Popcorn Post: *Insert "Watching The Watchmen" Pun Here*

N.B. I'm reviewing this movie from a point of view where I haven't read the graphic novel, or researched many of the characters or any of the plot beforehand. So this may sound noob-ish. You have been warned.

Nixon is in his third term in office. America has won the war in Vietnam. Cold War tensions between Russia and the United States escalate.
One false move and the world could go up in a pile of smoke. Cities burn, Children die, and nothing remains.

But who can stop it all? Who will save the world? Is there anyone out there?

And this, my dear friends, is where the Watchmen step in. The heroes of this tale are masked avengers, with extra-ordinary powers, fighting abilities, and gadgets, designed to stop the slumming of society.
But who watches the watchmen? One by one, they drop like flys, past and present vigilantes being slaughtered by a killer on the run.

The remaining Watchmen, Rorschach [Played by Jackie Earle Haley, who plays the part very well; and revels in the role of the dark-humourist of the movie], Dr Manhattan [Billy Crudup; who reminds me of a cross between Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory and The Crazy Frog (who is also blue, and exposes his gigglestick at every possible occasion )], Dan Dreiberg/Nite Owl [who reminds me of a Patrick Stump sort of figure (yes, he's a bit of a nerd; but at heart he's the coolest thing on earth)], and The Silk Spectre [The hottie of the film. mmmm-mmm.], all convene to overcome the evil- which turns out to come from a source a little closer to home than they think.

All the actors portray their characters brilliantly; all of them having good moments of dark-humour, and all portraying brilliant physical skills. A big part of this movie, which stems from all the subtext BEHIND the characters, is the allegory. The inner thoughs behind them that are not just the usual "I'm a character who's oh-so-conflicted", but actually make the viewer think; in almost a sympathetic and reminiscent way.

The movie has a good tone as a whole. The drama is gripping, the characters engaging, and yes, there is sex. The scene in question is slightly surreal. In the bad way. A friend had told me that there was a scene of a sexual nature set to "Hallelujah". In my head, I had imagined a tasteful, slow-mo, black-and-white scene, set to Rufus Wainwright's rendition of the ever-present [or so it seems nowadays] song.
The real thing could not have been more different. All it really was, was two of the characters having a good old bonk to [wait for this, you'll pee yourself] LEONARD COHEN'S VERSION of the song. Yes, I'll admit, it made me giggle like a five-year-old school boy.

Obviously, with the emotional turmoil in the film, there IS some violence. Just moderate stuff. Like chopping off peoples arms and stabbing into people's head with circular saws. Just the average stuff.

If you know me, you'd know that I avoided the film for a while for various reasons (the main one being that a band that I have a love-hate relationship with was said to have a major part in the film), but I was wrong to do so. This is a masterpiece of a film. The special effects are incredible, the plot is thrilling, and each of the characters manages to suspend the disbelief PERFECTLY. This has the potential to be one of the best movies I've seen...

Rating: 8/10