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Attempting to capitalize on the success of such other superhero movies as "Spider-Man," "Iron Man," and "The Dark Knight," Zack Snyder brings "Watchmen" to the silver screen, adapted from the graphic novel published by Alan Moore. There were multiple previous attempts to bring the comic to life, but all failed, until the technology existed to create a truly vivid and wondrous alternate reality.

The story takes place in a 1985-A, not unlike the one referenced by Doc Brown in "Back to the Future II." Richard Nixon successfully repealed 22nd Amendment, and is in the middle of his third term and campaigning for a fourth. The United States lies on the brink of nuclear war with the USSR, and the famed "Doomsday Clock" has been set to four minutes, indicating the end is most likely near. Superheros, once revered and cheered, now live in exile, outlawed by Nixon when he feared their power was outgrowing that of traditional law enforcement. As the Doomsday Clock ticks down, one of the members of the famous Watchmen superhero group is murdered, and his remaining compatriots must unravel the mystery that will define the course of human history.

While the film stands on the shoulders of fantastic comic book films such as "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight," "Watchmen" clearly departs from the genre defined by "Spider-Man" and "Superman." None of the heroes in question have ridiculous superpowers (Save for Dr. Manhattan, played by Billy Crudup), and they all face the same quandary that both Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne found themselves with: feelings and attachments to "normal" people, but a sense of a responsibility to affect humanity for the better. Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) is a master of technology, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) detects patterns otherwise incomprehensible to others, and Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) is beautiful. All three have enormous strength and hand-to-hand combat skills, but are otherwise "normal," which makes their struggle compelling, and allows the audience to relate to such internal issues as a lack of confidence, or a fear of failing to live up to expectations, or a fear of categorization in with the rest of the wretched human masses.

It's easy to see why this movie might have failed in pre-production in the past: the ridiculously obtuse visual effects make the film what it is: an almost direct adaptation from comic book pages to movie theater screens. Outside of the obviously fake Dr. Manhattan, a being that now exists on a plane outside of ordinary

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