Thanks for taking the journey. It's rather a long one to be sure. I remember my first viewing feeling astonished by it, but also totally off balance. It was like some fresh hybrid formula and it just kept surprising me. I mean on top of the freshness of how it looked and felt, the strange parallel reality, the unclear rules (in terms of character capabilities), the core story never seemed to give up adding more layers. There is such a diversity of characters and stories and timelines being introduced and build upon, in the midst of the film concluding I'm sitting there feeling like I'm still in the introduction in some respects.
Now there's a review. And,
I sit here and shake my head saying, "Yep."
The rules
are unclear and the story unfolds in unpredictable, nonlinear ways. It's disorienting, but very effective. Like reverse engineering. And I too felt like I was just getting started when the credits ran. You always have well thought out and tangible reasons for the movies which land in your top 100 and I always enjoy reading those "why's."
I do certainly appreciate the mature content you mention. It was never going to be a movie used to drive lunchbox merchandise sales, which is a nice change of pace sometimes in a comic book movie. Sin City would be another film this could be said about and I like it very much as well. The more time passes, the more amazed I am that Watchmen exists at all, and that I like it. But I just can't deny that it all works for me. I'm on board for all of it.
I almost chose
Sin City as my other movie, so I could have a comic book theme for the month. I'm glad now that I didn't watch them back to back. They each need their own time and space in my head.
I'll gear up by and by and get to it.
As for existing, It's a wonder. It flies in the face of the whole
Avengers model. It's the strangest thing and I can see why you keep it as a favorite.
I wonder what scenes may stick with you most going forward...
Rorschach's brutal scenes stick with me most. It's partially why I don't watch movies like this much. I can't shake them very well.
Nite Owl's dream was pretty unforgettable too. What a kiss!