The Serial Vigilante Blog

Damn this is a really good adaptation. Snyder in a lot of ways uses the language of the superhero film to make the movie in a similar way that Alan Moore used superhero comics to make the comic. Some of the scenes refer back to earlier superhero serials/movies.
I recall seeing the some of the teaser images featuring the Minutemen – I felt as if I was looking at stills from a period serial (similar to The Batman or Captain America or Captain Marvel serials).
The second Nite-owl’s costume certainly calls to mind the various Batman outfits that have appeared in the Batman films since 1989. (I was listening to the Better in the Dark podcast looking at Zack Snyder and there is a reference to people thinking that the Watchmen trailer was for a Batman film).
Doctor Manhattan’s CGI appearance calls the mind The Silver Surfer as seen in the second Fantastic Four movie.
The Silk Spectre II costume calls to mind the costume seen in the Black Scorpion movies and TV series as well as the catsuits worn by secret agents like Cathy Gale and Emma Peel in The Avengers.
Much has been said about the opening montage that sets up the world and the changes made to the ending. The thing I was most surprised was Snyder’s choice not to use match cuts for the flashbacks. The Comedian’s funeral is good example in the graphic novel, we see a character at the funeral, in the next panel the same character is in the same pose but in a memory.
The film shows that our heroes are the peak of human conditioning capable of amazing feats (most of which are implied by the comic) some say that Snyder went too far in that direction but I feel that Snyder gave them fighting abilities that are what I imagine for characters like Tarzan or Doc Savage.
(Oh I just had flashes of Zack Snyder directed Doc Savage, Tarzan, Shadow and Remo Williams movies)
James Earle Haley steals the movie as Rorschach – but all of the performances are excellent.
This would be a great double feature with Kick Ass.