival of the Black Freighter, a phantom ship housing the souls of the damned.

Intensely violent and narrated by Synder fave Butler in grandiose, poetic tones, this is a chilling wee Poe-inspired tale that apparently 'mirrors' many of the themes of the feature film; view it as a separate entity, it is still enjoyable, if not rather slight.

Of more worth is the secondary feature, 'Under the Hood', a faux-80's TV interview with Hollis Mason (McHattie), the original 'Nite Owl'. Pitch-perfect 80's production values (including commercials) and some surprisingly stellar acting from all involved make this the true - and hugely geeky - companion to the film.