Not Your Everyday SuperHero Movie (Not a bad thing)

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2011)

First thing i would like to do is tip my hat off to Zack Snyder, what he has created is a fine example of great adaptation. He has adapted the greatest graphic novel into a gritty, mesmerizing and thought inducing movie. His directing really shines in this movie along with several other key components.
Acting: Almost every actor plays their roles very well and spot on. Patrick Wilson, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan play their roles extremely well, Jeffrey Dean Morgan mixed his acting between the funny Comedian and the kickass one. The one actor that really shines in this movie is Jackie Earle Haley, who gives a amazing performance as Rorschach. Not only does Jackie provide a intimidating voice under the Rorschach mask, but acts on an Oscar nominee scale when the masks comes off. As for Malin Akerman, eh, its so and so, she delivers her lines and gives a good crying scene at the end but its average. At the bottom of the acting spectrum IMO is Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan. His role as the Doctor was awkward as best on the first viewing. His voice did not match with the large muscular build of Manhattan and all of the Doctors were flat so there goes any emotion, but he gave really good body language through out the film.
Plot: The plot starts out cliché, superhero is killed by shadowy figure, ally tries to figure out what happened, only to discover a large conspiracy on a grander scale. Small clues lead to larger clues and the conspiracy starts to unravel. But the plot then takes a 180 when the conspiracy involves the deathly powers of Dr. Manhattan, the betrayal of one of the heroes and the deaths of millions of people. This ending is not one of those "every lives happily ever after", its one of those "those that were not killed by the nuclear explosion lives happily ever after". It is a shock to see a SuperHero movie end on such a dark note but this is a graphic novel adaptation rated R movie. However, you must take note of this, this movie requires multiple viewings in order to catch every thing (two if your really sharp, 3 or more if your less sharp). You may not like the plot the first time around, but after several viewings, the movie will start to grow on you (just like it did myself and my bro).
Overall: A very gritty super hero movie with an above average plot. The fighting in this movie is spread out but when it hits the screen, it leaves a lot of blood, broken bones and guts in your faces. But i implore you to view this movie multiple times, it will get better with every viewing. For myself, it was a 6 out 10 on the 1st viewing, 8 out of 10 on the 2nd, and 9 out of 10 the rest of the way through. If you want a hardcore super hero that shows no mercy to the criminals, this is the one for you. You will not be disappointed.
P.S. THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. I cannot express this enough, i do not want some parent throw this movie away because of their kids was scarred by a crooks arm being broken graphically. This movie is a graphic novel adapted Rated R movie. Their are multiple sex scenes in this movie (including a rape scene). Dr. Manhattan is completely naked with his Johnson hanging out for everyone to see half of his screen time. And there even a scene in which a man has his arms cut off with a metal saw (VERY GRAPHIC). So this is just a warning, don't let your little ones watch this. 17+ people only, unless you're more lenient on your kids, then go right ahead but nothing lower then 14 years. I say this because one of my dads friends took his 8 year old daughter to it and had to walk out of the theaters because of the violence.