The much anticipated adaptation of the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons certainly starts out with a bang; a violent, special effects-filled murder followed by a riveting historical montage that chronicles an alternate modern reality for the US and its masked superheroes. It lands us right smack in the middle of the 1980’s, when Richard Nixon is serving his third term in office, the Cold War is raging, and super heroes (more like humans who are super martial artists) have all gone underground or retired, following a government ban. It would be impossible for director Zack Snyder (300), to keep up this amazing spectacle for the entire duration of the two hour and 43-minute film, but he tries – he really tries, and while the movie does indeed feel a bit lengthy and rambling at times, it’s still a lot of bang for your entertainment buck.

Billy Crudup’s character, the big, blue, bald and naked Dr. Manhattan, who is the only character to be transformed into near deity by a nuclear accident, is at first intriguing and then tiresome as, basically, a world weary know-it-all. Malin Akerman is a bit too girly girl and simpering to be the kick-ass Silk Spectre II—I wondered at first if it was Anna Farris under that long black wig. But Patrick Wilson is fine as the every-man Night Owl II, and Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Hayley is transcendent as the curmudgeonly Rorschach, whose mask of ever changing inkblots fascinates through the entire film. The story line follows these characters attempting to discern who is trying to destroy them—they’re all connected in one way or another (some steamier than others), and it doesn’t take long for them to see that they’re disappearing in different ways, one by one.

While the film is dark and violent, it isn’t overwhelmingly so. Everyone has a back-story, and those stories are not pretty. Fans of the original graphic novel have high praise for the accuracy with which Snyder reproduced it on screen, and he has indeed accomplished escapist cinema at its best. He takes you on a brutal journey through another world that is at times tedious, but ultimately impressive. You won’t soon forget Watchmen.

Rated R

—Lisa Johnson Mandell