I don’t know what I was expecting from Watchmen. I felt going into it that it wasn’t going to work for me. Sure, it would be fairly easy to adapt the plot, but I think the strength of the book is not the plot, but the way it is told. Watchmen works as a comic because it is a comic, and that’s why it doesn’t work to me as a movie. Judging it on its own merits – purely filmic – it’s certainly visually impressive, but it feels empty. I don’t want to go over it again: I may watch it again in the second-run theaters to try and get a different (cinematic) perspective on it, but as an adaptation of Watchmen, it doesn’t work for me.

nice enough, but pretty superfluous. i don’t really see the point of this existing in the long run. is anyone going to watch this again over re-reading the book?

(if you are, hate. hate and death to you.)

I rather was the target audience (apart from being a teenage boy, I guess!) so there were good chances I was going to enjoy this – and I did, hugely.

Having read the novel very recently, I did, however, find myself thinking I’d almost seen the movie before – it sticks that closely to the source. With one big difference, I suppose! ;)

Word of warning: this is very deserving of its 18 rating. The violence is quite graphic, on top of what was already a fairly bleak and adult tone. And ‘adult’ includes what might well be the first mainstream full-frontal male nudity, at least in this sort of quantity – urm, by which I mean that the character in question is naked for most of the movie. He’s also blue, which is why they get away with it, I guess!

Overall, this is a brilliant story – ‘superheroes’ in the real world, with psychoses galore – and the transfer to screen has been done well. That it’s set in an alternate 1985 adds a period-feel along with some fab music.

I think this movie is getting a bad rep out there. I’ve been a fan of the comic for the last 15 years or so, and tried desperately to view this movie with an open mind. Many nitpick it and compare it to the graphic novel which is unfair to say the least. It took a lot of balls to attempt this and the results were far better than I was expecting. Though far from perfect, this ambitious film has set a milestone for all action movies to follow. The love for the source material shines through. The attention to set detail and design is amazing, and though I had a few issues with the casting they got two things dead on. Rorschach by Jackie Earle Haley was dead on. They casted probably one of the hardest characters in all of comics, and cheers to that. Also Jeffrey Dean Morgan was well done as the Comedian, hard to cast to say the least.

I wasn’t excited about “Watchmen”. I thought it would be a farce. I was wrong.

“Watchmen” is grandiose, no doubt. It’s quite a beautiful film (so to speak). Blood pours out of every cavity in the human body. There are naked women throughout the film. There is the nude blue man (i.e. Dr. Manhattan). Oh, and the movie is about as bleak and septic as “The Dark Knight” (which is perhaps the greatest film I’ve ever seen). If you are sickened easily, perhaps “Watchmen” isn’t for you.

Yet “Watchmen” is thought-provoking. Due to the film’s marketing, I thought that the Watchmen were shallow nihilists. The funny thing is that while I was watching the film, I empathized with the Watchmen. There are two scenes that stand out. One is the televised interview with Dr. Manhattan. The other is when Rorschach retells a story during his early crime-fighting days. I’m reminded of Camus’ “The Plague”.

I love the characters, especially Rorschach. Rorschach is the uncompromising moral-agent. He is also the most fascinating Watchman. His mask and his voice are so…awesome. Now, Dr. M, Silk Spectre II, Night Owl, and the Comedian are also fascinating characters as well. I was very pleased to hear that Patrick Wilson (Night Owl) was in “Watchmen”. He portrays his rather humble and reserved character quite well.

I love “Watchmen”. The plot is a bit befuddled at times, and it is not a movie for children. Repeat: it is not a movie for children! Oh, and it is not a movie for people who are naive either. I’m not. I’ve seen some of the ugliness the Watchmen themselves have seen. You have to. And you yourself may ask the fundamental question: why save us?