As surprised as I am to say it, I really enjoyed Watchmen.

My judgement has obviously been influenced by the expectations that I've had since first hearing that a movie was being made of what I believe is the most intricately crafted marriage of words and images. I was initially upset that they were even trying because I knew that a huge part of what makes Watchmen so incredible is its format. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons used the panels and frames of comic books to enhance the power of the narrative. Not only that, but there are so many layers in the book (between the primary and secondary narratives, the "archival" material, the comic book with a comic book, etc.). I knew not to expect the movie to live up to the book, no matter what genius was given the job.

I grew more skeptical when I found out that Zach Snyder, "visonary director of 300," was given the task of directing. To be honest, I've never seen 300, but I had heard terrible things about it and didn't bother watching it. (I suppose if based my interest solely on what people told me about Watchmen, I wouldn't have gone to see it either.) But before I went to see Watchmen, I looked up Zach Snyder and found out that he also directed the most recent Dawn of the Dead, which I loved. I'm reassessing my opinion of this guy (although I still think "visionary" is a bit over the top) and am in the process of acquiring 300.

I expected to be disappointed by the movie because I had read the book, but I think the opposite ended up being true. The movie was a jam-packed two hours and forty minutes, and contained so much information, so many characters, and so much plot, that it would have been really, really hard to follow without any previous knowledge of the story. Conveniently, I'd forgotten the ending, which kept it from being predictable or boring.

Since watching it last night, I reread the book and was really thrilled by how much of the material they used and how well they used it. The medium is obviously different, and in some ways, the plot and objectives of the movie are too. Despite this, it manages to stay true to the original, in some ways by knowing that it can't live up to it. There's lots of distracting graphic sex and violence (no complaints from me), but considering the audience, it's expected. It was fun to watch. The only issue I had was that my ass was numb by the end of it.

I recommend reading the book, especially if you plan to watch the movie/even if you don't plan to watch the movie. There are a lot of details that made their way to the film adaptation, which are fun to notice, and the plot and characters will have more depth than they're allowed in the film alone.

I hate to ruin the expectations I had of my response to this movie but... I kind of want to see it again.