Faithful to the Graphic Novel

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2009)

I read the graphic novel Watchmen for the first time the day before seeing the film adaptation. I felt it was important to take in the story Alan Moore had created in the way he had envisioned it before seeing it adapted by somebody else. Having done this, the film version held few surprises. I wouldn't say that the lack of surprises isn't necessarily a bad thing, but rather it means that the film closely follows the original graphic novel. I think the film will please ardent fans who have been waiting to see the story on the big screen. CGI is now at a point where it can do justice this story justice, and even the scene on Mars was fairly well done. The violence in the film was appropriate (this is definitely not a film for children) considering part of the story is about these superheroes that are borderline sociopaths. What I felt was lacking in the film was in the socio-political commentary that was prominent in the book. It was definitely touched on in the film version, but it felt softened in the film as if to say the action was more important. I feel that this political side seems to be an important part of Alan Moore's work. In all, I have never been a big fan of graphic novels adapted into film, but I felt that the film version of Watchmen was entertaining and will make fans happy.