Go watch the watchmen!

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2009)

I'm a huge fan of the watchmen book, and was anxiously anticipating the movie. The fact that snyder was attached unnerved me a bit, and then the slo-mo in the trailers unnerved me a bit more. But despite all this, i was totally psyched to the film, even as my expectation weren't that high.
Review is in two parts, for the ones who have read the novel, and the ones who haven't.
If you've read the novel, you'll be surprised at how much snyder has managed to cram into the movie! Practically the entire book is in here, or at least referenced in some way. Every major scene from the novel is here. The cast is excellent in their respective roles, and the trailers don't do them justice. I thought the acting would be atrocious based on some pre-released sequences. But everyone was spot on, and captured the essence of their characters well. Even the much panned performance of malin akerman wasn't bad, and suited the character in the book.
People have been saying that the cinematography is insane etc., and to be honest, its not THAT insane, and thats a good thing. I was afraid the movie would lose the visual texture of the novel, but the fact is, the film captured that texture quite well. I think the editing has a lot to with that (ignoring the few bits of slo-mo, which i don't like, but weren't as distracting as one would expect).
What struck me was that the first hour and a half of the movie is an exact copy of the graphic novel! anything missed in those sequences is hard to tell because there is so much in there! The ending is different from the novel, and i was afraid it wouldn't work. But again, it works better than expected because there is some exposition through dialogue that makes sense of it. Why snyder changed the ending when he's insanely true in every other aspect is strange. But the meaning of the ending is preserved, and so the fans should be pleased. From my experience, even as i was miffed about the changed ending, by the time to get to the end of the film, you are so overwhelmed by all that has gone before, that you can only smile, and forgive snyder the lack of squid.
People who haven't read the book should be in for a surprise. This isn't superman, or avengers. It isn't the black and white world of the dark knight. This world has real people, with real issues. Issues that the movie isn't afraid to deal with, and in a way, is actually about. The issues with people in general as represented by society, and people in particular as represented by the characters.
As for the action, its refreshing. Every punch and kick looks (and sounds) like it really hurts...the use of slightly faster frame rates accentuates the impact of blows in a bone crunching fashion.
If you haven't read the book, you'll also be surprised by how heavy the subject matter is, skirting through various themes flawlessly, and demanding your attention at every moment. This is a movie which will give you something to think about.