Lives up to the end of the decade "superhero" movie.

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2009)

I have seen this movie twice now, and I can't wait to see it again. I have been waiting for this movie to come out for awhile now, and I was not disappointed. I picked up the graphic novel over 3 years ago and have reread it several times sense, falling in love with all its complexity, philosophical musings, tragic characters, and original dialog. I harbored many mixed emotions about a movie being made,initially I was excited, but a few months ago, I started feeling queasy and thought "what if this sucks, compromises, and totally misses the major points." I'm glad to say that is not the case. The film is receiving mixed reviews, simply put its not for everyone. While it does cater to the fanboys it is attracting original fans also. Reading the graphic novel does give an advantage to understanding the overall story line, but its not required for the main plot just as long as one pays attention. Some of the naysayers out there don't like it because it is "too weird", "too long", "too reverent to the comic". Others don't like it because they may have been stupid enough to ignore the R rating and took their kids to see what they thought was the live action Incredibles movie. This was a very ambitious project and very challenging. Watchmen had been in development hell for 20 years. Speaking as someone who thought that 300 was "just good, not great" I think no one could of done a better job then Snyder. The acting was great also. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach gave me chills.....he nailed it completely. Best comic book performance ever (or graphic novel whichever you prefer, although nods to Rourke in sin city and Ledger(esp.) for the dark knight). Patrick Wilson was very convincing as conflicted nice guy Dan........who missed his days as Nightowl. Billy Crudup was just wow as Dr. Manhatten....being detached from the rest of humanity while pitying them from afar. Morgan was also a great dirtbag but oh so cool sadistic/yet repentant Comedian. His performance was mesmerizing,esp. after the nice guy rows he has had. Matthew Goode did better as Ozy then I expected........as he did channel the gray areas of his character and his utilitarian philosophy.
I am not going to tell you the ending, but this may be a minor spoiler.
The ending was pretty faithful to the graphic novel but different. The conclusion was the same, but the means to that conclusion were different. And the plan was a little more global then just New York also. This ending made more sense for the movie as the original would of required a whole lot of screen time to pull it off. I was upset would I figured out before that the ending was altered at all. I even figured it out, but upon seeing the movie i was satisfied and proud. The ending may seem slightly more optimistic in the film, it did not compromise the effect or conform to typical American blockbuster endings.....