The ultimate anti-hero graphic novel come to awe-inspiring fruition

Rating: 9/10 (18 March 2009)

WATCHMEN (2009) ***1/2 Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie, Laura Mennell. Epic big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons' cult-classic graphic novel involving a cadre of heroes in a parallel consideration of America in 1985 (Nixon is in his 5th term!) who are under attack when one of their allies is brutally murdered, sending the surviving avengers into dark and deeply thought whirlpools of existential dread (i.e.: Is it really worth saving the world if you can't save yourself?) Visually amazing and adept thanks to the 'visionary' filmmaker Zack Snyder the film is truly awe-inspiring in capturing the genre down-pact maybe just too much (if that's a caveat so be it) but not to take away from some truly draw-dropping set pieces (one word: Mars!) and stand-out turns by Crudup (as the tragically altered Jon Osterman aka "Dr. Manhattan") Morgan (as the amoral slain Comedian) and most definitely Haley (as the vigilante Rorschach), who blends classic Cagney and Ledger's "Joker" with a touch of Claude Raines' "Invisible Man" as a force to be reckoned with, making for a truly memorable anti-hero.