Rating:  -
when i first saw this movie i enjoyed it, there were a few things i didn't like. but overall it was fun. the change up of the ending was even understandable as a sign of changing times.
but upon watching it again i realized that while this movie here is not terrible, they changed enough key scenes of this where the spirit of "watchmen" is just not here. by showing the fight where the comedian gets killed they more or less give away the bad guy in the opening scene and thats one of the biggest mysteries of the book. the actor playing ozzymandus wasn't so much poorly chosen as poorly directed. ozzymandus is suposed to be unasuming and tame making the final reveal beyond shocking. but the way this guy plays it he might as well be stroking a curly mustache everytime you see him. it just screams bad guy. it's wrong.
rorchact overall is well done in this movie but they changed some things about his "birth" story that while they made it more visceral and apealing for a movie, changed the tone of the scene in a bad way.
the fight scenes are a little bit crap, part of the genius of watchmen is that no one has super powers, but the fight scenes seem to suggest they have super strength or speed in some way. zack snyder is an excelent director but he's more geared towards action movie style. and watchmen is not an action plot, it's a story epic. infact alot if not all the fight scenes could've been taken out of this movie.
the change to the ending is particularly crappy. i understand the motivation to it and it's not so much a bad ending in itself. but the original ending was designed to band humanity together for survival's sake, america and russia join forces against a bigger threat. but the ending in the movie is more like a religous message. "be nice to each other kids or dr. manhatten will come down and blow you up." which is totally crap. or at the very least not on topic at all.
this movie by itself is entertaining enough, but it's not good, just fun, and for what is one of the best stories ever written, this is a poor representation.
Rating:  -
I had never heard of the Watchmen before seeing the movie, so I have no preconceptions on that front. I did read comic books as a kid.
One warning prospective viewers should be aware of: there is intense graphic violence in this movie, along with some male frontal nudity. This is NOT your standard superhero movie suitable for children, this is a movie for adults.
I loved this movie. For me it is completely unique, I can't even compare it to any other movie I've seen. A unique style, a unique story, I found it confusing but fascinating to watch. It sticks in your head. I'm going to have to watch it again just so I can pick up a more of what I missed the first time around. I guess for a general description of the movie it is a highly stylized, morally ambivalent version of the "what if super heroes were real?" premise, mixed with some retro and detective storytelling. But that doesn't do it justice - this is a fantastic movie experience. It's funny, dramatic, violent, and it has all kinds of intrigue and fascinating characters.
Frankly, the lead (Rorshack) should have been nominated for an oscar. He was great. Best Line Ever comes when he is sent to prison and must deal with all the people he sent there who want their revenge and think they have him right where they want him: "You don't understand... I'm not locked in here with YOU... you're locked in here with ME."
This movie should go down in history as a true classic on the level of Blade Runner.
Rating: -
This is one of those films that -- if you read and re-read the book as so many have -- you look forward to with both anticipation and a bit of dread. Because they could so easily have screwed this up. But I'm pleased, and a little surprised, to find that the film follows the book pretty closely -- in all the important ways. Because the book isn't really about superhero crimefighters. It's about people, both good and bad, and how they fit together. And the film pulls it off very well. The character of the uncompromisingly absolutist Rorschach, the most interesting character in both the book and the film, is very nicely rendered. Even Dr. Manhattan, the least "human" character, is portrayed in multiple dimensions. I think they made a good decision in not giving any of the roles to a headlining actor. No Nicholas Cage, no Gwyneth Paltrow to steal the scenes. You can pay attention to the roles the actors are playing, not the actors themselves. And, yeah, there's a lot of gore in this film, . . . but that's a human thing, too. Even the fight scenes are more explicit than you would expect (this is definitely not a kids' film), but that's to make a point. Because there's also a morality tale here about how things can so easily go wrong with society. The world is facing nuclear annihilation and it's largely because the forces of violently coercive conservatism are in control -- typified by the Comedian, who kills women and children without batting an eye, and by the fact that Richard Nixon is in his fifth term as president. Even Dan Dreibeg and Laurie Jupiter, the putative Good Guys, are out there on the right wing somewhere, trying to make the world their version of a "better place." This take on the 1980s is not the Good Old Days that might have been. And, of course, there's the overarching question: Is it right to do great evil in the successful pursuit of even greater good? The film actually seems much more explicit than the book about the "alternate universe" aspect of the story, right from the outset in the credits -- which do a very nice job of summarizing the back-story, incidentally. But let's face it, a lot of people went to see this flick for the special effects, and those are great -- and without getting in the way of the live action, which is quite an accomplishment. Especially everything surrounding Dr. Manhattan. There are lots of great quotable lines, most of them directly from the book. My favorite: "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me." The choice of `80s songs for the soundtrack also is very interesting; most of them fit the atmosphere of the story, even the actual plotline. (Except for "99 Luft Balloons": What in the world is that doing in there?) All in all, an excellent screen version of an excellent book. I expect to be revisiting both of them at regular intervals in the future. I do miss the giant alien squid, though.
Rating: -
Sensational job, best transfer of a graphic novel/comic book to film I've ever seen. Enough's been said in other reviews here. Looking forward to the ultimate version.
Rating: -
First let me say I've read the graphic novel and it's perhaps the best comic book story ever written.
So you'd think a movie based off of it would have to be a let down. It's not, Watchmen is the second best comic book movie second only to The Dark Knight. It stays true to the graphic novel, with hardly any changes.
For those who haven't read the graphic novel, the story is amazing, the action is reverting, the acting by unknown actors is great, the visual effects are stunning, and the music is beautiful.
So it doesn't matter whether you've read the graphic novel or not, you'll enjoy this movie.
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