Well, last weekend was a bust for Watchmen, but this weekend met with more success. The only hiccup being that the concession didn't have the frozen yogurt I enjoy - the machine was broken. The movie, however, was pretty darn good. I read "Watchmen" for the first time a few months ago - late 2008 - and I purchased a copy for myself last week. I've been re-reading it on and off for several days and I'm not through it again, but I'm pretty familiar with the source material at this point. Maybe not all the nuances and subtleties, but the surface story anyway. Given that, I think the movie did pretty well, telling a big story pretty well. There were minor deviations for the original material, but those were not large and I would guess make more sense to the movie crowd. The idea to keep it set in 1986 was a good one, and it works because of its "alternate reality." The movie succeeds in keeping with the source material, rather than creating a story with the same characters (see the Ang Lee "Hulk" for a counter-example). I also think the story succeeds as a movie in a visual and pacing sense.
As I left the theater, my friend opined that perhaps the movie was too long. I think I agree with that assessment, in the sense that if you know the source material, it is not too long. If you are coming to the story cold, it may be a little much. That being said, I have no idea what I would trim. I think it's good that there are some flaws - especially this kind. The only disagreement may be with the length, but the pacing was good and the visual, acting etc was excellent.
Conclusion: go see it. Don't take your kids, unless they could get in on their own. Excellent movie.
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