I would've written the review last night, but the movie was about 2 hours long, plus an hour or so hanging out with my friends afterward meant I didn't get back home till about 4. In other words, I was VERY tired Friday. But now that I'm more awake, here's my spoiler-free review. And since this film is Rated R, I'll be careful about what I discuss.

 

Pros:

• Soundtrack - Watchmen has what has to be one of the best opening sequences I've seen in a long time. Excellent use of music, imagery, and light humor helps the audience become quickly accustomed to the universe in which the movie exists. And from there, the film puts together a varied soundtrack that uses easily recognizable tracks to somewhat parody the atmosphere of the scene in which they play. You'll come out of this movie wanting to listen to the full CD.
• Characters - With the exception of Dr. Manhatten, there isn't a single superpowered character in this movie. And that's what makes it so entertaining. You get to know the characters primarily as their real-world personas, with their superhero lives almost being the "other" story that we occasionally look in on. Even when fighting crime, characters refer to each other by their first names (except for Rorshach...who nobody knows). And while some of the backstory is a little light in places, you still get a feel for the type of person each one is.
• Surprises - There are some fun twists in this one. One of which actually makes you go "Oh...wow!" A few potential surprises seem telegraphed, but otherwise the film does a good job of keeping you guessing as to what's going on, and trying to solve the mystery along with the heroes.

Cons:

• Uh... - This is an R-Rated movie. So keep that in mind when going with your group. Definately not a superhero movie to take the kiddies too. Aside from the elements that make it R-Rated, most children would likely not understand what's going on anyway.
• Pacing - The early parts of the movie focus on developing the backstory for the universe and it's characters. And at times this can lead to the viewers losing track of the main story (the murder mystery). But if you can make it through this portion of the film, you'll be rewarded when the second half kicks into gear.
• History - This film takes place in the 60s and 80s, creating an alternate history for the US (And the rest of the world). The opening sequence is entertaining in its own right, but becomes moreso once you begin to understand the history behind each scene. However, this leads to a number of pop culture references that can cause the humor to get lost on some viewers. There were a few jokes where I'd sit quietly and watch people around me laugh with no idea why. Also, the Nixon impersonation in this film is terrible...to the point where I was beginning to wonder if it wasn't intentional.

My overall verdict, however, is to go see it. If you're a fan of the superhero/comic book film genre, you owe it to yourself to see this. It's not as action packed as you would expect, but the story is pretty deep. And as far as the revised ending is concerned, I never read the novel. But with that in mind, the new ending still made perfect sense to me. Take that with a grain of salt though...as I really didn't care that Optimus had flames either.