Watchmen is the adaptation of the milestone graphic novel (comic book!) of the same name in 1985. The story is in an alternate reality in 1985 (Nixon is President to give you an idea) where superheros exist. One of them, The Comedian is murdered and sets superhero/vigilante Rorschach into a deep investigation that leads to a Earth changing event.
There’s a long history between the superheros and it’s all laid out for you in the two and a half hour run time. Keep in mind that they left a lot of from the book with that! Zack Snyder and co. had a daunting task in front of them, a shit load of people tried to get this done as a movie or TV mini series for years. I think they pretty much pulled it off.
The look is perfect, the tone almost so. It’s a very faithful adaptation, almost to a fault. That said, I have no idea what I would change. There are some questionable music choices, but the casting is great, costumes too. Acting is solid all around and while Snyder continues to remind everyone that he loves slow motion, the directing is great too. A lot of shot for comic book frames and all that. The ending was changed as well and while I’ve seen some people bitch about it, I can see why they did it and really don’t have a problem with it.
It’s a very heady movie, just because it’s from a comic book you can’t go in thinking X-Men or Hulk. Yeah, it’s got action but nothing that really matches the typical Hollywood Summer Blockbuster.
Solid movie, I really don’t have anything bad to say about it.