The emergence of the so-called comic book movie phenomenon has brought a great deal to moviemaking and a marked change on public opinion’s view of the comic book sub-culture. No longer the domain of nerds and kids, the stories of these superheroes brought to the silver screen have become an important part of our popular culture, and in the process making moviemakers very rich and successful. So it is no surprise that riding this wave of success that the most important “comic book” of the last twenty-five years, Watchmen, was finally brought to life this year, but in truth classifying Watchmen as a mere comic book is in fact unfair.

Part philosophy book, part history lesson, part mythology all wrapped into one, Watchmen represents the zenith of the graphic novel genre, brilliantly turns the entire superhero mythology on its ear by asking the question no one has been brave enough to ask; could even super men and women save humanity from its own depravity and zeal for self-destruction? Is humanity beyond saving? For certain, bringing a work of art with a scope as vast as Watchmen is a daunting task to say the least, but Director Zach Snyder and his crew do an admirable but flawed job at capturing its essence and bringing it to film.

As someone who as read the novel prior to having seen the film, I found early on that one of the most striking aspects of it was how faithful it was to the book. While many of the comic book movies have liberally modified the original stories to fit the director’s vision, Snyder clearly sought to remain as true to form as possible. Indeed, following the opening sequences I was amazed how at times the movie played out scene for scene and even line for line from the book. While oftentimes such dedication to the original work can lead to the downfall of a film, I found the opposite to be true for Watchmen. Instead of encumbering the film the heavy use of the original text, this technique actually helped maintain the author’s true voice and meaning throughout, seldom losing focus and driving home the essential truths of the book. For certain, Snyder did his very best to let Alan Moore’s masterpiece speak for itself, allowing his words to rule the day. My only complaint was that there simply was not enough time to fully explain the author’s full message, but already at two and a half hours, Snyder can be forgiven for that.

More than just the story itself, Watchmen at times looks and felt remarkably like how I had imagined it would be in living action. From the sets, to the costumes, and finally even the actors themselves, Watchmen really looked like its textual counterpart. In particular, I found this best exemplified in Jackie Earle Haley’s performance as Rorschach. Comparing him even with his mask off I could not believe how strikingly similar they looked, but more importantly how he acted the part was even more astonishing. Between his journal entries and dialogue with his fellow masked avengers, Haley makes the audience feel Rorsarch’s disdain for the current state of mankind with every scene. It is clear Haley and the rest of the cast shares in Snyder’s vision and give everything to their roles.

However plenty the merits of Watchmen are, it is not without its blemishes. In particular the music soundtrack I felt was sophomoric at best. As a period piece of the latter part of the 20th century I anticipated the music being familiar sounding, but at times the song selections were just bad rip-offs. Selections like Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” and Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” were tired and unoriginal, stolen from great movies in hopes of their greatness rubbing off on this film. Indeed, as signature songs in landmark films like “The Graduate” and “Apocalypse Now” I found it a bit insulting that they used these songs instead of seeking to find their own identity. Indeed, just as those songs did for those films, an inspired song can cement a scene’s greatness in movie history, but instead the filmmakers chose to borrow someone else’s greatness. Although there was one good selection, Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable” during the opening sequence where the Comedian is killed, dripping with delicious irony, I found this to be the exception rather than the rule. For the most part the music gave an uninspired sound to an otherwise wonderful film.

With a book as vast and as deep as Watchmen it is no easy task to fully capture the essence of work, but in many ways Snyder did just that in this film. While some of the work could never fully be realized on screen accurately the makers of this incarnation did an admirable job as ever to capture what Watchmen is all about without getting muddled in details and losing focus. It is not a film for everyone, filled with grotesque violence and unspeakable acts, but for those who have the stomach will be delighted in finding a really thoughtful and thought-provoking film. While Watchmen depicts an alternate universe where superheroes are real, the viewer cannot help but see the same problems on the film as they are in reality and whether we can avoid a similar fate.