Rather bland

Rating: 5/10 (9 March 2009)

I really had no expectations going in. I did some preliminary research on what to expect short of actually reading the graphic novel (ie talking to friends, wikipedia, fan sites, etc). I liked the idea of more humanized superheroes, but nothing else really jumped out at me.
The beginning of the film very much caught my attention. Rorschach was a wonderfully (or should I say horribly?) interesting character and his internal dialogue was a good way to start. We are introduced to the principle characters and the alternate reality which Watchmen takes place in. All well done, especially for the casual moviegoer. The plot thickened and it looked like the film was panning out well. That was the first 30-45 minutes or so, possibly even an hour. It went by quick and was fairly enjoyable.
The next hour felt like an eternity. I think the film makers were trying to develop the characters a bit, but it was either bland or extraneous. For example, yes the Comedian was a bad dude. I get it. I don't need stupid amount of background story on the guy to understand it. I would have preferred more background on the characters who were actually alive and contributing to the plot. Dan and Sally were very superficially developed, leading their actions to seem more random than intentional. Speaking of the plot, it seemed to disappear during this middle part of the film. Rorschach beats up some prisoners and Dan and Sally sleep together and then put their costumes back on. Dan is somewhat understandable since Rorschach had recently called him out, but Sally I just can't rap my head around. Wasn't she just saying she didn't miss the life and never really wanted it in the first place? The result was a very tedious hour that culminated in soft core porn (which was so over the top I could do nothing but laugh).
Thankfully, with Rorschach's escape from prison the plot returns and rapidly develops (as does Rorschach's brilliant internal dialogue). However it just wasn't enough to rescue the film from the past hour. Perhaps I had just checked out from boredom. Perhaps it's that I don't care for the ultra-pessimistic view of human nature that Watchmen has (although I very much liked V for Vendetta which had a similar style and feel). Regardless, the end was just depressing. Some parts of the movie were enjoyable, most notably Rorschach, but overall it wasn't well done. Oh and if this movie was as true to the graphic novel as some people are saying, my guess is I wouldn't really care for that either, so I suppose the joke is on me for going in the first place.
P.S. It still kicked the crap out of that fiasco that was Spiderman III