A little tiresome but well adapted

Rating: 7/10 (16 March 2009)

This is certainly a worthy adaptation to the big screen. I don't know the novel religiously, but I know it somewhat well, and it seems sure enough that this film carries through the themes, events and at times even words.
What must be applauded is that it dares take itself seriously - it's violent, dramatic, even a bit disconcerting. Not all heroes save the day, that's really the point of the entire novel and film. You can only harp on the heart-strings so many times (even Spider-Man is getting a bit tiresome), but when a movie punches you in the face, you have a reason to be dizzy.
There are weak points to it though. I think the theatrical cut could've possibly been even shorter (~2h15m? come on, think about it), with some sort of absurdly extensive ultimate end-to-end-all 5-disc DVD/Blu-Ray edition further down the line.
Jackie Earle Hayley gives a spectacular Rorschach, even his "gravelly" voice (really described as being more monotone) and unrelenting quest for punishing criminality. It was too bad that the psychologist scenes were a little different (maybe we'll at least get the entire closing "monologue" somewhere down the line, but I guess you can't have it all).
Some say there's "no trick" to Billy Crudup, but that's the trick in and of itself - to make a character seemingly indifferent feel human, earnest and interesting. He doesn't simply drone on, he's actually acting with every line and twitch.
The adaptation works to the point where it's like reading - it couldn't hold my interest burning passionately the entire way through, but where it does work, it really works (the opening credits and Dr. Manhattan's origin comes to mind). The fact that it does work the entire way through is a testament to the original book, that there are themes resonating beyond just the characters themselves.
At this point I have no rush to see Watchmen again. Whenever there's word of some sort of ultimate package, maybe I'll check it out, but there's a lot to take in, and it's mostly through the dialoge and characters. Hardly your typical action or thriller flick, but one to be savored on occasion, like (pardon the metaphor) a fine wine with enough years to it.