If you don't know the story, it's great; if you do, it's an okay homage

Rating: 6/10 (16 March 2009)

I don't think there are spoilers, but just in case, be cautious.
I read Watchmen 3 years ago. Great novel! I heard about the movie, got excited but also nervous. Not sure how I felt about "300" guy handling a not-so-violent graphic novel. My girlfriend was excited to see it. I showed her Watchmen: The Motion Comic a week before we both saw Watchmen in IMAX.
It's all true about weird music cues, hyper-violence, and borderline pornographic love scene. Please tell me that I'm not the only one starting to get nauseous at action/horror movies. Mr. Snyder, I loved what you did with 300, violence suits the story and borderline porno fits the feel of Frank Miller. But this is not Frank Miller. The violent scenes you added are unnecessary. The new ending was a strange choice but kinda worked, but you can tell early who the "bad guy" is. The first half was paced well but a lot of the second half was rushed. My favorite plot twist went from about thirty minutes to read to 2.5 minutes on screen.
Of course the book is better, I knew that going in. But my girlfriend and I feel this is a good homage, not an adaptation to the book.
She had a few choice words about it that I won't repeat. She didn't like it as much as me, I was a bit more forgiving.
Overall: Good: Rorschach, he looked and sounded the part, best aspect of the movie. Comedian was done very well, but deserved more screen time. The overall feel of the novel glimmers through, which I'm glad about. The ending, while altered, still seems to make the big point, and Nite Owl's reaction to the end was better than in the book (that always bugged me about Dan) Bad: Some music cues, but not all. Dr. Manhattan's high voice (didn't seem to be right). Weak acting by Carla Gugino, who usually is a good actor in my book. Hyper-violence and overly explicit sex scene (I "liked" it, but it took away from the seriousness of the story) Speeding up the ending.
Bottom line: Forgettable.
I give it a 7, girlfriend gives it a 6.