Generally faithful adaptation brought down by a few flaws

Rating: 9/10 (27 June 2009)

Watchmen is, for the most part, a very good film. It examines many different ideologies and allows the viewer to question them self over what is 'right' or whether it is even possible to qualify what 'right' means.
The plot is about a group of vigilantes who, following an investigation into the death of an old partner, uncover a shocking and morally questionable conspiracy.
A number of different and fascinating characters are presented, each with a different view of the world. This brings up a slew of moral possibilities for the viewer to consider. The film is a welcome break from the 'junk food' cinema that seems to dominate the multiplexes.
That said, the film is plagued with a few problems that prevent it from being the masterpiece the comic was. The main flaw is the loss of ambiguity of the ending. In the comic, the reader has no idea what happens after the final panel. This is done so that we can decide for ourselves what we want to happen, leaving it to us to decide what we think is morally right given the situation. The film however, leans much more in favor of one character, almost forcing it on the viewer that this character's world-view is the correct one. This is presumptuous on the part of the scriptwriters and goes against the core concept of the original work, that being that it is up to all of us to decide what constitutes right and wrong.
Apart from that, there are some smaller flaws such as the pacing, the soundtrack and some of the acting (though most of the actors do a fantastic job). These can be overlooked fairly easily though, leaving the one main problem.
All in all, Watchmen is a better film than most others out there now. It is an intellectual work with great atmosphere and some superb acting. Well worth your time.