They did it. They finally did it.

They made "Watchmen" into a movie, and it's a damn good one. It isn't perfect, of course, but this adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel was handled with unprecedented precision. Adapting a book this rich-in which haunting explorations of ethics are embedded within a convoluted story of crime, intrigue and corruption-was a near-impossible task. The film remains faithful to the source, but not without a cost: In the compromise between preserving the essence of the book and creating a film of marketable length, the narrative becomes difficult to understand. As a superhero adventure, it's stunning. As a comic book adaptation, it's practically messianic. But as an entry into the canon of cinema, it leaves much to be desired.

For those of you just diving in, "Watchmen" is a superhero story set in 1985 in an alternate-history New York City. In this world, costumed heroes have been around since the '40s, but unlike our own comic-book heroes, none of them actually have superpowers. Well, one of them does: In 1959, Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) is gifted with god-like control over physical matter in a freak accident during a physics experiment. He immediately goes to work for the government, and the other heroes-with nothing at their disposal except solid left hooks and the occasional grappling gun-fall into obscurity.

Richard Nixon is elected to his fifth term in office, approval ratings still soaring in the years following America's Dr. Manhattan-fueled victory in Vietnam. Tensions flare with the USSR, but no nation dares act against the United States. The old masked heroes are almost entirely retired, vigilantism having been outlawed following the '77 police riots. Only the sociopathic "guns-blazing" Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and the vicious detective Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) are still active, the former under government supervision, the latter a wanted man. The book doesn't so much tell this back story as hide it for the reader to find, but in the film, it is transformed into a Bob Dylan-themed montage. Silver nitrate flashes and smiling heroes are contrasted with sobering images of mankind's bloodiest century, cementing the tone for the rest of the film.

"Watchmen" opens with the Comedian's murder at the hands of an anonymous assailant. Rorschach, on patrol, investigates and concludes that someone, or something, is hunting masked heroes. He sets out to warn the old league, the Watchmen-the gadget-laden Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), the nimble Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and the cold, brilliant Ozymandias (Matthew Goode). Initially incredulous, they are convinced by a failed assassination attempt that something is afoot. As they work deeper and deeper, they begin to unravel an enormous conspiracy that just might start World War III.

The level of acting and characterization in "Watchmen" is unprecedented in this genre. If you thought Christian Bale's Batman was psychologically dense, imagine a cast of a half-dozen superheroes, each with personality flaws and psychoses that make Bruce Wayne look like Hermione Granger. Beginning in the '30s and continuing through the ridiculous George Clooney "Batman" film, one of the greatest shortcomings in superhero movies has been the shallow treatment of the characters. Only in the last few years has the psychology of the characters been explored in any meaningful way, in films like "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" and even "The Incredible Hulk." Much of the beauty and substance of the "Watchmen" book lay in the convoluted morality systems that came out of these disturbed heroes. It was good to see that complexity preserved.

The greatest flaw of the film, at least the theatrical release, is how compact the narrative is. When talks began about bringing "Watchmen" to life, it was initially envisioned as a miniseries, in which the story could be told over the course of five to 10 hours. Compressing it to feature-length was impossible, and people knew it. The theatrical release is 155 minutes. It's just too short-the film has been squeezed so hard it's practically suffocating. "Watchmen" feels like a blur-too much was cut out, and the narrative is crippled because of it. The most difficult thing about watching the film was trying to imagine what story first-time audiences were experiencing. Filmgoers familiar with the novel will easily follow the narrative, but those who go in without knowing the story will find the film almost incomprehensible. Director Zack Snyder made a noble effort to both fit in the nuanced ethical experiments embodied in each character and mantain the narrative vehicle, but the movie is ragged. There are major dramatic moments at the end of the film that appear completely without context; characters break down over revelations that we don't understand. While hopefully a three hour-plus director's cut will feature a coherent dramatic progression in which crucial plot twists are presented in context, the theatrical release foams at the mouth.

While this review isn't meant to be a comparative analysis of the book and the film, this movie cannot be understood in isolation. To the purist: Decisions were made. Not always for the best. The important thing to understand, however, is that each and every decision was made with complete reverence to the text. This is crucially important to understanding the significance of "Watchmen." Plot and everything else aside, this is the first time that, in a comic-book-to-film adaptation, the film deferred to the book. Even at the cost of a functional narrative, the essence and character of the original text were preserved. Whatever may be said about the film, whatever shortcomings will be nitpicked in the weeks ahead, this adaptation was handled with respect.

It seems too coincidental that the blooming of the graphic novel as a genre worthy of artistic consideration and aesthetic respect would coincide with the film adaptation of what is arguably the best work to come out of that tradition. To think that they finally got it right with "Watchmen," after failing so many times, is unreal, like something out of a comic book.