I would say that WATCHMEN is as good as the graphic novel, but I've read better graphic novels. Don't get me wrong, I like the WATCHMEN book. But the word is "like", not love.
With the movie I was impressed with the visuals, particularly the rendition of Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) and how closely all the other characters resembled their comic-book counterparts. My favorite was definitely Rorschach, who has this weird moving mask that is kind of fascinating. The film also moved fairly quickly and didn't seem like it was over two and a half hours. However, If I had to choose between this adaptation of the graphic novel or director Zack Snyder's previous movie, 300, the Spartan tale would definitely win.