What follows is my counterpoint to Dave's piece last week. Apologies if I repeat a few of the points I made in the podcast this week, but I felt like I came across as a bit of a idiot. I wish I could talk as well as I write! Anyway, without futher ado...

 To say Watchmen has been a long time coming is somewhat redundant, at least to the nerds. No-one outside geek culture seems to know it exists. Preliminary investigations carried out by myself over the past few weeks have mostly met with blank expression, or at best a faint glimmer of recognition at the name.

 This is the Watchmen movies first and biggest problem. Most people will have no idea of the story and philosophy behind it and see it as just another comic book movie, and when viewed as such it doesn't look good. The stench of cheese is so strong it overpowers much of the film. From the sub-matrix samey fight scenes to the circa-1980s OTT sex scene, Synders need to dazzle belittles Alan Moores intended vision.

 Watchmen was never supposed to a superhero movie, it was a heavily politicized treaty on the American era that spawned superhero culture. It's why it's often referred to as the bible of comics. It was one of the first to legitimise the medium in the eyes of the mainstream, showing the world that comics weren't just for kids anymore.

 Synders attempts to recapture the ideology of Moores masterwork works against the aforementioned pyrotechnics. If anything I wish he had either went all one way or the other as I feel his half-arsed attempt does more damage to the original vision than if a singular direction had been pursued.

 Perhaps I am being overly critical of the film, as I admittedly was zoning out towards the end of the very long 3 hour running time, glancing at my watch. In doing so I don't think I quite understood the ending. There is a LOT to take in in the film, and I believe that it will find a more appreciative audience on DVD. I'm certainly willing to give it a second chance.

 Iain