@saintwildcard: 'To hate the movie is to hate the comic.'
100% wrong.
The movie either contradicts or otherwise distracts from the themes and tones that made the book so great.
Prime example, Snyder's weird 'violence fetish'. Due to this strange inclination, the ageig-should-be-fat- nite owl and spetre are unnecessarily brutal in both of their big fight scenes, which weren't even supposed to be 'big' fight scenes which was the point (and if I remember right they even killed someone[s]) and they relish SOLEY in that fact. Instead of it merely being a thrill that gives owl the confidence to shake off (or arguably step into) his midlife crisis rut, they now seem visably aroused by the maiming of criminals (an act which WAS unique to Rorschach and part of the reason he was met with apprehension and feared by the hero community). They're no longer morally complex people but are strangely bloodthirsty 2D do-gooders. To add to that, the stylized violence makes these regular people seem like supermen instead of regular people which is one of the main tenets that made the story work. No more ordinary people doing extraordinary things by living out thrill seeking and at times self-indulgent fantasies. That part being pointed out by comedian is one of the biggest points of criticism from the book. He blatantly calls out those old super tropes that other comics were steeped in.
Also there's the fact that Adrian telegraphs his 'evil' intent. It's little suprise that he's the 'villain'. He also is decidely less remorseful in his act making it harder to see him as anything other than a villain. Which RUINS the point of the character. Adrian was a warm, compassionate character. No doubt until the end he was a good, and at they very least no reason to suspect he has some 'nefarious' sceme right away.
There's so much more but I don't want to derail the thread. The sum is, the movie focuses on all the wrong things and the story suffers immensely for it, and the subtle changes in character personalities holds them back from being fully fleshed as they were in the source material.
I would go as far to say you AREN'T a fan of the original work if you think the movie is one and the same in terms of quality.
I don't mind things changing in movie adaptations, most times I prefer to see somethig different than what i have already read. But these changes affect the themes that made watchmen watchmen. There were careless changes made by those two over eager writers and one over eager director.
That being said...Rorschach was perfect, and comedian was good which is a shame because the rest of the movie was trash.
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