No giant squid. WHAT THE HELL, WATCHMEN.

Watchmen was good...

EXCEPT FOR THE DISTINCTLY GIANT SQUID-LESS ENDING.

Not cool.

Aside from that major flaw, the movie was really really good. Of course the brilliance of the graphic novel couldn't be translated to film, but I think it was well-done and true to the comic. It was really violent, and there is a graphic rape scene. It is R for a reason. But none of the violence was gratuitous. It's struck me as odd that many reviewers say the violence is really amped up for the movie and a lot more intense than it was in the GN. I didn't find that to be the case at all. I think the difference between violence on paper and violence surrounding you is that you can kind of glance over or ignore a fight scene in a comic, but you can't do that in a movie theatre. So even though the violence is the same, how you perceive it changes with the medium. For me, it was equally violent in both.

I'm impressed that the movie was as good as it was considering how dense and layered the GN was and how much they had to pack in. The weakest moments were when things were too condensed to be really good and effective. For the most part, the acting was great. Jackie Earle Haley was incredible as Rorschach. Better than Heath Ledger in Dark Knight. And the scenery, especially on Mars, was amazing. SO PRETTY. Like in the GN, there is a lot to look at and take in.

So yeah, it's a really good movie. Definitely read the GN before you see it, though.

Also, I just realized I never went over the plot or anything. Basically, it was written by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in 1987, and it is set in alternate reality 1985, where the existence of costumed vigilantes has changed history. HOWEVER, these people, the main characters, are not superheroes. They are flawed. There are no good guys or bad guys. Morality is not black and white. You are not supposed to root for any of these people. You are not even supposed to identify with them, or feel sympathy for them. They are freaks who like to dress up. It is what superheroes would be like if they actually existed. So basically, the world is on the brink of nuclear war, and the GN is really about how these different people react to the end of the world. Also, it has a giant squid.

Read. Watch.