Watchmen

[amzrigh]

So, I finally saw Watchmen last night. I think that, as a feature-length interpretation of the book, it did amazingly well. There are some elements that I could nitpick, and some artistic choices which, while I would have done differently, I can understand why they were made.
Biggest props to casting and makeup, though, for picking just the right people for the roles and making them look just like their comic counterparts - especially the character of Dan Dreiberg.

• The way in which Rorschach dealt with the little girl's murderer, while certainly more gruesome in the film, does not really illustrate a change in his character. I mean, I think that almost anyone, if driven far enough, could go berserk. That's simply a loss of control. In the book, Rorschach is "born" much more cruel and calculated, which is a key aspect of his character; going into a rage is not.
• Making Laurie's epiphany about her father into a deus ex machina felt like a cop-out. Maybe that slow build-up isn't something you can do well in cinema when it's just one element of an already-complicated plot.
• Sound of Silence would have fit the soundtrack better, I think, had it still been the squid.
• Speaking of the squid, I can understand why they didn't use it, since forgoing the missing persons subplot (which, on its own, isn't a very large part of the story) means no indication of the book's version of the Karnak project, so the squid would just be appearing out of nowhere. However, I would think humanity would be more likely to unite against an outside threat than an internal one - take, for instance, the differing reactions of US citizens to the bombing of the Murrah Building (committed by an American) and the WTC (committed by foreigners). Instead choosing to frame Dr. Manhattan for the devastation, it seems to me like a much more likely outcome would be that the rest of the world becomes united against the US - an enemy much more easily and quickly dealt with than a creature from some other planet or plane which mankind could not reach, and thus be unable to retaliate and eliminate the threat.
• I'm glad they included the "it's never over" line, but it carried a lot more weight in its original context.