At the advance screening for "Watchmen" on Monday night, 43-year-old bartender John King wasn't convinced that Zack Snyder's adaptation of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons classic will have legs beyond the opening weekend, when the fanboys turn out in droves.

"It reminds me of 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' " he said. "It's, like, 2 hours, 40 minutes of a movie I partly liked and partly hated." Although a self-described comic book fan, King has never gotten around to reading the seminal graphic novel on which the film is based.

"I didn't know the story," he said, "so there were things happening that went over my head. But isn't that how it will be with most viewers checking it out because of all of the hype?"

Film buff King thought most movie-goers will be put off "because nothing special is happening in it" -- an odd claim considering that the film features a blue-skinned giant vaporizing North Vietnamese soldiers, the horrific murder of a pregnant woman by her callous American lover, a tender love scene involving two superheroes, a spectacular Martian palace scene and the clever use of iconic songs such as Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence," Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'." The film is crammed with unique moments.

Greg Eide, 57, and Ron Russitano, 44, had opinions more in line with most of the people who got to see "Watchmen" early. Both Eide and Russitano make their living on comic books, DVDs and other pop culture artifacts. Eide's Entertainment has been a fixture in the region for 37 years. Russitano has been the owner of Phantom of the Attic at the Parkway Center Mall since 1990. Both are enthusiastic about Snyder's version of "Watchmen."

"There isn't anything in the film that didn't work beautifully," Eide said. He recently had read an article that talked about Snyder's courage in "taking on Alan Moore and his wrath and attempting to succeed where bigger-name directors failed."

Russitano agreed, adding that Snyder's decision to stay true to the graphic novel is the movie's greatest strength. But he suspects hardcore "Watchmen" fans will find "little nit-picky things" to scream about. "There will always be a faction of people who are looking for the negative," the Robinson resident said.

"I've heard people say that the characters are too unlikable, which was the point of the book. Alan Moore wanted to show superheroes in a more realistic fashion."

Eide said he would have liked more details about Rorschach's origin in the film, like the fact that he was inspired to become a masked vigilante because of the infamous murder of Kitty Genovese in New York in 1964. She was raped and murdered in the courtyard of her Queens apartment building while her neighbors looked on.

Rorschach's distinctive, changing blot mask is based on a dress Ms. Genovese ordered but never picked up at the garment shop where he worked.

"This is a movie that will prompt lots of high-level discussion," Eide said. "It is a wonderful provocation."

"If anything, the R rating may hurt its box office," Russitano said. "My guess is that it will do $70 million domestically because the characters aren't part of Americana. They aren't well known enough."

But like his business rival and friend Greg Eide, Russitano can't wait until all of his customers see it. "Most have read it," he said. "It will be fun to compare notes."

King, who has been to Russitano's store, will be an obvious exception. "I've seen movies that were 10 times worse than this," he said damning the movie with faint praise.

"I saw [Frank Miller's] 'The Spirit' a little while ago. Now, that was bad."