Who's waiting in line to watch the Watchmen?

With Watchmen's U.S. release coming in just over a week, reviews and commentaries from abroad are flooding in the from the international releases, and expectations for the film are drastically shifting.

On my end, I never really knew what to expect in the first place. Like everyone, I maintain Alan Moore's original work is a masterpiece of literature and a fascinating look into the superhero psyche, and further beyond that just the human psyche as well.

So far Rotten Tomatoes has it sitting at a 75% with most reviewer's loving it or hating it. The comments about the film range from calling it "a profound work of art" to calling it "shorn of sophistication and literary density."

One of the movies biggest critics is actually Moore himself. In an interview with the L.A. Times, he said of the movie, "I will be spitting venom all over it from months to come." Moore also claims his story to be "inherently unfilmable." It will be interesting to see if director Zack Snyder can prove Moore wrong. However, Moore also says in the interview that he has never watched the film adaptations of any of his works, which range from "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman" to "V for Vendetta." Moore said he feels "film in it's current form is quite bullying."

Author discretion aside, with all the reviews coming in, it's important to recognize that these reviews are all from international perspectives. It will be interesting to see how audiences in the U.S will react to the film. I know I'll be waiting to see it.

UPDATE (02-27-2009): Rotten Tomatoes now has Watchmen sitting at an 83%. Perhaps the earliest criticisms are sometimes the harshest.