It seems like moviegoers have waited forever and a half for a female-led superhero film. Well, the wait is no longer because DC Comics, creators of such characters as Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, and The Flash, has made dreams a reality. Wonder Woman is the fourth installment of the DC Universe, and unlike past films, it is stupendous. This movie has risen DC from the ashes of the fire that Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad started (excuse me, Oscar award-winning Suicide Squad). This is the movie that this universe desperately needed, and it stands on its own as one of the greatest superhero movies of modern culture.
Gal Gadot, former star of the Fast and Furious franchise, first appeared as Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While that film was not the greatest by any standards, Gadot certainly stole the show with her power and grace as her character. Now that she has her own film, she can prove who really runs the world. It's girls. Girls run the world. Wonder Woman is an amazing film with a very diverse and talented cast that shines, which is one of the biggest positives. Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, and Robin Wright are all outstanding in their roles and their relationships to Diana were very strongly developed and played out. Diana is proven throughout the movie to be an independent woman capable of holding her own, with or without Chris Pine's Steve Trevor by her side. I thoroughly appreciated the romantic tension put between the two, as the relationship was a very well-developed one and not a half-assed, unexplained fling (ahem, Age of Ultron).
There were other aspects of this film that I very much enjoyed as well, mainly being the color! This film has had more color in it than the past three films combined, and I don't just mean scenery but people and personality as well. The characters in this film were so much more flushed out than those in the past, such as Batman, Superman, or even Harley Quinn. Each individual role had their own story, own life, and own experience to bring to the table when it came to making this film as wonderful as it was. And including the Chief, a non-stereotypical Native-American, was a very smart and powerful social move. So props to you, DC. Another feature that I loved was the beautifully-orchestrated setting of Themyscira in the first act of the film. Seeing Diana grow up and be raised as the first child on this mystical island was amazing, and it truly showed how formidable the Amazon women were.
Like any movie, though, I have concerns. Not as many for this film, however, because it really was a cinematic wonder. Let me start by saying that Ares in his final form was everything that a comic nerd like me dreamed of seeing on the big screen. His uniform made from the industrial metal around him looked like it could have been out of the Injustice video game. The only difference between that acclaimed fighting game and this movie, however, was the actual action sequences. The fighting in Wonder Woman was astounding, and credit has to be given to Zack Snyder for his dark and explosive visions, which worked well for the film. However, if all of the slow motion effects were taken out of the fighting, the movie would have lost maybe 20 minutes of screen time. There was so much slow motion in it that it seemed to drag on at certain points and it would have been refreshing to see Gadot swing her sword and slay in normal time. My only other problem has to do with a certain character's development. Dr. Maru, the lead scientist for the Germans, was the potentially most interesting villain in the film, but was never given her dues. It would have been interesting to see how she got her ceramic mask and what her motivation was for wanting the Germans to win the war.
In conclusion, Wonder Woman is definitely the film that the DC Universe needed to show how it's done. Given that it was the highest opening weekend for a female director in history, hopefully DC will hire Patty Jenkins once again in the future, for she did an amazing job on this part of the larger story. I will absolutely be supporting Jenkins, Gadot, and the others who created this film as I highly recommend it.
My Rating: ★★★★½
No comments:
Post a Comment