One of the BEST movies of all time.

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2009)

Papai Movie Review - WATCHMEN I did something rare this week -- actually saw a movie in the theater in its opening week. It took WATCHMEN to pull that off. This short review is based solely on the movie and what I know about it; I've not read any of Alan Moore's graphic novels, but I have seen a couple others of his works as movies, especially V FOR VENDETTA (like it a lot!) and FROM HELL (excellent! about Jack the Ripper).
WATCHMEN is a rather existential film, about the human condition and what being "alive" and "safe from harm" are about. It takes place in an alternate universe, late 1985, and Nixon is still president. Thanks to Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) we won in Vietnam and the world has changed. However, the Soviet Union and its nuclear arsenal are still the arch enemy of the USA.
Into this world a Watchman (formerly the "Minutemen" during the 1940s) is murdered, brutally. The film is ULTRA violent and not suitable at all for kids younger than 16. Watchmen are all humans without extraordinary powers (unless you count 'uber Bruce Lee karate moves' superhuman -- even by a woman, Silk Spectre II, played by the beautiful Malin Akerman of Sweden, has such highest level, 0.0001% top class karate skills). Watchmen are illegal in 1985 by a law passed by US Congress in the '70s. Their style of vigilantism is no longer welcomed. Doc Manhattan is still legal, works for the Dept. of Defense, and is the ultimate weapon of the USA. He has true superpowers transcending anything imaginable. In fact, he is god. He is superman. He lives in a quantum state and can be in multiple places at the same time. Like the OUTER LIMITS, he was created by accident during some science gone wrong in the 1950s. Now he is god and is an American! The movie's hero is Rorschach (Jackie Earl Haley of BREAKING AWAY "Cutters" fame). He still wonders the dark, shadowy back alleys kicking criminal's ass and is the film's narrator ala film noir style. He's a hell of a fighter and wants to solve the mystery of who killed the Comedian. The film's pacing, plot, intelligence, and direction is stunningly brilliant. It's an adult film that should appeal to all science fiction buffs and deep thinkers.
If this stuff appeals to you, and the long length (2:40) of this movie, then go see it! I rate it a full 4-stars and it's now in my top 10 list of All Time -- it's that good.
-Ken Papai, 3/13/2009