High Aspirations, Mediocre Execution

Rating: 5/10 (21 August 2018)

I waited a long time to watch this movie (obviously) I was impressed with what they attempted, but not so much with what was achieved. Obviously was supposed to have big themes and deep meaning, but kind of a schizophrenic mix of film noir, nostalgia, gritty crime drama, golden age comic book flash gordon stuff.
Although it may not seem all that significant the atmosphere seemed all WWII era film noir, yet the jarringly incongruous soundtrack had music from the 60s and seventies. Dr. Manhattan seems like gee whiz fifties atomic age comic book, but then they try to throw him into deep philosophical discussions. None of the superheroes really have any superpowers except Rorsarch has a freaky mask (never explained to my knowledge) and Dr. Manhattan (who is given some backstory).
The old group, the Watchmen, never seemed to really care about each other much, past or present, and none of the characters are really likeable or relateable. Perhaps because the only one we really had any clue about regarding character and motivation was Rorsarch (well played by the way).
The violence often seemed gratuitious and unnecessary to the story. The story, I got the general gist, but would have to watch it again (not likely) to get all the twists and nuances and flashbacks they threw in there.
I slogged through it, but didn't really work for me, too long, needed either a lighter touch or more depth of character.