Read the comic. Sorry, it wasn't composed as a graphic novel, but as a 12-issue comic back when. Didn't like it then. First, Moore wanted to use the old Charleton characters that DC had recently aquired. DC said no, so he invented his own rip-offs of the same characters and ran with them, and DC published it. I thought it was brilliant, but I didn't really like the story.
On thing Alan Moore doesn't understand at all is Americans. The set-up was preposterous from the start. Even if Manhattan and friends had ended the Vietnam war in a week, there is no way that would lead to the repeal of the 22nd Amendment and the multiple re-electing of the president in power at that time. But the story needed a reason to exist, so it got one.
Cut to the movie. I still didn't like the story, but it was well done. I liked all the actors, especially Carla Gugino who surprised me by playing the 67-year-old mom. I understand that one director who was considered said he'd only do it if he could make a miniseries.
The over-the-top violence didn't bother me, nor did the sex scene or even Manhattan's lack of inhibition. I thought it was kind of disjointed, and a lot of it needed to be either less, or more, depending on what you wanted to take out of it. I loved 'Archie', and the fact that they didn't even try to explain how 'he' worked. Very reminiscent of the Blue Beetle's 'Bug', and taken directly from it.
I liked a lot of little things they did with the movie, but on the whole I thought it was overdone and not worth the money. But then I felt the same way about Sin City and The Spirit. Maybe the Director's or even the Extended cut will be better.
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“Never do anything you can't take back.”
—Rocky Russo
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