Zack Snyders adaptation of Watchmen, long considered to be a genuinely unfilmable comic book, split opinion on release. It also didn't quite live up to being the adult-orientated smash hit that the powers that be at Warner Bros. and Paramount probably hoped it would be after The Dark Knight had cleaned up at the box office. For my money though, Watchmen is the single most impressive film released from the DC stable so far, and yes, I am including Nolans Bat-trilogy in that sweeping statement. Lower those Batarangs though. The fact is that theres no other comic book movie quite like Watchmen, and as both an individual piece of film making and a comic book adaptation (not to mention a translation to screen of a beloved piece of contemporary literature), it succeeds on many more levels than any other DC film you could care to name. Controversial, I know, but hopefully you'll see where Im coming from.
7. It Nails The Book's Tone
When it was released in the 1980s, Watchmen was meant to be a dark, unsettling antidote to the primary coloured super-antics of the mainstream heroes popular at the time. In that respect the film arguably succeeds even more than the much-revered book it brings to life. Snyders Watchmen is every bit as dirty, mangled, morally grey and blood-spattered as his source material ever was, showing just how real and vulnerable these characters are with a series of shocking showdowns and devastating quiet moments that explore expectation, loneliness, war and duty amongst other themes. Parts of Watchmen (the book) are breath-taking, and the film makes sure those moments still hit hard. Whether its the ramifications of Ozymandias end-game, the reveal that the heroes are too late to save the day for once or the brutality of real, bone-snapping violence between two people who lack actual superpowers, Watchmen unflinchingly brings all these things to the screen. For fans of the book, no part of Watchmen jars tonally or feels unnecessary. Everything is in its place and everything is as it should be to properly honour such a fantastic book. How many other film adaptations can say that?