The ending's not really better than the original, but it's acceptable and I understood why they did it that way. The major casualty is that noone dies
from what happened that we care about, but that's more due to lack of time than anything. An extra scene with the psychologist and his family would've
done a lot for that scene (maybe cut the overlong sex scene in half to make up for it). While I agree with or don't mind most of the changes, I really
disliked at the over-the-top violence in the fight between Dan and Laurie and the street thugs. It was uncomfortable, served no purpose except making the
viewer wonder exactly what is the difference between them and Rorschach, and to top it all off, was not even consistent because they had a clean,
non-murderous, "Batman" fight scene later on in the prison break scene. Just a bad idea all around. The soundtrack was also just a little too cute at
times (it was pretty bad in the funeral and Owlshipsex scenes especially), but that is forgiven because of the stupendous opening montage and Dr. Manhattan
vapourising Viet Cong to Flight of the Valkyries.
It is unfortunate that the director clearly hated Ozymandias; he's a complex character in the book, but pretty much a cardboard cutout villain without any
subtlety in the movie (which makes his "I'm not a comic book supervillain" line rather droll). Of all the changes, that one I think hurt the film
compared to the book the most, but I think it's been pretty obvious that's where they were going since the first promotional shots came out showing
Ozy.
On the good side, Nite Owl, Rorscach, and Manhattan were steller performances by the actor's involved, especially Rorscach, who coaxed something compelling
out of lines and scenes that could easily have come off painfully cheesy.
Overall, it's a good movie, but it's not great. Certainly better than the average and worth seeing, but flawed and ultimately not really very deep
(probably because most of Watchmen's depth came from the intricate character studies that the movie didn't have time to do, not from the plot that it
did).
However, as a shameless fan, I will forgive all of that and a lot else just for the opening montage. That was worth the price of admission alone.
from what happened that we care about, but that's more due to lack of time than anything. An extra scene with the psychologist and his family would've
done a lot for that scene (maybe cut the overlong sex scene in half to make up for it). While I agree with or don't mind most of the changes, I really
disliked at the over-the-top violence in the fight between Dan and Laurie and the street thugs. It was uncomfortable, served no purpose except making the
viewer wonder exactly what is the difference between them and Rorschach, and to top it all off, was not even consistent because they had a clean,
non-murderous, "Batman" fight scene later on in the prison break scene. Just a bad idea all around. The soundtrack was also just a little too cute at
times (it was pretty bad in the funeral and Owlshipsex scenes especially), but that is forgiven because of the stupendous opening montage and Dr. Manhattan
vapourising Viet Cong to Flight of the Valkyries.
It is unfortunate that the director clearly hated Ozymandias; he's a complex character in the book, but pretty much a cardboard cutout villain without any
subtlety in the movie (which makes his "I'm not a comic book supervillain" line rather droll). Of all the changes, that one I think hurt the film
compared to the book the most, but I think it's been pretty obvious that's where they were going since the first promotional shots came out showing
Ozy.
On the good side, Nite Owl, Rorscach, and Manhattan were steller performances by the actor's involved, especially Rorscach, who coaxed something compelling
out of lines and scenes that could easily have come off painfully cheesy.
Overall, it's a good movie, but it's not great. Certainly better than the average and worth seeing, but flawed and ultimately not really very deep
(probably because most of Watchmen's depth came from the intricate character studies that the movie didn't have time to do, not from the plot that it
did).
However, as a shameless fan, I will forgive all of that and a lot else just for the opening montage. That was worth the price of admission alone.