Matthew Goode as Ozymandias and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian

Who watches the Watchmen? That’s one question you’ll see scribbled in graffiti on brick walls and pasquines at different turns during the anti hero graphic novel flick “Watchmen.” Director Zack Snyder hopes it will be everyone will.

A good bunch already has. The movie opened with $55 million in its first weekend at the U.S. box office and it’s expected to well here too. Fans of the 1986 graphic novel will certainly be pleased with this adaptation, which spent 23 years in development hell before making it to the big screen. However, those who are new to this wild bunch of anti-heroes may be left scratching their heads at turns and walk out of the theater overwhelmed by everything that has been thrown at them for almost three hours. “Superman Returns” it’s not. That’s for sure.

“Watchmen” introduces us to a band of costumed vigilante superheroes out of which only one—Billy Crudup’s Dr. Manhattan—has superpowers, thanks to a freak lab accident. The film opens with the murder of Edward “The Comedian” Blake (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, from “Grey’s Anatomy”). His assassination sparks suspicion from fellow vigilante Walter “Rorschach” Kovacs (Jackie Earle Haley) who thinks there is a conspiracy to wipe out the heroes. He approaches the group including Laurie “Silk Spectre II” Juspeczyk (Malin Akerman), Daniel “Nite Owl II” Dreiberg (Patrick Wilson) and Adam “Ozymandias” Veidt (Matthew Goode) but as they look into the matter, they encounter a bigger conspiracy.

The action takes place in an alternate United States in 1985, a time in which Richard Nixon is still the president, costumed heroes are a part of everyday society and a doomsday clock (the movie’s version of the Homeland Security’s Advisory System) is at five minutes from midnight. In this world, the Cold War could heat up at any minute. As the opening credits roll, we get a time-capsule look at this alternate history with quintessential moments in American history getting a different twist and set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

Snyder’s vision of this world is highly stylized, even when presenting the grungy streets of a 1970s New York City. Although the story is quite faithful to the graphic novel, the emphasis is always on the visuals. Its’ as if Snyder used storyboards in lieu of a script to tell the story. The film also feels as if it was made for the fanboys of this comic; those of us who knew little or nothing about it feel like outsiders peeking into another world into which we never feel we are invited into.

Older generations will appreciate the alternate twists of history and the bits of pop culture Snyder uses to create this world. Those things are likely to just go over the heads of most chamaquitos watching the movie on its opening weekend. Another noteworthy element was Snyder’s use of music at different turns of the story. A good example is the opening scene in which a channel surfing Blake stops to watch a perfume ad to the tune of Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable.” An intruder breaks into his apartment and the two start fighting, with the tune playing over the entire fight sequence, giving the scene a truly eerie feel.

“Watchmen” is packed with long, intricate and stunning action sequences, particularly the fight scenes. Some are jawdropping to watch; others are so laden with violence that if this were a 3D movie, audiences would coil into their seats to avoid getting hit by the blood splatter coming from the screen. The sex scenes, just like the violence, are over the top and even misogynistic at points. As part of Snyder’s signature style and the nature of this story itself, that’s to be expected, though. Well, “Watchmen” has an R rating for a good reason.

There are some good performances here. Wilson is very likable as the nerdy Nite Owl but the movie definitely belongs to Haley as the brooding Rorschach. Crudup gives a good effort but is eclipsed by his CGI’d character. His look was more memorable than his performance.

To say that “Watchmen” is not your average super here action movie is an understatement. This is, as we say in good Boricua lexicon, otra cosa.

–Valerie López