Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" was a box office failure that remains divisive to this day. The 2009 film has been criticized for being too faithful to the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons comic book series on which it's based, and also for not being faithful enough. It's been written off as both too hollow a pastiche of Moore's multi-layered story and too complex a tale to work as mass entertainment. As such, the film has occupied an unusual space in Hollywood history since its debut, both forgotten and lauded by various parts of the fandom. One man who certainly wasn't conflicted in his assessment of the movie, however, was Roger Ebert, who gave "Watchmen" a perfect 4/4 stars.

Ebert bestowed perfect scores on plenty of films throughout his career. He gave Matt Damon and Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter" a flawless 4/4, and did the same for 1972's "The Red Mantle" and 2012's "The Kite." He was also the only reviewer to give a notoriously mediocre Samuel L. Jackson crime thriller a perfect score. Among these apparently faultless movies also sits Snyder's 2009 film, which according to Ebert was "another bold exercise in the liberation of the superhero movie."

The esteemed critic, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 70, evidently had a "powerful experience" with "Watchmen," describing it as "a compelling visceral film" adding, "sound, images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel." But while Ebert viewed the film as a transporting visceral experience, he also saw it as the kind of thing that could inspire debate. For a critic, especially one of Ebert's ilk, that's precisely the kind of thing you might expect him to enjoy.