Watchmen is not an epic Spiderman or Ironman-esque superhero movie, it is the type of movie where the villain is a hero and you are lucky if you can keep up with why and when a character has made a certain decision. Granted, certain characters were very well developed. Rorschach, for example, was probably the best-developed character in the movie-a hero desperately trying to make the right decision while faced with the atrocities and realities of an imperfect world, and pushed to the point where he practically becomes a villain himself.

In contrast, there were characters like Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II that lacked dimension and character. Little was explained about why Silk Spectre II was even working as a vigilante, granted she was following in her mother’s footsteps. But is it really believable that a woman who would choose a mortal over a demi-god, is going to put her mother’s wishes before her own? I just don’t buy it. If she was just meant to be a sex symbol and eye candy then I get it, and she served her purpose. Dr. Manhattan, on the other hand, was a character whose history was explained, but he still felt cold and flat. He seemed alienated from the different characters around him, and the scene in which he told Silk Spectre II who her father was felt very insincere.

Without enough background information, I had a really hard time trying to follow the plot. Despite three hours, it still didn’t seem like there was enough time to explain everything that was going on. The background provided by the scenes with the Minutemen, while offering some insight into Silk Spectre I and providing more information about The Comedian’s exploits, could have been edited out, and the plot still could have stood on its feet. But, a contemporary society in which Nixon is in his third term (and trying to decide if he could part with the Northeastern coast of the United States) I feel warranted a little more screen time. Little was explained about why there was a law against superheroes wearing masks either, unless it was a consequence of The Comedian’s tendency to mow down civilians.

So this isn’t your typical superhero plot; however, the movie isn’t without its redeeming qualities. The conclusion was the most notable feature: how often do you see a major motion picture in which your would-be savior has to become the villain, is forced to flee, and the protagonist actually makes an incredibly hard decision sacrificing the few for the sake ofmany? When was the last time Spiderman sacrificed millions of people in major cities all around the world to save billions of people from nuclear war? In addition to the film’s impressive ending, the graphics and computer-generated effects were really impressive. The opening scene, in which The Comedian falls several stories after having been pushed through a plate glass window was a visual masterpiece.