One of the most common complaints you’ll see of Snyder’s Watchmen is that the film glorified violence and as a result the characters themselves. It’s often argued that everything from the gratuitous use of slo-mo and meticulously choreographed action sequences to something as minor as more professional-looking costumes played a role in making the characters cooler and more likable than they were in the comics. While the comic certainly avoids some typical flashy action tropes I wouldn’t necessarily say the movie is at odds with the spirit of the comic in that aspect.
Take for example the alley fight in Watchmen.:
https://youtu.be/3uFkyVVyqa0
It’s a familiar setup often seen in action movies: a group of troublemakers crosses the wrong person and ends up paying the price. Typically, these scenarios play out in sanitized fight scenes filled with funny banter and quips. Here, however, the action takes a darker turn, becoming brutally visceral and grotesque. The camera doesn’t shy away from the consequences of the violence as it fixates on the bones breaking through flesh, mangled limbs, and the shattered teeth of the goons who scream in pain. It’s also intercut with a scene where Manhattan learns that people who were once close to him have been getting cancer and he might be the cause. This, combined with the ominous music gives the whole scene a sense of dread rather than catharsis. Contrast this with a similar alleyway fight scene in Wonder Woman and the difference is stark.
https://youtu.be/VjcGcXN0rWE
I feel that whatever change from comics to film were conscious choices Snyder took because the landscape of "film" is different, and so you needed to go for a different trope and feel to pass the same ideas.
