by Doodle Dee. Snickers » Wed Jun 14, 2017 4:25 am
Just saw this movie tonight, checking in.
++ World War 1. One thing that disappointed me back when military shooters became big is that we always came back to World War 2, even in the movies and such. While World War 2 is the more flashy war--there were clear good guys and bad guys, there were huge personalities from the generals to the leaders, there were much higher stakes, and even the horrifying moments of the war (the Holocaust, the nukes, Rape of Nanking, etc) were more clear cut and dramatic, leaving it much more imprinted on public memory. World War 1 is infinitely more interesting as a study of humanity, a war that was fought more or less because of nothing, for nothing, and the carnage was just as devastating but confined more to the battlefield.
I thought it was ballsy, sticking a superhero movie in that kind of setting, but I was pleasantly surprised that Wonder Woman leaned into it by sticking a morally perfect person in one of the most morally dubious times in history. The whole point is "yes, there isn't some big bad that can just be slain, then war ends forever, everything's confused and nobody's ever 100% good or bad". Sure, she ends the movie with slaying a big bad, but the armistice was happening already, and it left her understandably fleeing the world for some time.
So I dug that they decided to set it in WW1, is what I'm saying. It felt a bit like the King Kong:Skull Island movie, which was a King Kong movie wearing a Vietnam movie. This was a superhero movie wearing a WW1 movie.
++ Physicality. This is something I've been noticing increasingly with female actresses. One of the reasons I think Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor were such iconic characters is that you could really believe that Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton were physically capable of doing those things. Furiosa from Mad Max, Rey from Star Wars, I've noticed that actresses expected to play female characters who fight are increasingly being told to actually look like they're physically capable of the feats they are and getting down and dirty in a fight.
+Gal Gadot. I remember when she was first announced back before BvS, and I was like "Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". But you know what? I'll shut up. She played the role very well, and though it's not exactly a complex role, she's at least making believe she's Wonder Woman. I like the perpetual state of disbelief she seems to be in over the state of the world.
+Chris Pine. I was worried about him. He was likable enough in Star Trek, but that's about all I know him from and I wasn't sure how he'd translate over to this film. He did a good job, I though, far better than I was expecting.
+The humor. I actually wasn't expecting the movie to be as funny as it was, but they had some really good moments here and there.
+Chris Pine's Merry Band. Seriously, those three dudes who just followed Chris Pine on his merry World War 1 adventure were killing me every time they were on screen.
+The acting, just all-round. Seriously, I didn't dislike a single character in this film, even if I was a little 'eh' on the villain. From Chris Pine's secretary to Wonder Woman herself, everyone was just killing it in this movie.
+The Chemist. I always like the "Obsessive Villain" who is almost a punch-clock villain but just has that extra obsessive mania. I thought the villainness was frankly the best villain in the movie, because she fit the theme and setting more than the real villain (see below). I suppose she couldn't be an action girl, though, so it was always gonna be someone else, but I liked her role.
+/- The Villain. The villain wasn't quite as compelling as all the other characters. I was glad that he was like "War will go on with or without me", and I spent half the fight going "Wait, is he actually Zeus, or....", but I knew he was the bad guy the moment he funded their little adventure. It was too obvious to be the German guy. I suppose that fits with the idea of nobody being good in this war, but it just felt a little too...off. It's hard to describe.
+/- Female empowerment. Mostly plus, but a little minus. I'd say this ranks third behind Aliens and Fury Road for female empowerment blockbusters. Like Fury Road, it was mostly just left unsaid, my preferred kind of message. Also like Fury Road it could sometimes be a bit too on the nose ("This is NO MAN'S land! It's a place for NO MEN! If only we had someone who wasn't a MAN to get across this NO MAN'S land!")
- Not Enough Robin Wright. For reals, you have Claire Underwood in the movie and then you just kill her off in the first twenty minutes? Dafuq?
All told, best DC movie since the Dark Knight, I think. I hope this is the beginning of the upward trajectory for the DC franchise. Especially since Marvel's grown pretty rote (although Thor:Ragnarok looks like it might be injecting some much-needed personality into Thor).
It's funny, I told someone at work the other day: "We've got a great Wonder Woman movie, a good King Kong movie, we've got an It remake happening soon, a Justice League movie, and Star Wars at the end of the year. It's like some movie executives at Disney and WB peered into my soul and were like "What does Doods wanna watch this year? Can we get on that?"." I love this new trend of them bringing back or creating franchises, is what I'm saying, and I'm sure the bubble will collapse eventually, but let me just enjoy it now.