"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

The familiar yellow smiley face with a single drop of splattered blood on it is enough to quicken the pulse of any geek because we know it can only signify one thing: Watchmen. In 1986, Alan Moore's Watchmen along with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns were the two seminal works that promised a new era of comics, that they weren't just for kids anymore. Of course, these were unique, downright transcendent works for a reason: they haven't been duplicated, nor comics taken to their heights since. So the idea of translating one of these beloved books to film puts a lot of expectation on the project (think Lord of the Rings-level fanboy anticipation).

"Failing to prevent Earth's salvation is your only triumph." --Ozymandias (Matthew Goode)

Watchmen, for all of its superhero/spandex trappings, is a murder mystery. It takes place on an alternate Earth where America won the Vietnam war, Richard Nixon (after getting rid of term limits) is still president, and occasionally people put on masks to fight crime. As Watchmen opens, Congress has just passed a bill (the Keen Act) that outlaws masked heroes except for The Comedian (Jeffrey dean Morgan) and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup)—both of whom work exclusively for the government, the latter being a walking tactical nuke. Most of the heroes were forcibly retired, except for the just-the-other-side-of-psychotic Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). After The Comedian's murder, who wore the yellow smiley as a badge, Rorschach believes there is a plot to kill "masks" and sets out to warn his former compatriots.

"What happened to us?" --Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson)

The movie is a great telling of the story&ellips; unfortunately, the story isn't what made the comic great. It was the way the story was told. The source material is essentially a novel with depth, in writing, storytelling, and characterization. It's a story that's more about characters talking than their super heroics. It's like giving Mystic River to&ellips; the guy who directed 300. And Zack Snyder doesn't let you forget that he directed 300 (including flashing 300 across the screen several times). Subtle story-telling isn't exactly in his skillset.

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