Worth watching but ultimately disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (13 July 2009)

Having been a long-time fan I watched this with an obvious bias and while I enjoyed it, there were far too many moments where my enjoyment was marred by the diversions from the original. While there's been an effort to retain many of the subtexts, this is primarily an action film and has lost a lot of the angry satire of the comic.
If you've never read the comic book then you will enjoy this film a lot more than I did and it will set you up well to go back and read the source but for those of us who have had years to read, re-read and think about the original, this film is full of compromises which, although understandable, leave the end result a bit too empty and sadly unrewarding.
This is no reflection on those involved and the effort has to be admired, especially in the way many of the actors were able pull off the transfer of so many of the characters from paper to screen but again, compromises; Rorschach, Nite Owl II, The Comedian and Dr Manhattan were close to perfection, but Ozymandias was sadly underwhelming (no fault of the actor who did well with what he had - the character had been compromised to fit the film).
The music choices were generally pretty good for a soundtrack which used a lot of existing compositions to fit the mood, although it was disappointing that the use of Koyaanisqatsi, while clever, fizzled out at the end.
I would like to be able to watch this again in a few years and enjoy it for its strengths rather than weaknesses but for now all that lingers are the thoughts of what could have been.
So, overall a good effort but in all honesty the only way to do the original justice would be to turn it into a mini-series rather than a single film - Although many people complained about the length, I personally felt it was too short and painfully so. One good thing coming out of this is that someone has shown it can be done and at least provides a starting point for others to build on.
*edit*
Having had a few more weeks to think about it, nearly everything that has come to mind about the film has been pretty much negative: The violence is so over-the-top that it becomes ridiculous, especially considering that these crime fighters have effectively been in retirement for a number of years.
Parts of the film which probably sounded really cool at the filming stage are laughable, i.e. Dr. Manhattan striding across the fields of Vietnam to the strains of Wagner. The fight between Veidt and the others at the end is just downright silly when you see the way he throws them around, is he supposed to have some kind of power-suit?
The original comics have a grittiness which, although portrayed in a fantastical world, have a grounding in some kind of physical reality - Unfortunately, the film takes too many liberties, and where the special effects should be reined in, they run riot and the substance of the film suffers in restropsect.
I'm sure now that I will not watch this film for a 2nd time and would much rather read the original any day.