Should I see Watchmen?

geekymary made a post about "I heard that the movie is really violent, but that the story is also really good. Should I see it?".

I made this as a comment, and then realized it might be something other people might want to know. This is generally what I said about the movie in general, but stripped of most spoilers.

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It's most emphatically NOT an action movie - it's a morality play that happens to have "costumed heroes" as it's main characters, with a healthy dose of some pretty biting social commentary.

But it's gritty and nasty and disillusioned and the action reflects that. These people started out believing that they could make the world a better place, and most have had to make compromises that damaged them.

It's really a complete deconstruction of the whole "comic book" genre. It asks "Who Watches The Watchmen?"- who are they to decide that they are judge, jury, and executioner if they feel it's necessary? The line between "with great power comes great responsibility" and "I know what's best for the world" is awfully blurry, and some of these people do terrible things (the most extreme example involves a child murderer and a meat cleaver). But that scene tells a lot about the "hero" character, where he comes from, what made him who and what he is, and what kind of choices he is willing to make. It's very violent but it's violence in service to the story, which makes it easier for me to stomach. But YMMV.

stealthbunny's comment was "What a great movie - I need to go slit my wrists now".
If this turns you off, then don't go see it. The graphic novel and/or the motion comic will give you the story at a bit more of an emotional remove which might make it easier to swallow. I do think that it's well worth a look in SOME format, but hopefully this will give you a better idea of what you might be in for.

UPDATE - And ONTD says most of the same things, but snarkier
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/33009981.html
(I just assumed that most of my readers have a 7th grade education_