Why you should watch Watchmen

when that dude Zack Snyder (300) announced he was directing a live-action studio adaptation of what is considered by some the greatest comic of all time, I spent every day for months moaning about how bad an idea it was. the original comic, Alan Moore's Watchmen, was masterfully built specifically to be a comic. much of the greatness of it comes from devices that can't be replicated in film. plus, there is so much going on that it just wasn't possible to fit it all into a two (or even three) hour film. i was convinced it was gonna be a disaster!

well... it wasn't.

it was fabulous! i mean, don't get me wrong, it wasn't as good as the comic, but it was about as good as it COULD be! Directed by Zach Snyder (300), Watchmen has an ensemble cast that includes a home run performance by Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, a grimy, bone-snapping masked vigilante investigating the murder of nihilistic government spook/retired superhero, the Comedian. as Rorschach investigates the murder we also meet his ex crime-fighting partner Nite Owl and other members of the ill-fated superteam, and become entrenched in the fear and apprehension of a world headed for mutual assured destruction.

The movie does a great job of shifting between the storylines of the many characters, which i was really concerned about. Snyder had the daunting job of cutting the fat out of one of the most highly celebrated stories in all of comicdom, and handled it admirably. Rorschach, the most popular character in the story, is handled perfectly without losing the other characters in the shuffle. in fact, the love triangle between Nite Owl, Silk Specter and Dr. Manhattan is handled better than i expected as well.
For all the fanboys out there, it should be noted that Snyder and screen writers David Hayter and Alex Tse made a couple key changes in the plot in order to fit the movie within an acceptable screen time (163 minutes). the changes don't hurt the film, but may be hard to swallow for faithful lovers of the comic (like me). Snyder makes up for any weaknesses by shooting the best fight scenes since The Matrix. the original comic is not really an action comic, and it would probably bore people if Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons' deadpan illustrating style had been adhered to... the sound and choreography of the fights give the masked human characters the kind of brutal martial-arts-fueled super-strength that comes off as exaggerated, not fake. Dr. Manhattan (the only charcter with actual super-powers) is mesmerizing. his character is present in your mind, even when he isn't on screen.
my recommendation: go watch Watchmen. once you've seen it, buy (or reread) the graphic novel for an additional kick in the tail!

holla!

samax