Beautiful. Art-House Comic Book Gets Beautiful Cinematic Treatment.

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2009)

I was hesitant. The comic book is GENIUS. The movie will not be because the director and writers will either rewrite the thing to get it onto the screen, or be SO faithful as to render it moot, on screen. The sheer genius of the comic book makes it difficult, certainly, but to remain too faithful to the written word is typically the death knell to any visual work...except when the written word is a graphic novel (and/or comic book), it would seem.
The film is genius, but (as others have pointed out) it's the genius of the comic book this movie holds and NOT directorial genius. As closely as this follows the graphic serial, it must have been pretty easy to alter the direction of the narrative, watch the ques, and insert visuals as dictated by the source materials, which were kept there on the set and used like a Watchman "Bible," according to news sources.
The angles, the colors, lighting, all contribute as much to the overall work as the performances and film quality, but this is exactly what the comics set as axiom wherein these elements are concerned. There are no surprises as to the cinematic adaptation. The surprise would have been a creative attempt at an actual adaptation. This is (not merely, mind you) the graphic novels translated to film, rather than an actual adaptation.
That all having been said, this is fantastic both fundamentally and in final execution! It is visceral, graphic, soulful, and visually stunning. But more importantly, it is beautiful, intellectual, and above all, human. Oh yes, it's the overall humanity of the work that renders it a must see, must experience, must HAVE film of the year.
This is amazing, and my expectations were already running pretty high. That's saying something.
On a parental note, however, this film features full male frontal nudity. It is done artistically and is a necessary and beautiful element of the film, but I thought there will be MANY parents out there who will not be expecting it.
It rates a solid 8.9/10 from...
the Fiend :.