2009’s Watchman film is a polarizing film. Some people love it, others don’t get it. And that’s really what it is: The people who don’t like it, don’t get it.

Because as a fan of the comics it’s based on, I can not say that I loved it, but I did not hate it. I loved the visuals, that looked like the comic panels being brought straight to life. I guess artist Dave Gibbons is to thank for that, because Director Zack Snyder didn’t have to visualize much of the great scenes, there were literally laid out for him.

The casting was great too. All the characters did such great justice to their comic counterparts. And the stuff that wasn’t in the comics, like the music, elevated a lot of the films scenes.

There were missteps here and there I think. First of all, I don’t think Snyder real got the use of the violence in the comics, because he uses it very gratuitously in the film. The scene with Rorschach chopping up a dude comes to mind. The way that story arc plays out in the comics has so much more depth to it, where as the film just frames Rorschach as a psychopath. There are pacing issues too.

BUT the the biggest issue I think the Watchmen film has is that the movie going audience of 2009 was just not ready for it.

You see, The Watchmen comics hit shelves at a time when people started taking comics seriously. There were tropes and conventions that were in place and Watchmen aimed to shatter those conventions. It wasn’t as black and white as the good superhero taking on the evil bad guy. It greyed the lines and subverted tropes and conventions. so it ruffled the comic medium and even though we didn’t know the characters we were reading, we could relate them to heroes we do know and love. (or hate).

BUT movie audiences didn’t have this in 2009. Sure we had the X-men movies and Spider-man, but it wasn’t enough to embed the Superhero culture into cinema goers like it is today.

Having unrecognisable heroes also didn’t help. Originally, Alan Moore wanted to use the newly acquired Charlton comic characters that DC had secured for themselves, but was able to because DC had other plans for them. so Moore had to create his own characters, which wasn’t an issue because they all represented a certain comic hero archetype which readers recognised. Again, this was not something the movie going audience were unfamiliar with at the time.

After 10 years of Marvel movies, and DC’s attempts, those who only watch the movies and don’t read the comics, are ready now. I think they are ready to explore the themes and subversion of Watchmen.

Try it.

Get a Marvel fan or a DC fan to check out Watchmen. Especially someone who hasn’t seen it and tell me what they thought of it. They won’t declare it “the greatest comic book movie ever”, but I bet you they will take away a few points that will make them appreciate the film.

Because I think 2009s Watchmen is truly a film that was ahead of it’s time.