Excellent Movie for Comicbook Fans

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2009)

Watchmen was a brilliant adaptation of Alan Moore's limited series, containing enough of the original material to satisfy a dedicated Watchmen fan, but with enough variation to justify the $120 spent on filming it. It achieves the perfect balance of loyalty and creativity.
I have only two problems with the film. Firstly, the film relies to heavily on the viewer having read the book. I have read the book, but I cannot imagine anybody who has not really understanding the film--too much material is cut from the film, though I look forward to seeing the director's cut when it is released on DVD.
My other problem has to do with the action sequences. I felt they were too unrealistic, and that a simple introduction to Newton's laws would not only make the movie more enjoyable, but would probably be easier to film. (For example, in many of the action sequences, a punch or a kick from one of the characters will send the person being hit across a room, while the attacking character remains firmly in place.)
Overall, I felt Watchmen to be an excellent adaptation of an excellent book, but I feel that it will probably only appeal to readers of the original series. (Thad doesn't mean you shouldn't see it if you haven't read the book--it means you should read one of the greatest books ever written and then go see the movie.)