Who's watching the Watchmen?

...Well me for one. I've never read the graphic novel but had to go see Watchmen because of the buzz on the Internet. I was a little taken aback by the lackluster reviews in the regular media, but decided to ignore that and go make up my own mind.

So I went last night. It was an amazing film; the alternate reality 1985, the pschotic costumed hero's. These guys put Spiderman's angst in perspective (stop whining and grow up Spidey) here are some real problems and moral dilemmas to deal with. Rauchach makes The Dark Night seem positively well balanced by comparison, well for that matter even the Joker not really in the same league of sociopath as this guy. All the watchmen are pretty screwed up in some way. Just when you manage to work up an empathy and understanding for any of these characters and think you are starting to get where they're coming from, they do things that make you cringe and a new layer of the plot is revealed.

The special effects were well done. The only one I could have done without was Nixon's nose, which looked really stupid in profile and pulled me out of the story. The fight scenes worked well; not a film for you if you don't like the sight of blood or broken bones. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the cameras weren't being slammed about the place, so I wasn't pulled out of the story by vertigo during the fight scenes in the way that I was watching the later Batman and Spiderman films.

I do wonder if the 5 minutes to midnight doomsday scenario will have the same meaning to those who weren't teenagers in the 70's, I like many of our generation grew up with that feeling of anxiety when jets flew over at night. Does that give the story more of an edge for me and others in my generation?

I did wonder if the film ended a bit after the end of the film though, it would have ended just as well for me 5 minutes before the end. I've not read that criticism from anywhere else so maybe it's just me, or it may be that it can't be discussed yet for fear of spoilers.

I may have to read the graphic novel now to see how Alan Moore really told the story and to see how it ended. Even though he has dissociated himself from the film, hopefully he'll get some recompense from the extra sales of the the book that it'll inevitably generate.

I went to the film with someone who hadn't been into the hype at all and new nothing of the comic book, but his verdict was the same as mine: A fantastic film a thought provoking rollercoaster of a movie with more depth and conviction than any of the other comic book movies.

If you haven't been yet, I'd recommend that you go see it. Tell me what you think.