Even though it is based on an award-winning graphic novel, "Watchmen" is a movie that will appeal to anyone who loves action, suspense, sci-fi and a little romance. Non-comic world fans will find themselves becoming fast enthusiasts to the film which has racked in more than $54 million in its first weekend at the box office.
The nearly three-hour movie had many surprising scenes even if the plot and mystery became more and more obvious. The film is rated R for its gory showing of broken bones, steamy sex content and the continuous full nudity of the blue superhero, Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup).
It was obvious who the director of the film was (in case you didn't know from all the movie posters, it was Zack Snyder, director of "300") since every few minutes everything slowed down and the camera panned the whole situation to capture every last finite detail. For the action scenes this was great but for all the other scenes it was only bothersome.
The acting was pretty decent, nothing spectacular unless you consider the cast had to work with Crudup in a special suit in order for Dr. Manhattan to really come alive on screen.
One particular hardcore actor was Jackie Earle Haley who plays the vigilante Rorschach (the one with the ink-blot mask). He was tough and it was obvious that Haley got right into character with Rorschach, the member of the Watchmen who initially began investigating the murder of the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
Morgan, too, played a great Comedian rude, arrogant and a down right crazy superhero. Flashes of his life are shown throughout the film as the rest of the Watchmen come out of retirement to stop world war and solve the Comedian's murder at the same time.
Other Watchmen include the seductive Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman.) Akerman looks great both in and out her costume (referring to the superhero sex scene between her and Nite Owl II played by Patrick Wilson.)
The last of the Watchmen is none other than Ozymandias played by Matthew Goode. He is the genius superhero who made his identity public to become a billionaire.
The story itself takes place in an alternate America during the late 1980s when the United States and the Soviet Union are at the brink of nuclear war. Because superheroes are a part of everyday life, things are a little different in this version of history.
Richard Nixon is elected to three terms as president and America actually won the war in Vietnam, all thanks to the supremely powered Dr. Manhattan. Superheroes are later forced to retire and the second generation of Watchmen only come back to save humanity from an eminent catastrophic war.
At the beginning of the film, Silk Spectre II is in a relationship with Dr. Manhattan, who would rather work than spend energy on her; Rorschach is a fighting crime secretly, and Nite Owl II is doing really nothing meaningful with his life. Ozymandias has become a billionaire by taking advantage his secret identity, and the Comedian was a government operative before he was killed.
What was really interesting and refreshing about this movie, and the comic book for that matter, was how every one of the Watchmen had their own flaws that regular people may think are reserved for them.
Every character was shown to be imperfect, and while they rose above the rest of society to protect and help them, they too had problems of their own to deal with.
"Watchmen" is unlike the typical movie where everything ends smoothly and people leave off happy. The ending is not what you would expect and that is what makes it so impressive.
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