Last night a large group of us went see Watchmen. The last time all of us went en masse to the cinema was to see The Dark Knight, so afterwards we started comparing the two, and I  think it's a valid comparison: Both superhero movies, both very dark, both with strong vigilante & sci-fi elements etc. etc. Oh and both too long!

I, and some of my friends thought Watchmen was far the better movie of the two:

-Story & Characterisation: I felt that TDK was slow, ponderous, 2-dimensional and boring. Watchmen had intelligence, pace, drive, and twists and turns that stayed on just the right side of convoluted but never became too confusing. About half way through TDK I realised I didn’t really care what happened to any of the main characters. Watchmen forces you to identify with even the most unlikeable and unsympathetic of them.

-Cinematography: I appreciated the cinematography of both films, but Watchmen, possibly because of its source material as a graphic novel had more of those beautiful and awe-inspiring moments which I enjoy in a film.

-Acting: I feel that the standard of acting was generally good in both films, through to excellent: Jackie Earle Haley & Heath Ledger both turned in unmissable performances.

-Dialogue: TDK's dialogue was at times good, but too often was bland, uninspiring and flat. Watchmen's dialogue was often moving, inspiring, and poetic. Although probably less realistic (if that means anything in a superhero movie) than TDK's, the feeling in each line made Watchmen’s dialogue all the more believable.

-Action sequences: Both films had their fair share of incredible action sequences. Possibly due to the characterisation issues I mentioned earlier, I was bored and fidgety during TDK's scenes and didn't care, Watchmen’s action scenes were spectacular, shocking and brutal in their violence, but also emotionally involving because of my connection with the characters.

-Soundtrack. I felt that TDK's soundtrack was almost entirely forgettable. Watchmen's soundtrack, was apt, enhanced the action, and uplifted or subdued my mood as appropriate.

I'd gone in to both films with huge expectations. After the excellent Batman Begins, I was expecting something special from The Dark Knight. Sadly, TDK was a letdown. Watchmen lived up to and exceeded those expectations.

Which do you think was better?

Haven't seen the Watchmen, but I can guarentee that it was better than the Dark Knight.

The first Batman Begins was truly a great movie. TDK was a cheesy B grade action movie, without a single original idea in it

No, no, no.

Watchmen was horrible in comparison to TDK.

I did not like ANY of the charaters in Watchmen, to the point where I wanted them all to die. It came off to me like a Dark Knight wannabe, but failed.

I would agree with you that the characters weren't particularly likeable in Watchmen, but I still cared what happened to them and empathised. I don't think the characters were any more likeable in TDK, but in TDK they were boring.

If this movie was trying to be a The Dark Knight wannabe then it certainly failed at that - which is entirely a good thing!

TDK = most overrated movie ever......titanic being the eternally overrated one lol

yeah it's funny you should bring up Titanic, because all 3 of these films, Watchmen included, were so incredibly self-important and self-absorbed. For some reason though I think Watchmen managed to pull it off (much though I disliked some of the political views expressed by it's characters), but Titanic and TDK didn't, and could almost come across as parodies in some parts.

How could you find Bruce Wayne boring? :P

I partially agree with you on the boring characters, I did not like Rachael at all, but apart from that they were all 'ok' to brilliant for me.

I don't know! I didn't find him boring in the least in Batman Begins, and as an actor, I never usually find Christian Bale boring. Just look at his peformances in American Psycho or The Machinist. I just didn't empathise with his character at all in TDK, and to be honest, he seemed very wooden for large parts of the fim.

Maybe it is the character he is playing?

Also, he had very little time to 'act' in the film, as most of it was spent with him using his batman voice and dressed up.

Sorry, I can't believe that...