A beautifully, flawed, mess of a film.

Rating: 7/10 (8 March 2009)

First off, I'd like to bring to attention that I've never read the graphic novel, so I will not tackle what they missed, left out, or didn't get right in the translation process. Watchmen is a beautifully shot, stylized, well directed, mess of a film. The film manages to splash new life on the superhero genre, it fails in delivering the messages and metaphors that were spread about the graphic novel, from what I've heard and read of. There is many, many underlying "plots", if you will, that are only dimly focused upon. You'll easily catch wind of these, but will feel unsatisfied when the conclusion of the majority of the underlying aspects are either forgotten about or wrapped up terribly. It's the same equivalent of being told you're going to have sex and either have very unsatisfying foreplay or not getting anything at all.
The acting is all over the place. Where some actors, such as Jackie Earle Haley, BIlly Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson deliver powerful, touching, and deep performances, the remaining cast either portrays their character as one of a soup opera or of a first time acting job. It's completely obvious that Jackie Earle Haley steals the show away from everyone with his portrayal of the psychotic Rorschach. His tone, his expressions-- facial and bodily, give the character the tiniest but genius nudge in the right direction.
The slow-motion trademark of director Zach Synder gets old almost directly after the opening credit montage. The effect works flawlessly in the opening scene of The Comedian's demise. It also gives the montage a very campy, but nice touch, making it stand out as one of the many highlights in the whole picture. After those two back-to-back scenes, the effect is used only to give the film a more stylish, modernized feel, which ultimately brings the film down...a lot. We've seen this song and dance numerous times, we don't need to see it again.
The "new" ending works with the film in ways that the original couldn't. It adds more emotion and character to the characters involved in it. The message is put across ten times better than it would had the original ending stayed. I've read constantly that this ending is the biggest flaw in many people's eyes, which I can't understand. Using the original ending in this film would just make the campiness of the film go overboard.
Also, the pacing at times is perfect, while at other times, the editor needed to be addressed more than they were.
Overall, Watchmen has many flaws throughout it, but also has enough to hold it high up as one of the best films of 2009 to date. It left a dirty taste in my mouth for a few hours upon viewing, but later settled in. While I enjoyed the movie for the most part, reading that this is the closest depiction of the graphic novel we'll ever get just makes me believe that it shouldn't have been made. There's so much room for improvement that it'll frustrate even the casual of viewers.
Enter the theater with caution.