I really couldn’t get into this until Dr. Manhatten was introduced about a third of the way in, then it got interesting. Superheroes without super powers are not quite as kewl as a glowing blue dude who can seemingly control just about everything in the world at the molecular level. A god? Not quite, but close enough for this storyline, which is an interesting twist on how to attain world peace. I liked the alternate universe timeline idea, too. In the end, it was better than expected, and the trip to Mars was truly out of this world.

Okay, I am about to commit blasphemy to fanboys everywhere. (God, you’re save on this sin of admission!) Watchmen: The Movie was far better that Watchmen: The Comic miniseries.

Yes! I said it. I understood the story better, I got the changes to Earth’s timeline better, and the sound track and the opening sequence of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a Changin’” will be considered a masterpiece of Film and sound editing for years to coming in film schools!

Really great thrill ride!

I have not read the comic. But I enjoyed the film. Lots of action (oy, the action—I can’t believe what the MPAA lets slip under the “R” bar these days), mesmerizing visual effects, even decent acting (particular kudos to Messrs. Haley and Crudup).

I had no problem going along with the general plot being in an alternate 1985; it’s hard to call back the fear of nuclear armageddon that gripped the world at that time without staying in that time. But some bits of the movie do drag needlessly, other bits creak under the weight of cliché. And a note to Rosalina da Silva—Nixon had a big nose, but he wasn’t Pinocchio.

But it’s based on a comic, after all. The original comic that showed superheroes as human beings, with very human (superhuman?) flaws and all. I loved that. And the mystery of who the real supervillain was and what his evil plot meant kept my interest to the very end. (“I’m not a comic book villain. Do you seriously think I would explain my master stroke to you if there were even the slightest possibility you could affect the outcome?”)

Oh, and everything good you heard about Jackie Earle Haley? It’s all true, and then some.