The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of The Watchmen

Rating: 8/10 (25 February 2009)

Tonight I was fortunate to see a special press screening of 'Watchmen', just two days after the World Premiere and going in with low expectations, I am pleased to say that the film was very enjoyable.
Being a huge fan of the Moore and Gibbons comic series, but not a fan of director Zach Snyder's 'visionary' directorial style, I went into the film not expecting very much, but was pleased to find out that the Alan Moore dialogue was left mostly in tact, the Dave Gibbons' art was replicated beautifully on screen and Snyder's irritating use of slow motion in '300' was thankfully kept to a minimum.
Presuming that the majority of you reading this are familiar with the story, I shall skip the story and move straight on to the 'good, the bad and the ugly' of Watchmen.
The Good:
>The film is accurate to the source material about 90% of the time, which means that often you have dialogue and scenes lifted straight from book to screen, often which results in a wonderful familiarity.
>For a book that is strong because of the story and not necessarily the action, it is a relief to find that the acting is mostly great. The acting from Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach), Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl II), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Comedian) are of a particularly high standard and the roles seem to have been made for each actor.
>I particularly loved the opening credits which showcase some of the subplots of the book, which including chronicling the deaths of Dollar Bill and The Silhouette and showing the group photo of the Minutemen.
The Bad:
>Nite Owl II calling their group of heroes the 'Watchmen'.
>The inappropriate use of certain songs at different moments. The use of 'Ride of the Valkyries', Hendrix's 'All Along the Watchtower' and Simon & Garfunkel's 'Sound of Silence' all seemed like it was descending into parody.
>The sex scene in the middle of the film which played like an outtake from 'Team America'...
>The changing of the plot towards the end of the film.
>Tyler Bates' bombastic score which seemed a little out of place...
The Ugly:
>Matthew Goode as Ozymandias was completely miscast. In the book, Ozymandias is strong, bulky and in many cases looks more heroic than most of the other 'masks', but in the film he seems weedy and snivelling and felt more like a low-grade Bond villain.
>My Chemical Romance's cover of Dylan's 'Desolation Row'. Ugh! Was I watching the same down beat film? For a second I thought I was watching the latest in the 'xXx' franchise!
So there you have it, my review of 2009's most anticipated film.
Sorry folks, it's not as good a comic book film as 'The Dark Knight', but it does try its best to be up there with the great comic adaptations. For me however, it seems frustrating that they nearly pulled off a pitch-perfect adaptation and chickened out to make it more populist.
8/10 - Recommended!