"No compromise" — in film as in life, not a tenable position

I saw Watchmen today, on a conventional screen. I definitely want to see it a second time, in IMAX. I also want to re-read the graphic novel; I remember the story well enough to know that the movie preserved the meat of the plot despite the inevitable compression and streamlining, but I’m sure there are smaller details that might affect my opinion of the adaptation — for example, until I read a comment on cleolinda’s reaction post I’d forgotten that Rorschach’s treatment of a particular evildoer is presently differently on the page and the screen.

As for The Big Change, I think Snyder et al made the right call; the movie already runs nearly three hours without all the exposition the book’s ending would have required, and frankly, there was a real danger that it would have looked stupid, and the non-fan audience would have been too busy laughing to follow what happens afterward, or to care.

So, as of now, I am pleased and impressed; the missteps were outweighed by what they got right and the grace notes they added (my favorite detail was the muzak version of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”). Above all, I found the movie thought-provoking; on that score, at least, Alan Moore should be pleased.

(PS—I really want an animated Rorschach icon.)