So. I saw Watchmen on Monday. Half of the readers of this blog - for they are so many and I am but only one -will be pissed off they have to wait another week or so and the others will wonder what the hell I'm talking about. The latter half should get themselves quickly to a comic book store and buy the unfilmable graphic novel before seeing the apparently filmable film.

My opinion: For what it's worth this isn't the kind of film that warrants a quick write-up. It's a complex movie which will divide audiences and is largely based on expectations going in. Those casual cinema-goers who pick it because it sounds like it might be a bit like Spider-man or Hulk will be sorely surprised and possibly disappointed. This is much more of a cerebral outing. It's a film about heroes who have gone soft and in some cases can't get hard without their costumes on. There's attempted rape, murder, mutilation, nuclear warfare, love triangles and the kind of naked blue man that would give a Vegas musical act a serious inferiority complex.

Original scribe Alan Moore swore off any Hollywood adaptions after being shafted by the studio system and won't have anything to do with it. He openly told me he doesn't wish the project well. Equally Terry Gilliam's (who was once considering directing the project but deemed it unworkable in a 2-3hr format) judgement is also valid. This IS an epic tale more suited to the likes of an HBO mini series than over two and half hours of cinematic spectacle. But Zack Snyder, whose name raised a few concerns when he was announced as director, refrains from using too many of the tricks from 300. Yes, there are slo-mo scenes and some CGI back-drops, but they are minimal and he’s approached the project with genuine reverence for the source material and if there’s any complaint it must be the opposite of the one expected - that in fact he’s made this TOO much of a love-note to the existing fan base, added a few to many xxxxx’s to it and perhaps kept its heart at the expense of its circulation.

But make no mistake, Watchmen will be one of the most discussed films of the year. It won’t, I suspect, generate those Dark Knight box-office receipts or be as accessible to the uninitiated, but it will generate lots of column-inches and pontificating from the critics and sweaty palms amongst we geeks. It should be - and is - a landmark film for those of us who have already embraced the genre. I intend to see it again. I may even pay this time :)

I also got to meet the cast and crew and was impressed with them all, even moreso when Snyder revealed that the studio’s original view of it, before he came onboard was: "‘We’ve got this project called Watchmen, it might be based - we think - on a graphic novel somewhere, but you can see from the script that it’s a two-hour movie, it’s PG-13 and kids will love it. The graphic novel, wherever that is, apparently took place in the 70s and 80s, but we’ve updated it so it takes place in modern times, so that’s much better. Is there a way you think it could be cool to maybe include the war on terror, maybe Dr Manhattan goes to Iraq? I think we could create a nice franchise and make some more movies…’ If you can imagine that THAT’s where (my involvement) starts, it’s much easier to see how big a deal it was that we’ve now ended up with the movie we have now."

I'm busy transcribing the interviews, topping and tailing the fuller review and still designing the HLWW brochure. No time to laugh or cry. But then again, who does now that The Comedian is dead?