Unbalanced but interesting

Rating: 9/10 (25 March 2009)

This one's definitely worth more than one watch. Not only does it show superheroes far more flawed, in a darker way than Hellboy does, it also shows a meticulously constructed alternative history with Nixon and Kissinger still in the 80s government.
Overall the film is done very well graphically. The action scenes are spares but good while animations and backdrops are gorgeous. Costumes and atmosphere were great. A lot of classic 60s-80s songs used but it was done well. Definitely one to go see in High Definition with the best possible sound.
The Watchmen are each interesting characters. The casting of each of them was pretty good overall and my favorite is Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt, the enigmatic Ozymandias.
Rorschach was too much of a walking cliché, the type of hard nosed vigilante that seems to smoke too much cigarettes to be able to talk normally. While he looks short and thin, he is way too fast and strong to be believable in this film. Earley's performance without his mask is impressive nonetheless.
Like the Silk Spectre II, these characters do not really have superpowers yet they somehow beat the living hell out of any opponent with just their fists and feet. This is where the realism was lost too much at times. At times it would also get overly violent, particularly in the prison scenes related to Rorschach.
Ozymandias has no real superpower other than being exceptionally bright and fast in combat while also being outrageously rich and successful.
Dr Manhattan is the coolest of the Watchmen, actually being the only one to have superpowers like light speed travel, increasing/multiplying himself, manipulating matter at atomic level and what not. He also walks around naked most of the time which I thought was amusing, but does make sense from his perspective: why should he care? The combination of sadness and decreasing care for ordinary humans in his face is done well.
The Comedian is killed early but with all the flash forwards and flash backs he gets plenty of screen time. Good actor too. The most insane and evil of the bunch, he is actually the only one sane enough to use fire arms. It was weird to see so few relying on them.
The Director's Cut is great and pays a bit more attention to the sympathetic first Nite Owl.
Say what you want but I found this film much more interesting than the overrated Dark Knight, it shows more morally grey areas while there's no clear distinction between heroes and villains.