Who Watches the Watchmen - We Did!

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2009)

Five friends went to watch the Watchmen - a fan of the original graphic novel from the 80s, 2 recent converts and 2 people, who had never read Alan Moore's work. Let's look at the component score:
The Story
The writing and adaptation to the screen is excellent. The story is intriguing. One of our group was slightly puzzled in between because of the many lines of story to follow, but it all came together nicely in the end. We discussed at length whether the movie should have focused on one aspect rather than following pretty much all the different lines laid out in the original work by Alan Moore, but this would have led to a loss of complexity and made the movie shallow. So what viewers will be embarking on is a mix of SF, drama, love story, mystery and superhero story, which has something to offer for many people.
Cinematography
Absolutely stunning. The images were strong and beautiful, the camera work outstanding. The feeling of the 80s was conveyed in excellent detail. Those of us remembering them well, were impressed, deeply.
The Action
Here is were the first controversy sets in. While a superhero movie should show its heroes in a larger than life position, one thing that always attracted the readers to Watchmen was that the heroes remained believable and were not too superhuman. This moderation has gone out the window for the movie and the three of our group familiar with the graphic novel felt the action in the movie was over the top.
The Violence
For a movie with an R16 (New Zealand) rating, this movie was very graphic. Not wanting to give anything away, two of our group had to look away in certain scenes and two more found it too much. One out of five didn't mind. The biggest argument against the level of violence shown is that it does not contribute to the story. A lot of it could have been handled a bit more elegantly off-screen, without taking any impact away. We all (even the person who did not mind) would give this movie a strict R18 rating.
The CGI and Tricks
Mostly good, everyone could at least name one glitch and some of the movements looked too artificial. We all thought we had seen better in a few scenes. These were minor and overall the movie is a stunning achievement.
The Music and Sound
Nice 80s score with very memorable hits. One of us though that one of the songs was giving the story away at the time, but that was because he knew the story. Just one issue everyone commented on: The movie is too LOUD. Here and there a quieter moment would have been good.
Overall
We were left a bit shell-shocked - assaulted by images and sound, but we were thoroughly entertained. The running time was long but the complex story needed it to unfold. I would not recommend this movie to anyone put off by graphic violence. There are a few sex scenes too, but these are more funny than offensive and no one minded. The movie appears to be aimed at the 15 to 25 year old male bracket, so a few of us felt left out a bit. We are still not sure, if we are going to recommend the movie to our friends - well to some we will, others we are going to warn off.
If you go, you are in for a hell of a ride, enjoy!