As a big fan of the comic book, I've been looking forward to watching this movie for a long time. I have to admit that I was the tiniest bit disappointed that it was not a shot for shot, word for word retelling of the the source material.Jackie Haley play Rorschach, a vigilante in an alternate 1985 where superheroes exist. When a former colleague of his is murdered under mysterious circumstances, he uncovers a conspiracy that could change the course of world history.
Watchmen features a number of well thought out and interesting characters, however, some of the performances are noticeably lackluster. Malin Akerman's take on the heroine Silk Spectre II is stiff, even painfully dull at some points. However, Jackie Haley is stellar as Rorschach, giving a performance that is at times touching and at others downright terrifying. The other acts by Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson and Matthew Goode are not as good as Haley's but are still impressive in their own right.
One of my favorite parts about this movie is how it portrays it's characters. Their not just masks, their people behind the masks and the movie does a good job showing how each character struggles to live a normal life behind their costumes.
My biggest problem with this movie is the dirction by Zack Snyder (300). Let's be perfectly honest: he's a action director. I don't have any problem with this, but Watchmen is not supposed to be centered around action. It's the mystery, the intrigue, the subtlety that make it such a compelling story.
Overall rating: 3 out of four stars. It's a good movie despite a wooden performance and an inappropriate direction style.
Reference scale:
Captain America < Watchmen < The Dark Knight
