Watchmen (the movie)

It's here, and I've seen it
I have just come home from watching Watchmen at my local cinema. I am still dazzled by its awesomeness, even though the reel I've watched is now two miles away and no longer turning for the day.

It's just sooooo awesome
Everyone and everything in this film, everyone who worked behind the scenes on this film, are incredible.

Working as an adaptation
I have read the graphic novel, and I know there are some parts from it that were not in the film, but I'm not having a fit over that. The film is perfect as it is.

One thing I've learnt as I've gradually been tutored in scriptwriting, is that adaptations are tricky things. For instance, a novel can describe things that cannot really be done artfully in a film, such as the interior workings of a character's mind.

Or there are just things in the original, which are just there because the author/writer can get away with it in the original medium. These artefacts, quite often, will not add to a film, once the story has been properly refined for this visual medium. The pirate sub-story in the original comics/graphic novel of Watchmen is an example of this, as well as the squid.

Or the original source material is just far too long and overly complicated in places, if not all of it. Lord of the Rings anyone?

So the film works?
Damn right it does. I thought The Dark Knight last year was brilliant, and it still is, but Watchmen has upped the game in comic book adaptations even more. The bar has been raised, along with people's expectations.

Future comic book films beware.

Go see it
Now if you haven't seen the film, go and see it. The film has been rated 18 by the BBFC in the UK. It deserves this rating. This film is not suitable for those younger than 18 years. I'm glad that things have not been censored and cut, so that Snyder's (the director's) vision of the graphic novel is intact.

Forget about the fact that Alan Moore doesn't really support it. He doesn't support any adaptations of his work anymore (ok, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen wasn't that good, but it's not the worst film in existence, and not the worst adaptation either).

Related links
Official Watchmen film website
Wiki entry on Watchmen film
My review of Watchmen graphic novel