A Movie Adaptation Worthy of the Comic

Rating: 9/10 (6 August 2009)

In an alternate world set in 1985, Nixon is still president and the two superpowers are on the brink of nuclear war. The only deterrent, Dr. Manhattan, has turned his back on humanity and fled the planet... pushing the doomsday clock even closer to midnight. Can Manhattan be persuaded to return to Earth, or is this the end of the human race? Watchmen is a brilliant comic and a brilliant movie. It explores politics, ethics, deviant sexuality and still contains a great superhero vibe for those who just like butt-kicking. The graphic novel was a landmark achievement, and after years of handing the script from one person to another, Zack Snyder has emerged as the man capable of putting it together, and impressing us all. Few adaptations do justice to the original, but "Watchmen" does an amazing job. As an added bonus, largely unknown actors were cast... not creating a distraction of one character over another when all (or at least most) have their own unique, important tales to tell.
The political aspects are numerous -- nuclear war, Soviet versus American aggression, the term limits of presidents, vigilantism and the Keene Act (paralleling the X-Men's "Days of Future" storyline). But it is the moral aspect that really tugs at me. "Let justice be done, though the whole world perish" is a quote from Immanuel Kant, but it could apply to Rorshach. He is debatably the hero of the story with a strongly defined morality (Kant's consequentionalism) blended with seeming insanity, though he is the only one trying to make the world better one person at a time.
A very extreme utilitarianism emerges in one of the characters towards the end -- can we sacrifice the few to save the many? Rorshach would clearly oppose this, but if the outcome is positive, can the action be justified? This poses a difficult problem for the viewer and the characters, because the action is so heinous yet the outcome so bountiful... is it wrong or necessarily right? (I'd be more specific and address this more, but I don't wish to give away the plot.) While "Spiderman" and "X-Men" get all the attention, it is films like "Watchmen" that leave a lasting impression in my mind ("The Spirit", too). Even "The Dark Knight" or "Batman Begins", which are incredible, don't have the power to keep the conversation going hours, days and weeks after viewing them. If you were considering seeing "Watchmen" but haven't yet, make it a top priority -- this is a film to end all films.