"Watchmen"
by: Paolo Sardinas

Alright well this is it, the movie we have been waiting for 23 years. This movie is Watchmen and this is my review.

The movie begins with the murder of Edward Blake a.k.a The Comedian. While investigating his murder, Rorschach a masked vigilante, discovers what he believes is a conspiracy to kill all costumed heroes. Set in an alternate 1985, Nixon has been president five times and we supposedly "won" Vietnam. As Rorschach reconnects with his former team members, only one of which has true powers find a catastrophic conspiracy with links to their pass and to the consequences for the future.

As faithful as the movie is to its source material, I can help but wonder that there is something missing. As if the incredibly stylized action sequences wasn't enough. Or the spectacular special effects. No what it is the fact that Alan Moore wrote what can be considered as the God of comic books. The novel that changed the face of comics and graphic novels forever. Sure the movie was faithful with every scene seeming as if you're reading the novel yourself. But what doesn't get through is the same message about how screwed up our society is. Moore was able to transcend the believes and the way of thinking with just this one little book. Hell the book doesn't even end off on a happy note. Basically saying that there is no happy ending to the problems of the real world, so we better just suck it up and move on.

Moving on to the more technical aspects of it all. The movie is filled with visuals that will blow you away. My only real complain is that I wish the scenes were not as choppy and cut down as they were. The camera needed to sort of show more of what was happening and not get so "up in your face" with the actors. All of which give excellent performances as the characters they play and they even look the same as the book.

Also too if there are any parents reading this please note this movie is not for children. The reason why I'm saying this is because some kids might think its a movie just about superheroes just like Spider-Man or Superman. But the reality is its not. The movie is filled with *GRAPHIC VIOLENCE*, and *GRAPHIC NUDITY*. The sex is very graphic, including an attempted rape (which is crucial to the story) and also a very heavy and stylized sex scene the comes in towards the middle of the movie. The violence is even more so graphic. So please if you have little ones, leave them at home. This is a superhero movie for adults.

Overall the movie is not terrible and is very well made. My only problem is the same message that you receive in the book isn't received the same in the movie. The scenes were too choppy, and although the movie grabs hold of you and never lets go, the running time might be a bit long for some people. Although it has problems, Zack Snyder did a job well done. B