Living in Qatar, I caught the Censor's Cut of Watchmen at the weekend. No 2 and three-quarter hour epic for me. More like two and a half hours after the local clean up crew had their way with it.I assume the blue-hued Doc Manhattan was wandering around naked for pretty much a third of the movie because he wasn't so much circumcised but cut off in his prime.
Naturally all this creative editing made everything that bit harder to follow - and I pretty much knew what was going on as I'd read the book.
I can't tell you if the film was too perverse based on the version I was watching but the gory violence is not for the squeamish.
So, confusing, yes - too long, pretty much - but for fans of the graphic novel, it's a must see. If for no other reason than to witness Jackie Earle Haley's portrayal of the psycho Rorshach, an ostracised loner whose moral values have been put through the wringer so severely he is as hell bent on serving his own form of justice as the criminals are at dishing out their own specialities.
If Heath Ledger can walk off with an Oscar for his Joker then Haley at least deserves a nomination.
