Watchmen, the graphic novel, is deeper, richer, and more rewarding than the film (no surprise there), but the film does the best it can do in the longer-than-average time alloted to a movie. It's Well worth the price of admission.

When I read Watchmen ten or more years ago, it was the Rorschach character that grabbed my imagination and anchored the story. He does the same in the movie. Imagine if Humphrey Bogart had taken on a role like this, and you'll get an idea of how Jackie Earle Haley comes across as Rorschach in this movie, as he tries to solve the murder of a former masked costumed adventurer, the Comedian.

The curious world of the Watchmen is a place were RIchard Nixon didn't meet his Waterloo Watergate and went on to win a fifth term. It's a world where heroes are not so pure, and motivations are not so clear. It's a world where the nuclear arms race continues unchecked, and is complicated by the existence of Dr. Manhatten, a USA superhero who can manipulate matter, but is loosing touch with his humanity. It's about reconciling the past with the present.

Watchmen is violent, gritty, and engaging. Who watches the Watchmen? That would be me.