I watched Watchmen

I saw Watchmen last night, and just wanted to get my first thoughts out on paper. I might go see it again soon, because I did enjoy it and I feel (or hope, you decide) like there is more there. Here are some criticisms:

i) I thought some of the lines were delivered very woodenly (especially by Silk Spectre II)
ii) I'm not really sure why it was so violent, or at least why it was so violent in such a cheesy way. The graphic novel was gory but in a much less campy way. The movie is an action-drama, and the campy violence took away from it. It made me think that the rest of the movie was taking itself too seriously, when in fact this is a serious movie, and those action scenes weren't taken seriously enough.
iii) I felt as if many of the scenes could have been cut by 2-5 minutes and still have the same effect. That might have left more room for some of the minor characters of the graphic novel, like the newsstand owner, the boy reading the comic book, and the psychiatrist. Maybe this wouldn't have translated very well to screen, but my point stands about the length of some scenes.
iv) The ending pulled a Return of the King and made me think it was going to end about 4 times. The very last scene was entirely unnecessary. People might bitch about the ending (it was changed from the novel), but if they didn't dilute it by having 3 or 4 conclusion scenes, I think it would have been very strong. As it was, it still ended up with the same effect as the novel.

That being said, it did have its strong points.

i) The casting was mostly brilliant. Rorschach, Night Owl, and Dr. M were especially well chosen (even if Night Owl was a bit less old and more alpha male than I pictured him - that's Hollywood). I was unsure about Ozymandias before the movie, but I ended up liking him.
ii) The movie stayed mostly faithful to the graphic novel, even if it had to leave parts out. I felt like it preserved the feel of it.
iii) The entertainment value was high: The special effects were very good, there is some very well-done humour peppered throughout, and the characters are likable.

All in all, I'm glad I went, and I might go again or wait until the video comes out. I might be posting some more thoughts of this movie in the future.