Good Cast doesn't help slow moving film that's way too long

Rating: 3/10 (3 March 2009)

Disappointing! That would be the word I would use for this film. I went to an advanced screening of the film in Orlando on March 2nd and people starting leaving the theater about 30-minutes into the film. Shortly afterward, others followed, and about 15% of the once capacity crowd left the theater by the first hour. The pacing of the movie was a bit odd for an action film. I would actual call this a drama with scenes of action (although the trailers would lead you to believe this is a full on action packed movie). At nearly 2 hours and 45 minutes, this film was too long. Several times in the film, when a scene ended that appeared to be the end of the movie, people started gathering their belongings to exit the theater, and then the next scene would begin. This story could easily been told in less than 2 hours, which would have made the movie more exciting.
This is an R rated movie which made for some great action sequences, with lots of blood and guts. There are also several sex scenes and frontal nudity of Dr. Manhattan every 15-minutes which not only seemed unnecessary but makes the the film even more inappropriate for younger viewers.
The only stand out performance in my opinion was Jackie Haley's performance as Rorschach. When the movie finally ended, the theater emptied in silence, unlike some other recent films I've seen like "Taken" or "Gran Turino" where the preview audience applauded at the end of the movie. I agree with other comments that if you read the book, you will enjoy the movie more. This is definitely one of those love it or hate movies, and I'm happy I didn't pay to see this. Loved "300" though.