not everyone should watch the Watchmen

Rating: 9/10 (14 March 2009)

actually, everyone SHOULD watch this movie because it is awesome and i want it to do well (although the marketing has been really swell, so no worries there). unfortunately everyone i know that has not read the novel, thought this movie sucked. because they were ignorant of the material and expected another X-Men type film. one guy i know actually wrote a log complaining about how they didn't have super-powers. on the one hand, i want to tell people to read the novel before they watch the movie; on the other hand, the movie is pretty much just the novel fleshed out(except for one major plot change that really plays off as a minor change), the way No Counrty For Old Men was almost exactly a verbatim adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, so in reality, you don't HAVE to read the original (for either of those movies because i know people that thought No Country sucked too), just as long as you keep an open mind for what is in store. in movies in general, you don't have to know anything about the original source material other than the fact that it exists because the Hollywood machine doesn't want to alienate audiences by making movies they can't see because they're not in on it. Watchmen does not do that, and that's part of what makes this movie work for me. i think Alan Moore would actually be okay with this adaptation of his work. i know Dave Gibbons liked it.
the staple of any good mystery is that you should be able to watch or read it several times and still be enthralled despite knowing the outcome. so the first time i saw Watchmen i was a little bothered by how the film didn't really seem to keep Adrian Veidt's secret role as the mastermind. but i can see why they made that decision: really with as little time Adrian/Ozymandias has in the story, why not play it up a bit for the really really hard-core fan-boys? so the second time i saw the movie i was a lot better with it, but maybe that's because i kind of have to be.
the acting was pretty solid, with each actor (for me) living up to expectations, but there is an extended kudos for Billy Crudup's in-depth interpretation of Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan. i always pictured a really detached, monotonous performance. and Crudup DOES do that, but with a great deal of emotion. it's really incredible! and the sets alone were priceless. on all levels i just found this to be a cinematic masterpiece. it was everything i hoped it would be.