Dark Heroes in a Violent and Bleak Alternate World

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2010)

In 1985, in an alternate world where Richard Nixon has been successively reelected with no Watergate, the nuclear war seems to be eminent due to the increasing tension between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Eight years ago, the Keene Law signed by Nixon forced the early retirement of the second generation of masked vigilante superheroes known as Watchmen, but the interference of the powerful physicist Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) leading the victory of USA in Vietnam holds the ultimate nuclear attack of Soviet Union. When the former Watchmen The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is brutally murdered, his colleague Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) decides to investigate and discovers a Machiavellian conspiracy to bring worldwide peace.
"Watchmen" is an original movie about dark heroes in a violent and bleak alternate world in a Cold War environment. The plot is too complex and deserved at least a mini-series; consequently the beginning is very confused due to the numbers of simultaneous subplots together with the presentation of the characters and environment. A couple of months ago I watched the first ten minutes and I found it so messy that I decided to watch another DVD. Today a friend of mine has told me that "Watchmen" is a great movie and I have decided to give a second chance to this film, and I found really an excellent bleak and Machiavellian story, supported by magnificent landscapes and CGI. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Watchmen – O Filme" ("Watchmen – The Movie")