Major spoilers, ahoy!

I was pleased overall with how the movie was adapted. I could understand why they trimmed out the parts/subplots that they did and appreciated that they did at least include small references to those stories (like the newspaper stand guy and the comic book kid). I was most concerned with how Rorschach would be portrayed because he is my favorite character. I wasn’t disappointed because Jackie Earle Haley was perfect in that role (so good, in fact, that I teared up during his final scene).

I found the Dan/Laurie storyline annoyed me less in the film than it did in the book. I was willing to overlook Malin Akerman’s sometimes wooden delivery and the laughably bad sex scene because she and Patrick Wilson at least made me refrain from wanting to smack the characters. The Comedian was also well played. I had to look away during part of the scene where he attempts to rape Silk Spectre because it was so brutal. 

My problems in casting were with Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias. I normally like Billy Crudup but his vocal affectation in the film grated on me. It sounded like he was trying to impersonate someone being monotone. He’s also the voice of those Mastercard “Priceless” commercials, so I kept expecting Dr. M to say, “Nuclear War: priceless”. Ozymandias bothered me more. In the book, the character is athletic, handsome and charismatic. That’s why people have trouble believing that he’s behind everything. In the movie he looks sickly and is an outright prick. The change to his character really altered the overall dynamic of the movie.

I’m actually a big an of Zack Snyder (the director) and I thought the film’s visual style was great. But the soundtrack was really heavy handed. I actually said aloud at one point “Yeah, it’s the ’80s, Zack. We caught that.” And that bummed me out because his use of music in Dawn of the Dead was brilliant.

But I would recommend the film to people who have read the book and those who haven’t yet. The good outweighed the bad and I’m grateful that it is unlikely to break many comic loving hearts.