With the world on the verge of nuclear holocaust and Richard Nixon still at the helm of the United States, a group of vigilante heroes is left with the decision of whether or not humanity is worth saving.

It is with this that director Zack Snyder (“300″) brings one of the most beloved graphic novels of all time to life in his film adaptation of “Watchmen.” The film had been talked about for a couple of decades — the graphic novel from writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbsons was released in the 1980s — and many believed it to be “unmakeable” as several previous attempts faltered.

The setting is the 1980s. Richard Nixon is in the White House after being elected to his fifth term in office. The U.S. had a big victory in Vietnam thanks mainly to a super being known as Dr. Manhattan and now the Russians are threatening nuclear annihilation.

The world is looking for a hero to save them but the heroes of Vietnam are beginning to realize that no matter what they do, humankind is destined to destroy itself and every time they intervene it is just delaying the inevitable.
The members of the misfit group called The Watchmen are divided between their feeling of duty to help those in need and their resentment for the treatment they receive for being different. They know they are the only ones who could change the outcome but feel it would simply be a bandaid that would suffice until it fell off or was removed. It turns into the age old argument of, why help those who refuse to help themselves?

At the same time, these heroes are looking to find out what happened to one of their own: the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a right-wing military mercenary has been thrown out the window of his high-rise aparatment.

Dr. Manhattan (a very blue and often nude Billy Crudup), the only Watchmen who really has superpowers, is the most interesting and significant of all the characters. He has become devoid of human emotion and wants nothing to do with any kind of intervention. He is almost God-like in the fact that he can be anywhere and everywhere all at once and that he leaves the world up to the humans to either live or destroy.

The film itself runs close to three hours, however, very little feels unnecessary.

A few scenes may drag a little too long and others seem to be left unexplained. Still, there is little to be disappointed about. Overall 3 and 1/2 stars out of 4.