We really needed to see a woman beat the crap out of murderous maniacs. Thank you, Wonder Woman.
Achtung: Spoilers.
For two hours we were charmed, fired up, and inspirited by Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins and embodied by Gal Gadot. After a week of terrible news we were so cheered by the tale of an Amazon meeting the outside world for the first time, that towards the end when the movie suddenly dove into a pot of cheese fondue, we decided to overlook it. Truly casting is half the work, so whoever thought of putting Gal Gadot in the costume: You are brilliant. We know she was an Israeli army combat instructor, so we hope to see her fighting in long takes and not those slowed down-sped up cuts. (DC, please stop recycling your final fight scene.)
As Steve Trevor, Chris Pine is not photographed as lovingly as he is in Star Trek and elsewhere—sometimes he looks pudgy. This makes sense, as no one should out-gorgeous Diana, and it actually boosts Pine in the Chris rankings because it means he’s not overly concerned with his looks. And the DC Universe has added a color to its palette (blue), yay. As the Amazon general Robin Wright is so fearsome, there should be a remake of The Princess Bride in which Buttercup is also Inigo Montoya. She should be the President in House of Cards. Also if you’re a Chris playing a Steve in a world war, stay away from the plane carrying the weapon.
There is no end credits sequence. If you’re planning to catch the movie tomorrow, get your tickets now because they’re almost gone.
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Patty Jenkins directed Monster, which won Charlize Theron her Oscar, in 2003. Since then she has directed for TV, but Wonder Woman is her first movie in 14 years. Success is sweet.
My friend who is indifferent to superhero movies says she was not prepared for how Wonder Woman affected her. It was the No Man’s Land scene that made the movie for many viewers. In her case it was the Amazons training on the beach at Themyscira, and seeing Artemis, a black woman and a senator.
And beautiful as Diana/Gal Gadot is, her Wonder Woman is not sexualized or ogled by the camera. In fact her beauty is a weapon to disarm the patriarchy.
More women filmmakers, please.
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June 4th, 2017 at 19:08
Needless to say, I loved it. As a long-time Wonder Woman fan, I felt this was a Patty’s love letter to the character (keso, I know haha).
And yes to the colors! Paradise Island, in particular, looked stunning and blue and bright and beautiful.
The No Man’s Land sequence is one of the most powerful I’ve seen in any superhero movie, if not the most powerful. In many ways, it was more the climax than the actual climax. It worked on so many levels, from the Eowynesque symbolism to Diana showing what she had to Diana basically defying what men kept telling her to do in order to fight for what she believes in.
Gal truly made the role her own and should make the naysayers shut up, especially those whose primary criticism was that she didn’t have gigantic breasts (ah, the internet).
This is the third time Danny Huston has portrayed a live action comic book villain after 30 Days of Night and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I wonder where he’ll turn up next? Hopefully alongside his half-sister Anjelica in something macabre; he did American Horror Story after all.
As for Chris, he’s always been my favorite of the fours Chrises (a hard choice, I know, since the other three are Evans, Hemsworth, and Pratt). Ever since I saw him in Princess Diaries 2, I’ve followed his career. Plus, he can siiiing, and in a very sexy way too.
Also, my respect for him and Hemsworth shot up even further when they – Hollywood blockbuster leading men who are almost A-list if not yet so – accepted roles that are supporting characters to leading women (Wonder Woman and Ghostbusters). Few “macho actors” would be so secure in their masculinity. (I side eye Sean Connery, who famously insisted that Alan Quatermain be the star and leader of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen even though the comics clearly had Mina Harker as the leader.)
Anyway, I look forward to what Patty and the team have planned for the Wonder Woman, which I believe they confirmed has been greenlighted.
June 5th, 2017 at 03:54
By the way, to answer the question of who chose to cast Gal and put her in the costume: it was Zack Snyder.
June 5th, 2017 at 23:34
I enjoyed watching this yesterday!
This is also a good review though with spoilers.
https://youtu.be/_yVBXqWZJgs
And now I’m reminded how the Man of Steele ending made me sleepy :)
June 7th, 2017 at 10:18
allancarreon: Snyder isn’t a total cretin. He’s done some good things, like putting Michael Fassbender in 300.
June 7th, 2017 at 18:24
‘Cheese fondue’, haha! I thought of dairy too when she started spouting about love in front of Ares. It was a bit out of character at that point in the film, even if Jenkins and Gadot can’t stop talking about Diana’s “grace, wisdom, love” etc. in interviews as if Wonder Woman was a pageant queen.
The fireworks in the finale was a letdown, yeah. Maybe something more weighty like the climax of Man of Steel would have been better. But on second thought, we can use a lady superhero doing this fiery demonstration of power at least this one time. She’s a demigoddess after all.