Who will watch Watchmen?

Rating: 8/10 (9 March 2009)

Firstly I'd like to dwell on the things that I really enjoyed about 300 director, Zack Snyder's epic adaptation of Moore and Gibbons seminal classic novel Watchmen.
From the initial brilliant opening montage set to "The times they are a'changin" by Bob Dylan, Snyder establishes the mode and tone of Watchmen, and manages to convey the feeling of dread that humanity is living under, the threat of nuclear war. The casting for the most part is excellent, the main actors bringing their comic counterparts to life and each of them helps define and convey the deconstructed super hero archetype that they are meant to portray well, and Snyder has remained remarkably faithful to the source material. Visually the film is stunning to look at, and with the notable exception of Hallelujah during Laurie and Dan's shagfest, the score is excellent as well, including some witty touches like a muzak version of "Everyone wants to rule the World" by Tears for Fears during the assassination attempt on Adrian.
It is perhaps this last bit that causes some of the issues that I have with the GN. I will admit as a complete fan-boy of the source material that I couldn't see how one could remain too faith to the GN, but here because of several sub-plots that have been necessarily axed, and Snyder's want to remain as faithful as possible, I as the viewer felt somewhat detached from the viewing experience, rather than being immersed in Watchmen's story. I found myself listening to dialogue lifted from the page, which in the context of other material sounded fine, but with some of the other back story and sub-plots lifted felt forced and clunky.
I do think that this detachment will be helped greatly by additional material which will be in the director's cut of the film, which will become available on DVD later this year.
Watchmen is a flawed, but ambitious and wonderful attempt to get the source material on screen. The acting is good and in JEH and JDM's cases very very good, and Snyder has delivered the world of Watchmen to our screens brilliantly. I would recommended people see it, but frankly I'd wait for the director's cut which I think will iron out many of the quibbles I had about the film.
7.5/10.