Pixel-perfect adaptation

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2009)

For the second time in my life, I've read a comics just mere days before watching a movie version of it. First, it was with "300", now with "Watchmen". In the case of "300", what I criticized was adding the secondary storyline. In the case of Watchmen, there's nothing to criticize. The comics has been adapted almost page-to-page (with the exception of the "Black Freighter" comics-within-comics, and a few cosmetic changes such as the visual appearance of the near-end catastrophes), and those responsible for the visual side of this movie have made a perfect job -- costumes, devices, rooms, prison cells, streets -- it all looks almost exactly as in the comics. In this regard, the movie follows in the footsteps of SinCity with its "frame-to-frame" conversion, without looking ridiculous.
The choice of relatively unknown actors who will not try to steal the show for themselves was also a lucky one: They seemed to me to play as a team, rather than stars.
With over 3 hours of screen time, the movie didn't bore me for a single second, and that's quite an achievement, considering I knew the story from the comics.
This is a must see for all comics fans.