Who will watch the Watchmen?

Well, I will, for one.

Yesterday, Cheryl and I had lunch with Zombyboy. After that, we went to see Watchmen on the giant screen, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought casting and makeup were quite good; the major characters looked like I remembered them from the book (although it has been a few years since I’ve read it). I knew going into it that the ending was changed from the book, but it worked as well, if not better, than the original ending would have. The original ending would have required more setup to make it work, and the movie was long enough already.

One other change from what I remembered was the riot scene – I was hoping to see Dr. Manhattan explain that it was not a request when he told the rioters, “You will all go home.” I also didn’t remember the flamethrower scene (you’ll know which one). Those are minor changes, though.

I’m not a purist; I understand that movies can’t always follow the story they’re developed from faithfully. This one did fairly well. It didn’t match the book as closely as The Maltese Falcon matched its book, but neither was it as poor a rendition as was Starship Troopers.

Overall, a good movie. Even if I won’t be waiting for the DVD release with bated breath, I still would enjoy seeing it again.

By the way, I suppose I should mention that I’ve lusted after Rorschach’s mask since I first saw the book.

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