Probably the Best Comic Adaptation to Date...

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2009)

Alan Moore can complain about this film's existence all he wants to... That doesn't change the fact that "Watchmen" is probably the best comic book adaptation to date... Actually, despite Moore's general complaints about the end results of previous adaptations of his work, most of them ("From Hell", "V for Vendetta", and this film) have turned out very well. Only the horribly translated "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was truly a disappointment... Let's face it: when you're an acclaimed writer that Hollywood latches itself onto and they manage to score 75%, you're definitely beating the spread...
While it's true that Zack Snyder probably used "300" in the same way that Peter Jackson used "The Frighteners" and the dream sequences in "Heavenly Creatures" (i.e.: as practice for LOTR and to show he could pull it off), the end result is every bit as good as any of the films of Middle Earth...
"Watchmen" is a brutal, no-holds-barred, and faithful retelling of what is probably one of the best graphic novels ever printed that manages to be a vast improvement over Snyder's last effort "300" by ditching the almost panel-by-panel-shot-for-shot literalism for something much more narrative and tangible in nature... People who have called the film "confusing" or the equivalent should probably all be taking Ritalin... If you actually pay attention, the plot is very easy to follow... People have also complained about a lack of character development when probably 45 minutes to an hour of the total 2 hour and 43 minute running time is spent in flashback, fleshing out the various characters' histories (just like the graphic novel... imagine that)...
Granted, this movie will mostly appeal to devout readers of Alan Moore, such as myself, but regardless, this is a great movie... It isn't Alan Moore's fault, Zack Snyder's fault or the fault of any of the actor's, producers, writers (or anyone else who worked on the film) if people don't "get it" because, as a species, our attention spans have been whittled down to next to zero... Yes, it's almost 3 hours long, but that time goes by at a reasonable rate... The pacing of the film is fine, the editing is well orchestrated and the special effects are superb...
I was a little hesitant (as I always am with comic adaptations) about the casting of the film, but the entire cast did a great job... The actors actually looked like the characters they were supposed to be playing (again, imagine that...)... I read one fan review where the author was complaining that Billy Crudup's performance was "flat, detached, and emotionless"... uh... yeah.. That's Dr. Manhattan for you... d'oh...
Ignore the negativity... See this movie... It's far superior to the highly lauded (and unjustifiably so) "The Dark Knight" (which I gave 6/10)...
9/10...