.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

I picked up Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen about a year ago. I had heard of the book for years and with the internet already buzzing about the movie adaptation, I thought it was time I tried to jump on the bandwagon.

When the package arrived I jumped to the first few pages of the book as a child would his favorite comic. I was engrossed in the mystique of the whole thing and it didn't take me more than two hours before I was staring at the final pages.

When I was done, I sat the book down on the night table, looked at my wife and said, "I don't get it". About a week later, I read it again. And again, I must have missed the train. It was a good graphic novel. Interesting characters. But I couldn't - and still can't - understand what all the fuss was about. On Time magazine's list of the top 100 of all-time?

I did however understand why critics, fans and readers over the years have commented that the book was 'un-filmable'. Trying to relay what was on the colored pages onto the big screen just didn't seem to play out properly in our minds. The book definitely had a dark feel and mood and had characters that were named Dr. Manhattan, The Comedian and Night Owl. I wondered if filmgoers who shelled out large bucks for Batman, Iron Man and X-Men would relate to characters more flawed than flamboyant. More obscure and poorly outfitted.

Set in an alternate 1985, Watchmen tells the story of a group of costumed heroes who have been forced to give up their alter egos by a condemning human populace. When one of their own is killed, a masked vigilante by the name of Rorschach (Jackie Earl Haley) follows the clues to lead him to the killer which may or may not be trying to wipe out the remaining members of the team.

The story is much more complicated and includes the threat of nuclear annihilation, cancer, love, prison and everything else that 7 seasons of televisions 24 could pack into a boxed set. But the story is driven by the characters and Patrick Wilson (Night Owl II), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias), Billy Crudup (Dr. Manhattan) and Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre II) are exceptional at being ordinary. Some have actual powers while others just like to dress funny and take law into their own hands, but together, they are like a darkened version of the Wonder Twins with the Justice League of America. They are outsiders, but welcomed outsiders.

Stealing the movie are the characters of Rorschach and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The screen takes on new life when any of these two fill the frame and Rorschach's stint in jail was the best chapter in the movie even if it could have been cut from the film altogether to cut down on the 160 minute running time.

I don't think I have come across a film that was such a direct representation of the page. Watchmen was as if someone waved a magic wand and all the characters just came to life and did exactly as they did frame for frame in the novel. Now, normally, that is what audiences strive for, but since I wasn't a fan of the book….well, you can see where I am headed with this. I was thankful that there were a few items in the book that were not translated onto the screen (a giant squid, conversations at a newsstand), but I could have done without a lot of things.

Watchmen doesn't set itself up for a sequel and that is refreshing for a film that will probably eat our disposable cash in its opening weekend. It tells the story and then is done with the source material. For that, I have to give Snyder kudos.

But for the film as a whole, I have to rate it slightly above mediocrity.