re: The Watchmen

My biggest problem with this film is that they completely botched the ending. Most of this comes down to the absence of a short exchange between Veidt and Manhattan. Their exchange isn't present in the movie, yet it was extremely pivotal in rounding off a major point the story was trying to make.

In the comic, Veidt asks Manhattan if he did the right thing in the end. Manhattan responds with,"In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends." First, this shows that Veidt at least holds some doubt about the morality of his actions. Secondly, Manhattan's response points out to Veidt that the peace he "created" is not going to last, and Adrian is foolish for thinking it would. He didn't allow Veidt to get away with it because it was the morally correct choice to make. He let Veidt get away with it because he can't change what's already been done, and the only thing they can do is try to savor the peace for as long as it lasts.

But in the movie, that's not what happens. Adrian is completely secure in his decision to kill millions, and displays no doubt or concern that he might have done the wrong thing. Furthermore, Manhattan, who has just "regained" his humanity, simply says he's not going to condone or condemn the killing of millions of people because it brought peace. It makes Manhattan look dumb, and completely negates the humanity that he just gained.

Sure, they somewhat use Manhattan's quote at the very end of the film when Laurie comments that Jon would say "nothing ever ends." But here, it's completely out of context and doesn't hold the same meaning as it does in the comics. In the comics, the quote is used at a very specific moment to drive a point across. Just because it's included later on doesn't mean that the story drives home the same point. To me, it just says that the writer's didn't fully understand the purpose of the story.