As far as book to films adaptations go, it was one of the best I’ve ever seen. There were only a few details changed and the actors they got really knew the elements of their characters. Patrick Wilson WAS Dan Dreiberg. Jeffery Dean Morgan WAS the Comedian. These people did their research and really got into the head of the character. I respect that a lot.The script used a lot of direct quotes from the comic.The sets were spot on. The costumes were directly from the page. Panel by panel, there weren’t many differences.So why then didn’t I walk out of the theater with a song in my heart and a smile on my face?It’s my opinion that you shouldn’t notice the direction. The audience shouldn’t notice it till at the very end when they take a step back and realize they were watching a film and weren’t actually in that universe (Sam Mendes comes to mind, but Christopher Nolan’s unobtrusive direction in The Dark Knight comes to mind in regards to comic book movies.) Zach Snyder made me KNOW that this was his film simply because of how steadily overdirected it was. There was no need for those slo-mo shots in every action scene. There was no need for crazy intense close ups. There was NO NEED. I haven’t seen 300 but I have seen the Dawn of the Dead remake. I liked it a lot. This film? Instead of getting better, he seems to be getting worse.Also, the use of music went very up and down for me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better opening credits sequence than this one, soundtracked by Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin,’ and All Along The Watchtower was put to good use as Dan and Rorshach approach Ozimandias’ lair, but some of the other songs made me cringe. Unforgettable backing the death of The Comedian (if you want to go balls to the wall, why not just use Send In The Clowns?) or the original version of Hallelujah providing the soundtrack to the very poingnant love scene between Dan and Laurie? Why not use a cover of the song that is less harsh? They took me right out of the movie and made me want to laugh (the amount of laughter that my theatre held during the love scene was astronomical for one reason or another.)These two major things lessened the emotional impact for me. The book is a highly intelligent look at a world in peril, these two elements made it almost farcical for me. The only sequence that was 100% as emotional as in the book was the sequence of Dr. Manhattan on Mars, flashing back on what time is. You could hear a pin drop during that scene. And it says a lot, since I don’t normally like Billy Crudup.It was entertaining, but it did not live up to the quality that I expected a film of Watchmen to have. I don’t think Snyder respected the material, and it led to a sloppy film.

As far as book to films adaptations go, it was one of the best I’ve ever seen. There were only a few details changed and the actors they got really knew the elements of their characters. Patrick Wilson WAS Dan Dreiberg. Jeffery Dean Morgan WAS the Comedian. These people did their research and really got into the head of the character. I respect that a lot.
The script used a lot of direct quotes from the comic.
The sets were spot on. The costumes were directly from the page. Panel by panel, there weren’t many differences.
So why then didn’t I walk out of the theater with a song in my heart and a smile on my face?
It’s my opinion that you shouldn’t notice the direction. The audience shouldn’t notice it till at the very end when they take a step back and realize they were watching a film and weren’t actually in that universe (Sam Mendes comes to mind, but Christopher Nolan’s unobtrusive direction in The Dark Knight comes to mind in regards to comic book movies.) Zach Snyder made me KNOW that this was his film simply because of how steadily overdirected it was. There was no need for those slo-mo shots in every action scene. There was no need for crazy intense close ups. There was NO NEED. I haven’t seen 300 but I have seen the Dawn of the Dead remake. I liked it a lot. This film? Instead of getting better, he seems to be getting worse.
Also, the use of music went very up and down for me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better opening credits sequence than this one, soundtracked by Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin,’ and All Along The Watchtower was put to good use as Dan and Rorshach approach Ozimandias’ lair, but some of the other songs made me cringe. Unforgettable backing the death of The Comedian (if you want to go balls to the wall, why not just use Send In The Clowns?) or the original version of Hallelujah providing the soundtrack to the very poingnant love scene between Dan and Laurie? Why not use a cover of the song that is less harsh? They took me right out of the movie and made me want to laugh (the amount of laughter that my theatre held during the love scene was astronomical for one reason or another.)
These two major things lessened the emotional impact for me. The book is a highly intelligent look at a world in peril, these two elements made it almost farcical for me. The only sequence that was 100% as emotional as in the book was the sequence of Dr. Manhattan on Mars, flashing back on what time is. You could hear a pin drop during that scene. And it says a lot, since I don’t normally like Billy Crudup.
It was entertaining, but it did not live up to the quality that I expected a film of Watchmen to have. I don’t think Snyder respected the material, and it led to a sloppy film.