A Fanboy's Dream Come True

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2009)

As soon as the screen went yellow, a big stupid smile spread across my face. "Finally, this is it" I thought to myself. The film adaptation of the greatest piece of literature ever produced. The once thought unfilmable graphic novel, has finally made its way to the big screen, and it is nothing short of phenomenal, even with several flaws.
If you are a fan of Watchmen, or call yourself one, I find it hard to think of you hating this movie. It is an absolute fanboy's dream come true. I think the moment I realized this was during the opening credits where we are introduced to the Watchmen universe with Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changing." This is, without a doubt, the greatest opening credit sequence I've ever laid witness too. For about two-and-a-half minutes, we are slowly brought in beautiful fashion the past events of the Minutemen that have shaped the alternate universe in which Watchmen takes place in. It is just stunning.
You'd think that the film would kind of tail off after such an impactful opening with the Comedian and his assailant fighting, but you would be mistaken. The film, which has so much to cover, doesn't even begin to feel the slight-bit rushed until Dr. Manhattan teleports himself to Mars. This scene, Watchmaker, is still done brilliantly just the introduction is a bit rushed. It makes you wonder though, if Zack Snyder can deliver almost an hour of Watchmen without it feeling rushed in a two-hour and 40-minute movie, what will the 3+ hour Absolute Edition on DVD be like?
From Watchmaker on though, things get a little jumbled. They are still ridiculously faithful to the comic, just told in a different form, or done in a different way. It's clear here though, if you haven't read the graphic novel you may start getting a little lost or confused around this time. Things start to move fast, and it's clear the makers of the film weren't thinking of the mainstream audience in developing. As a huge fan of the comic, I'm not complaining.
This film stays faithful right up until the last bit. The new ending is a little too quick for my taste, and doesn't have near the impact that the GN's ending did. The ending is still done right, but it feels a little mashed. All in all though, it doesn't disappoint.
All the performances are astounding, even Matthew Goode, aside from the fact that they made him too sinister. Jackie Earle Haley and Billy Crudup give the best performances. JEH steals every scene as Rorschach, and gives you that sense of unease that the masked vigilante is supposed to. Crudup somehow captures the distant, and uncaring nature of Dr. Manhattan. It's eerie how good he is as the H-Bomb. Patrick Wilson is the perfect flabby failure of Nite Owl II, and Malin Akerman isn't just a sexy face to look at. She actually does a pretty damn good job as Silk Spectre II. And Jeffery Dean Morgan is fascinating as the sadistic, brutal, cynical Comedian. The biggest surprise for me though was Carla Gugino who did a great job as Sally Jupiter. Not to mention, she's an absolute fox in the Minutemen scenes.
Overall, this is definitely the best adaptation Watchmen fans could have ever asked for out a theatrical cut. It has its bad moments, but in the end you realize that this was just a monumental achievement. A movie that was in development hell for 20 years has finally come to the big screen in gorgeous fashion.