I think this is one of the best adaptations I've ever seen. Of course they couldn't do every single thing; they couldn't lavish time on the prison psychiatrist's home life and the reading of pirate comics. A few small characters dropped away or were condensed into one.  And this being Hollywood, the ending wasn't exactly the same.

But in many ways, the revisions were better. They accomplished an immense amount of backstory during the opening credits, and it didn't become boring. Many of the later changes were merely more concise than the book, but some were actually more clever. Few things became bigger than they were in the book, and I liked that. The only jarring thing to me was that some of the between-the-panels stuff came out, and it became much more explicit. If you absolutely can't handle the idea of hearing bones break, don't go see this movie.

Many lines--particularly Rorschach's--were verbatim from the book. Many of the characters designs were as well; the biggest departure is that of Silk Spectre II. Let's face it, the original skimpsuit was not all that attractive, and it definitely didn't look wearable. (How would it stay on? This in the book in which someone thinks hard about how to attach a mask properly.) They clearly took pains to make the actors look like the characters; at least two actors didn't have their natural hair color.

The performances were overall very impressive. I loved Nite Owl II and Dr. Manhattan. Rorschach's voice wasn't what I expected, but I came to like it and by the end thought Jackie Earle Haley was a hell of an actor. The Comedian was excellent; that's a tough role. Ozymandias was good, although I thought he looked a bit too skinny. It's kind of hard to find a cast of such little-known actors these days (the biggest stars were Billy Crudup and Matt Frewer, if that gives you any idea) and seeing casting this good makes you wonder why anyone bothers with big names. They were superb.

I really recommend it.

Sweety and I saw the Rorschach profile on Heroes (complete with a plug that calls Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, Silk Spectre II et al "The Watchmen," like it's a team name). Although we liked most of what we saw of Rorschach, I was disappointed to hear all the characters say "Ror-shack." I've always said "Ror-shock," and given the "raw shark" joke in the book, that seems correct to me.

I mentioned it to Sweety, who said, "Oh, me too. But doesn't it make you want to sing 'Ror-shack! Baby Ror-shack!' to the tune of 'Love Shack'?"

( And you know, it does. )

I almost went with a version that kept more of the original text and focused on his sexual repression, but this stuff scanned more easily. Someone better at filking could probably work in the dog, too. But hey, at least it's up in time for the advance screening now.

May Alan Moore, David Gibbons, and the B-52s forgive me.