2009 (Zack Snyder) 18A, 161 min
Starring: Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson

One of the comic books that started the graphic novel boom in the ’80s finally gets its movie. Watchmen is a sprawling, episodic commentary on comic books, ’80s nuclear paranoia and the moral obligations of superheroes. When an old superhero is murdered, vigilante Rorschach (Haley) suspects a conspiracy; status quo-supporting Nite Owl (Wilson) worries about tomorrow; and atomic-powered demi-god Dr. Manhattan (Crudup) is lost in the abstractions. It’s a whodunit wrapped in a what-if: if a mortal feels superior enough to wear a costume and impose a moral code on the world, is he too distant from society to be trusted? Director Snyder is too faithful to the literal details, missing the questioning heart of the book, but succeeds brilliantly in breathing life into its rich details — the production values are the movie's real triumph. If you can stomach the ridiculous violence, the reward is a stunning spectacle.