Watchmen
Ok, this one has a huge heritage to live up to. Seen by many as the greatest Graphic Novel ever written, it has a huge following and is seen as unfilmable by the author. Would it be safe in the hands of the director of "300"
Could it live up to the hype.......of course it can't nobody could condense every idea from that novel into 3 hours, but who cares.
It bloody rocks.
It's an alternate 1985, tricky dicky is still in charge and the USA is on the brink of a nuclear disaster. Rorschach is one of the only "Superheroes" still plying his trade as Masks are outlawed. He starts off investigating the death of the "Comedian" a fellow hero from the glory days and uncovers a conspiracy that threatens the entire world.
Watching the film it is obvious that the director has a real love for the Graphic novel, there are iconic shots that mirror the comic panels very closely, from the initial comedian out the window to Rorschah's ever shifting mask, to the nite owls ship etc etc etc are all just like you remember from the novel. My main concern is that unless you have read the Graphic Novel you might be lost. Is it accessible to newbies...probably not.
It's certainly dialog heavy (it needs to be) and the horned in fight scenes are all thrilling with occasional slow mo (not overdone thank god), the sound track an eclectic range of 80's tunes to accompany the action.
Visually it is stunning, with some amazing SFX on Dr Manhatten.
It's an amazing attempt to film the unfilmable and a very enjoyable film to boot. Not your typical comic book movie.
Just don't expect it to be the Graphic Novel.
9/10