Excellent Adaption

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2019)

If you're a fan of the graphic novel, there's a good chance you'll like this movie a lot. Despite a few changes it's a pretty faithful adaption.
WHY IT RECEIVED CRITICISM
This movie fell flat with audiences because it's incredibly dark, even for a super hero movie. The characters aren't likable in your typical sense. Heroes like Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan are heavily loved by fans but neither of them make the story any less bleak. Also no one is necessarily heroic which makes it hard to root for anyone. In a sense this is what makes Watchmen so thought provoking and unique. It makes you question what was morally correct and who was the real hero in the end. To many, this kind of content will come off as depressing or disturbing. I wouldn't recommend it to viewers who are expecting an MCU type film. If you are a fan of darker comics like what DC is famous for, then this is probably the type of story for you.
One other critique I have is that some of the dialogue doesn't translate well from book to screen. Snyder added his own iconic dialogue that resonated very nicely with audiences but other parts of the script come off as a bit corny. While I appreciate the film staying faithful to the writing, I think it limits the ability of character development when you can only work with one storyline.
Personally I love this movie. I'm a huge fan of both DC and Marvel so I don't think all marvel fans will dislike this movie. It's just extremely different. Overall I'd say its ability to create a realistic superhero scenario is something that should be praised.