A few years ago I read the original comic book Watchmen and loved it. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but the plot, characters, and the twist near the end were superb. I don’t know why I missed the 2009 film after I read it, but I did. Now I get to see how well it holds up to the legendary comic.

The film follows the plot of the comic book fairly close. It’s set in an alternate time-line in 1985 where America won the Vietnam War, and Richard Nixon won a 3rd term as president. The Watchmen were a super-hero team consisting of five skilled humans, and a super-being (the only member of the group with super-powers) known as Dr. Manhattan. After Congress ends the era of superheroes, Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian work for the government with Manhattan giving the United States a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union as his super-powers are nearly invincible.

One day the Comedian is found murdered and his former team-mate Rorschach investigates the reason as no ordinary person could defeat the Comedian alone. He then begins to suspect that someone is out for revenge on former super-heroes and warns his former allies. Rorschach must then figure out the truth before the whole world is turned upside down.

Honestly I’m feeling a little indifferent towards the movie adaptation of the Watchmen. Since I already read the comic, I knew most of the plot which wasn’t incredibly exciting. I will have to say they do keep very true to the comic except for a major difference near the end. Though people who see only the movie will mostly likely be rather lost as the comic’s plot was very complex and a little confusing. It’s a little hard to recommend to others, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.