Someone got me the DVD several months ago and I finally got around to watching it. The first two hours anyway, and the thing would just not end. I was also horrified at the blood and gore (I got far enough for the sex part too - wasn't too horrified with that, except for the music) because I thought this was a comic book movie - thank God Grayson didn't watch it with me. It was weeks later before I finally finished it and I was so mystified why this thing made so little sense (all I could think of that "this is "The Incredibles" - that's all it is) that I watched the various documentaries about it. I thought that there has to be some reason why this movie got made - because it is visually stunning, the acting is great, and people are obviously taking it real seriously.
Then I got it. They mentioned that the original 1986 graphic novel was named one of TIME's All-time 100 novels (see here) - the only graphic novel included (and that was the year from Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) and I got interested. So I got the graphic novel, 
and I was just blown away by it. The thing that got to me was that each chapter included not just traditional comic book/graphic novel graphics, but excerpts from source material - a book by the original Nite owl, newspaper accounts, and so forth that gave a back story and verisimilitude to what was happening in the panels. The story takes place in an alternate universe where superheroes fight crime, and Nixon gets elected to five terms, which I someone didn't quite manage to get when watching the movie the first time - the opening credits begin with the original crime fighters in the 1940's and end up in the 1980's, setting the stage for what happens next. All I could think of is "well, this is like 'The Incredibles'". But after reading the book I got what the big themes were and why things were happening and could enjoy the amazing artistry that went into the movie itself, as well as the immense respect for the book. Many, many scenes come straight out out of the book, and in fact the movie is for the most part a straight telling of the graphic novel. It is long - I've only watched the director's cut - but it's a real feast for the eyes when you know what it is telling you, and you can appreciate the director's decisions and how much respect he pays to the book. (The actors are great, by the way - simply great). The one disappointment is that the DVD's director commentary feature (which includes a lot of extras) is problematic - you can't simply turn it on and go to a chapter, so I've only been able to watch about half of it.
Anyway, under no circumstances let a kid watch the movie. Or a young kid read the graphic novel for that matter, but for an adult, this is a real treat. Although, again, I would highly recommend reading the book first.
