Watchmen Explores Humanity

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2009)

It is the year 1985. The Doomsday Clock is set at five minutes to midnight. America is at the brink of war with the Soviet Union, and the only thing standing between them is Dr. Manhattan who has the ability to control the physics around him. At the same time, a superhero-turned-vigilante, Rorschach discovered that one of his former colleagues was murdered. He investigate the case while trying to reach his other colleagues, Nite Owl II, Silk Spectre II, Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan, fearing that they might be next. As he gets deeper to the truth, he discovers an even more disturbing conspiracy -- linking with their past and will bring devastating consequences for the future of not only them but the entire country  that has something to do with one of them.
I went into the theatre without knowing anything about the graphic novel. And guess what? I actually enjoyed it. It was really entertaining and the entire two plus hours seems to just fly by.
What really impressed me was the coherency of the movie. It starts off with The Comedian murdered, a tense Rorschach, and some other distressed member of the Watchmen. However, as the story progresses, we are given the entire back-story of each characters as the flashbacks and the present story lines intersect with each other. A masterful storytelling.
The special effect is spectacular. It's like we're transported into another reality; a whole new world right on screen.
But this is no 'The Dark Knight' though. It is dark but it has a lot of flaws. For instance, some might say that it follows the graphic novel too directly that it seems campy at some point. Even the sound effect for the punches is so unrealistic ("Swoosh...Dup...Dush!").
What redeems this movie is the plot itself. It explores humanity. It raises questions such as: What would happen if a man is given unlimited knowledge but the most important parts of him is taken away such as his emotions and his humanity? How a woman actually forgives his attacker in an attempted rape and actually had an affair with him? How the people back then hated gays that they murdered a superhero for being homosexual? What would happen if a powerful man is given the choice between killing millions or let billions of people get killed? And so on. This is the kind of questions that makes watching Watchmen very interesting.
Overall, Watchmen is a very well-made movie. I recommend it for any comic book fans, action movie fans, or just any casual movie-goers. This is a must WATCH!