Watchmen

To start off I haven't read the novel which probably make my opinions of this somewhat void. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this show maybe even more than I thought I would. I watched the movie quite a while ago, and I have to say that I liked the series better. For an "outsider" it was at times hard to follow the plot and who was who, but as a whole the story was engaging and suspenseful. The comedic parts here and there were a good balance to the more serious stuff. You wanted to watch the next episode, which is more than you can say about some series. The racial aspect was present like in many shows today, but for me at least not in a way that ruined the experience. Regina King and Yahya Abdul Mateen were the clear cut stars of the cast. Believable acting and good chemistry between them. Also Jean Smart and Jeremy Irons deserve praise for their roles. Usually have a difficult time coping with Irons, but here he's quite alright. The wheels came off a bit in the finale, which was a shame, but it didn't deter the fact that this was a well made show that would have deserved a continuation. At least I would have watched it.

The series brilliantly creates a world similar to ours but with a unique parallel history in which events happened but with different starts or ends. In modern times, the cops takes white supremacists way more seriously than they do in our reality, which is why people are screaming about "wokeness." But it's far more complicated than that, because its masked cops ignore civil rights and can be fairly lawless, which - guess what?! - is not what we social justice types are after.

The complex morality is echoed in the complex plotting, with a bunch of dark characters in a very strange, dark, violent world and a story arc chockfull of mysteries.

The cast is first rate, most notably Jeremy Irons as a peculiar aristocrat and the phenomenal Regina King as the ultimate ass-kicker.

As for its relation to the graphic novel and movie, I read/watched them but it was years ago and honestly I don't remember much of anything about either one except they were both quite good. I may like this series better than either so far (based on the first 5 episodes), but I couldn't even hazard an opinion on the debate as to whether it is to the source material. As an entity of its own though, it is absolutely brilliant, and I highly recommend it.

So aparently everyone is trashing this show because of the race issues? Come on people, now taking that aside, this show has really started strong, respecting the characters of the original graphic novel but also introducing new ones, and if you're a big fan of Watchmen, you will love the references, can't wait for the next episode.

My brother and I finally got around to watching Watchmen and it really is every bit as good as the reviews say it is. It addresses several tough topics and does so in such a gripping way that you can't stop watching. It also stays true to the original source material as good as any show based off a comic has. It's just a dark, gritty superhero show. The writing and acting are what makes this show so special. There's a reason this show won so many awards and that's because it deserved it. The only negative thing about this show is that it was only a limited series because this is a show that could've been great for several seasons.

Not only is it an incredibly well-crafted series on all the best fronts of cinematography, story, effects, editing and acting performances, the way it spun the original Watchmen storyline around itself was mesmerizing. New, interesting characters combined with old favorites, and even a few shadows of their ghosts.

The performances by Regina King, Don Johnson, Time Blake Nelson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen III just to name a FEW of the outstanding roles, were award-worthy across the board.

Jeremy Irons, Jean Smart, Hong Chau, Louis Gossett, Jr...these were revelatory performances. Now a weak link among them.

Like a good book, I couldn't put it down and it left me wanting more. If you haven't seen it, you don't know what you're missing. I'm gonna go rewatch the series for a fourth time now.