When Spider-Man: Homecoming was released this year, many people have said that Marvel Studios “fixed” the character of Spider-Man, and that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man outshined both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in their portrayals.
Well, the new Wonder Woman movie, directed beautifully by Patty Jenkins (the director of Monster), fixed the DC Cinematic Universe. It is definitely a big improvement on Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad. While all these movies had many good points, Wonder Woman is the first really great DC Comics movie. It is the best one since The Dark Knight Rises [at least in my opinion]. And while I don’t hate the above mentioned flicks, this one I really love.
When Wonder Woman first appeared in BvS, in her costume, wielding her powers and weapons, it was one of the most epic superhero introductions in superhero movies. Not only did she look great, but she also saved Batman’s life, as the Dark Knight was about to be destroyed by the monstrous Doomsday. Seeing Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman together for the first time in live-action in a single frame made me jump up and down like a 7-year-old.
I have said several times before that Superman is “the king of all superheroes,” Wonder Woman is definitely the queen. She is definitely a monumental, epic character. Not only is she powerful and badass, she is also kind, gentle, sweet, compassionate, just and selfless. And speaking of Superman and Wonder Woman being the king and queen, they both were a loving couple in the New 52 continuum. In the upcoming Justice League movie, there looks like a little romance might be brewing up between Diana and Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne. I think that would be an interesting dynamic.
And she definitely outshines the likes of the MCU’s Black Widow and Scarlet Witch. Yeah, Wanda Maximoff is [traditionally] a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, not the Avengers. She’s Magneto’s daughter, for frak’s sakes. Although I love Elizabeth Olsen, I don’t like it when film makers and TV show runners play around with classic storytelling.
But Wonder Woman is definitely up there among my favorite female heroines, namely Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl and She-Ra from the Masters of the Universe franchise. And just like Supergirl and She-Ra, Wonder Woman has a heart of gold.
Not only does Wonder Woman have a magnificent lead, it does has everything that a superhero movie needs. It has action, adventure, romance, lots of humor, along with gorgeous cinematography and, dare I say, really striking special effects.
Gal Gadot is one of the most beautiful and talented actresses today. She looks perfect and inexplicably stunning in Wonder Woman’s outfit, which is this awesome gladiatorial armor, instead of it just being tights or a swimsuit or a bodice. With her long, lustrous black hair, sensual, and crown. She was born to play Wonder Woman. She owns this role. Gadot also carries the qualities that Wonder Woman has very strongly.
In this movie, we get a solid origin story. We see Diana as a little girl who dreams to become warrior, and is eventually trained by her aunt Antiope, the greatest warrior on Themiscyra, and ordered by her mother, Queen Hippolyta, to train and push her harder than any Amazonian warrior has ever been trained.
We see Diana reach adulthood, leaving her home, and traveling with Steve Trevor to London to enlist help to go to No Man’s Land so they can turn the tide in World War 1.
While Diana is very a very powerful and skilled warrior, she is still very innocent and naive, and doesn’t understand the outside world of men. Growing up in a perfect utopia, ruled by strong woman, makes her believe the world is good and innocent, and that Ares is controlling everything and everyone which is driving the war.
Once Diana reaches No Man’s Land, seeing people suffering, especially the woman and children, along with animals, she puts her foot down, and enters the way, turning the tide almost single-handedly, until Steve and his men join her in the fight. In the process, she fights to save the world from Ares, the God of War, and becomes Wonder Woman during the course of the movie.
Director Patty Jenkins, and screenplay writer Allan Heinberg outshine themselves with the story. Even Zack Snyder had a little input with the story and also served as one of the producers.
While Robin Wright and Connie Nielson’s screen time is relatively short, they carry their roles with strength and confidence.
Chris Pine makes a great Captain Kirk, but he also makes a great Steve Trevor. He has proven himself to be a leading man and has amazing chemistry with Gal Gadot. His performance is monumental, yet he doesn’t outshine the flick’s female lead.
Their three allies – Sameer, Charlie and Chief Napi are played by Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner and Eugene Brave Rock are all good additions to the cast. Taghamaoui is always quite funny, Bremner is always a win, and Eugene Brave Rock gives a silent charm.
Danny Huston is always great as any villain, playing the power-hungry General Lundenhorff. If he ever plays a more pacifist role, that would be really weird.
Lucy Davis shines as Etta Candy, standing in for comic relief, next to Said Taghmaoui and Ewen Bremner, and adds more to the light-hearted elements of the movie.
Elena Anaya plays Dr Maru/Doctor Poison. Her performance is a little hammy if you ask me.
David Thewlis plays the main protagonist – Ares, the God of War. While he often played many villains, I don’t think that he was the right person for this role. It would have been more fun I younger, fitter actor such as Tom Hiddelston or Dan Stevens for such a role.
The actresses who played other Amazonian warriors such as Lisa Loven Kongsli, Additionally, Mayling Ng, Florence Kasumba, Madeleine Vall Beijner, Hayley Jane Warnes and Ann Wolfe portray Orana, Acantha, Egeria, Aella and Artemis, respectively, also carried themselves with strength and confidence, and brought life to the Amazonian warriors convincingly.
Zack Snyder even makes a small cameo as a British soldier.
The movie got a lot of things right that previous DCEU movies couldn’t – for starters, the tone was balance. There were some gritty moments that centered on death and destruction, yet the filmmakers for this movie didn’t focus on how violent you can make a movie like …ahem… Batman v Superman. However, the movie has lots of funny moments, lots of sweet moments, and lots of heart felt moments.
The action scenes are fluid and breathtaking. Whenever Wonder Woman is fighting, your jaw drops down to the ground. Also, seeing her riding on a horse through the forest is also great. This movie has the best fighting scenes in a superhero movie since Captain America: Civil War.
I also love the conversations between Diana and Steve, as they talk about the “pleasures of the flesh”, getting married, having kids, eating breakfast and reading the newspaper in the morning. It is moments like this that makes this movie magical.
Another thing that they got right in this movie is that is bright and colorful, which was sorely lacking in BvS (not so much Suicide Squad). From Diana’s world, her costume, the sunsets, the locations, and especially, Themiscyra. BvS had to many dark shadows, and black and grey colors.
Themiscyra is a sight to behold. It is a great combination of Roman and Greek artchitecture, and it was filmed in the beautiful Amalfi Coast and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Some of the other beautiful filming locations were taken in Australia, Italy, France and the UK.
Also, Bill Westenhofer did wonders with the special effects. The special effects are executed beautifully and the camera work is also perfectly handled. One of the best things used in the special effects is the yellow glow of Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Hestia (also called the Lasso of Truth in the comics). Martin Welsh also did wonders with the editing.
Rupert Gregson-Williams did a fantastic job with the score. What that Wonder Woman melody was first played in BvS, my andrenaline went haywire.
The direction by Patty Jenkins is amazing and it is to be noted that she made this project with great devotion and passion.
The movie won several accolades, such as Teen Choice Awards and Best Movie Choice awards. Gadot and Pine also won awards for best actor and actress, respectively.
My final thoughts are that is is a must-see movie for all DC comics fans and even novices. I loved the performances, the action scenes, the colorfulness, the score and the balance in tone.
I’ve have come to love and respect Gal Gadot, bringing Wonder Woman to life in spectacular fashion with graceful flawlnessness. She did the same thing that Christopher Reeve did with Superman, Robert Downey Jnr did with Iron Man and Tom Holland did with Spider-Man.
I got this movie on blu-ray this week and watched it for second time, enjoying it just as much as the first time and swooning over its epic leading lady.
Pros:
⦁ Powerful performances, especially by Gal Gadot and Chris Pine.
⦁ Solid direction and storytelling, telling the origin of Wonder Woman.
⦁ Good character development for Wonder Woman.
⦁ Bright and colorful.
⦁ Fluid, exciting and breathtaking fighting scenes.
⦁ Balance in tone.
⦁ Breathtaking cinematography.
⦁ Beautifully executed special effects.
⦁ Fixing the DC Cinametic Universe.
Cons
⦁ Hammy, corny villains.
I am giving Wonder Woman a highly deserved A.
RCCollectibles 