A new family member of "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Blade Runner" and "The Matrix"

Rating: 6/10 (16 March 2009)

This is an attempt at writing a review for "Watchmen". I can only try to give a comprehensive summary of my thoughts, as it's incredibly difficult to get a grip on this unusual movie.
There I said it: The movie is unusual. Very. That in itself is a good thing. After "300" director Zach Snyder delivers yet another visually stunning motion picture. This man seems to be destined to make eye-candy comic book adaptations for the big screen. What surprises me is the fact that "Watchmen" did so well at the box office. I would have thought that this lengthy, highly philosophical piece isn't made for mainstream audiences. Well, I was wrong.
So Snyder succeeded commercially but is "Watchmen" also an artistic triumph? I haven't made up my mind, yet. Having not read the original graphic novel, I can only judge the movie by itself. As I've said, the visuals are definitely something to remember (except for a few mediocre CGI shots of Dr. Manhattan and the glass building that comes out of the ground on Mars) and the movie is unlike anything I've ever seen.
Just being different doesn't make for a masterpiece, though. And as much as the movie intrigued me, it was also hard to sit through at times. The pacing is just so damn slow and it's hard to figure out what's going on for the most part. The weird mixture of different time periods, leaves you scratching your head. What are the makers trying to say with all that symbolism? Most of the time you feel like when you first watched that scene in "Matrix: Reloaded" where Neo meets The Architect, wondering whether you're too stupid to understand the meaning of it all, or if it's all much ado about nothing.
Personally, I'm partial to the latter option. For all artistic value, I still want a movie to be entertaining or gripping. "Watchmen" was neither, but maybe a second and third viewing could change my mind.
In the end this movie could either become your new bible or it could disgust you for all its pretentious loftiness. In that aspect "Watchmen" is very similar to cult movies such as "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Blade Runner" and "The Matrix". If you liked any of the above, then go see this one.