Too close to the comic for its own good

Rating: 8/10 (19 March 2009)

THE GOOD: Watchmen does 90% of everything it tries right. It's beautiful, intelligent, well-acted and beautiful again. Rorschach is AMAZING and Dr. Manhatten is spot on. Most of the dialog, often word-for-word from the comic (yes, sorry, graphic novel), is razor sharp, and the plot, while imperfect, is still head and shoulders above the norm.
Unfortunately, the 10% it does wrong is probably the stuff that will stick with you.
THE BAD: I respect Snyder for his determination to follow the comic to the letter, I really do, but he has to learn when to step back and let a movie stand on its own feet. For example: the story could and should have been restructured to avoid the cluster-bomb of flashbacks crammed into the first hour. And Bubastis seriously had to go.
Then there's the terrible, embarrassing-to-the-point-of-movie-damaging porno scene dead smack in the middle. Why!? If there was ONE place to stick with the comic (where this scene is short and tasteful) this was it.
Finally, the sound track is distracting. It's not that the songs are bad, but the placement, volume and arrangement of said songs makes it all too clear that many are only here for commercial tie-ins. There are of course exceptions (loved the intro and the comedian's funeral).
Overall Watchmen is an achievement in many ways. It's not perfect (nor was the comic to be honest), but it's damn good. Highly recommended.