In all fairness, the graphic novel upon which this film is based, is one of my favourite books of all time, so this had quite a bit to live up to. I didn’t think Zack “300” Snyder would be able to direct it properly, but he sort of did it. Apart from what plagued “V For Vendetta” (my absolute favourite graphic novel, also penned by Alan Moore, who created and wrote “Watchmen”), i.e. the complete exclusion of the entire concept of anarchy in the script, I’m semi-glad of how the film turned out. Mostly based upon the acting of Jackie Earle Haley, who is really shaping up. The music is almost all 1960s, and I’ll never forgive the movie people for letting My Chemical Romance record a Bob Dylan cover for this, and suitable for a film on humanity set in the 1980s. What I like most about the film, is how it asks many philosophical questions, almost all about humanity at its core, and prods xenophobic concepts, civil disobedience and trusting whoever’s “above you” too much, whether it is government, “God” or your parents. Very nice cinematography, and I must add that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s acting was on-spot also; all in all, even the director’s cut (3 hours long) holds up, and I strongly urge you to read the book which is much more multi-faceted and treats the reader as more intelligent than the film does.

This movie caused a lot of kerfluff, from the rabid fans (oh no they changed X! Heresy!) to the shocked and appalled “first-timers” who didn’t read the comic before seeing the movie (WTF is going on, why is it so slow and depressing?) to the morality crowd objecting to a blue penis (ooooh no, a penis! my kids are now scarred forever!).

I’ve read Watchmen a long time ago, and loved it. I reread it before going to the movies. I waited for the DVD release, and watched it again.

I thought it was great. It was dark, gritty, and there was no real redemption, just compromise and a horrible lie; I thought the ending worked well for the movie; overall I greatly enjoyed it. To be fair the people I watched it with hadn’t read the comic and despite my prep work they got bored and didn’t finish it. So (and this is really no surprise) this movie isn’t for everyone.