Watchmen is set in an alternate timeline version of 1985 where Richard Nixon is still president after being elected five times. Following an outcry from the public, masked vigilantes have been outlawed. The U.S. is on the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. In New York City, The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a former vigilante, is murdered -- beaten to a pulp and thrown from his apartment window. Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), the one remaining vigilante who is still active, begins to investigate the murder. He becomes convinced that someone is killing "masks" and reports this to his old partner, Dan Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson), who once fought crime as Nite Owl. Rorschach also approaches Laurie Jupiter (Malin Akerman) and Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup). Of all of the "Watchmen", Dr. Manhattan is the only one with true super-powers -- he is an omnipotent being who can teleport and reshape matter. His powers allowed the U.S. to win the Vietnam War and his presence is a major deterrent to nuclear armageddon. Rorschach's investigation begins to reveal clues, but it also opens old wounds amongst the former crime-fighters. Some will run away from their problems, some will come out of hiding, but all will face a conspiracy which could destroy the world.

Next, we have the cast. Watchmen presents us with a group of recognizable actors, none of whom are truly movie stars. The suddenly back from nowhere Jackie Earle Haley actually gets the most screen-time here, as Rorschach serves as the film's narrator. Of course, Haley's face is covered for most of the film, so his performance is hard to gauge, but his narration is right on. Billy Crudup is in a similar situation, as he only appears in his human form for a few moments in the film. As with Haley, he must use his voice to convey his emotions and this works out well. Patrick Wilson is nearly unrecognizable at the nerdy Dan Dreiberg, but this helps his transformation to Nite Owl have more impact. The weak link here is Malin Akerman. I have nothing against her, but she's a decidedly bland actress and she doesn't add much depth to Laurie. The stand-out here is Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He usually plays likable characters, so the amount of apathy and rage that he brings to his role at The Comedian is commendable and most viewers will have a very strong reaction to him.

Finally, we have the story. Again, having experienced the Motion Comic, I was familiar with the story and the movie, especially the Director's Cut, does a great job of encompassing most of the major ideas and subplots from the comic. There are be those who decry the loss of the newsstand guys, Tales of the Black Freighter, and Dr. Long's home-life, but the last thing that this movie needed was more story. As fan's of the comic no doubt know, the third act was altered somewhat. The main idea is the same, but there have been some changes, some good, some bad. I admire the fact that the movie stuck to the comic's non-linear storytelling style and that it takes its time and lets us get to know the characters. At no point does the movie spoon-feed the audience. If you don't get certainly subtleties such as the alternate timeline or the outlawing of vigilantes, then you will be lost from the get-go. Those hoping for all-out super-hero action will be disappointed, as there isn't a true action scene until over 90 minutes into the film.

At this point, I'm of two minds on Watchmen. As a movie-going experience, I was satisfied. The movie is beautiful and the set-pieces are well-done. And kudos to any movie which can take a character like Rorschach and make him the most likeable of the bunch. However, this 3-hour cut does drag in places. Also, while Watchmen was groundbreaking 25 years ago, so many other films have stolen its themes that some of Watchmen feels stale. Nonetheless, this movie is worth experiencing, if nothing else, to see the movie which was considered "unfilmable".

Watchmen doesn't bother to wear pants around the lab on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Warner Home Video. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains a VC-1 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 20 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing only a very mild amount of grain at times and no defects from the source material. This movie has a somewhat dark look to it, but the colors really stand out, especially Silk Spectre's costume and the famous yellow button. Having said that, the image itself is never overly dark and the action is always visible. The level of detail is very good and the picture has an impressive amount of depth. The Disc contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.5 Mbps. This track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. As one would hope, this is a muscular track which is rarely quiet. The stereo effects are very good and are very well-placed, giving a real sense of space with the film. The surround sound effects are nearly constant and are nicely separated from the front channels. Subwoofer effects are wall-shaking to say the least. Simply go to the first flight of Archimedes and you'll get a dose of great audio.