• Podcast
  • Reviews
  • NJ IPA Podcast
  • About
  • Search
  • Podcast
  • Reviews
  • NJ IPA Podcast
  • About
  • Search
SCENE IT ALL BEFORE

Wonderful Woman

6/1/2017

0 Comments

 

Wonder Woman Reviewed 

I cannot tell you how happy I am that Wonder Woman is a good movie. I was dreading going to another ‘gritty’ DC movie, but as I sat there I had a flashback to the original Superman, and not in a cheesy 70s kind of way. Wonder Woman fights for good, and that idea is reflected on screen. Somehow Superman — who is supposed to stand for truth, justice, and the American way — lost the plot with his own dark and gritty reboot. This semi-throwback idea is a welcome change from where the DC universe has been going and works because it feels earnest. And in the world we live in today that kind of virtuous character is a much-needed respite. 

It's a nice bonus that Wonder Woman has a female visionary at the lead, and Patty Jenkins is a talented storyteller, the same person who gave us the Academy Award-winning movie Monster. She crafts a movie that doesn't rely solely on explosions and CGI to succeed and that's the key.
​
The plot is a basic origin story, to find out how Wonder Woman came to be. The movie is set during World War I and starts with Diana (Gal Gadot) on Themyscira, where we get a decent amount of backstory to the Amazons. As Diana grows up she becomes a warrior and one day she finds allied officer Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and agrees to help him in an effort to end the war to end all wars.

What’s great about this movie is it’s not all doom and gloom like previous DC movies; there are plenty of funny moments before we get to the front line, especially with the fish out of water angle as Diana tries to adapt to the world of man. The banter between Gal Gadot as the straight man, or the straight woman as it were, playing against Chris Pine is the heart of the movie overall — but their chemistry excels during the movie’s lighter moments.
Picture
Gal Gadot is charismatic, and has amazing presence. If you were to tell me she was royal born I would totally believe you. This is a star making role for the talented actress.
One of the few knocks on this movie is the use of CGI. The action scenes are good as long as they don't rely solely on green screens. This is especially true for the lasso of truth; when it’s not glowing it looks fine, but anytime the lasso is used in an action sequence it looks silly.  

The end is also just a little bit cheesy. I mean it’s no 'let's stop this fight because I realized both of our mothers were named Martha' bad, but it’s still not great. It just doesn't match the tone of the rest if the movie. Obviously, it's a superhero movie, so we have to have the final fight with the big bad guy, but do we? This movie is better than that cliché.

In a world full of superhero movies, Wonder Woman is at the top of the pile and becomes a new standard for what the audience should expect. Every DC director out there needs to take a note from Patty Jenkins, because this is how it's done. The use of CGI, explosions, and special effects are the weakest parts of the movie, the movie succeeds based on the relationships the characters have with one another and our relationship with our hero. Patty Jenkins just turned on the pressure for the Justice League movie coming out later his year. Can the boys step up? A-/B+
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    1920s
    2015
    Action
    A Nightmare On Elm Street
    Aquaman
    Baby Driver
    Batman
    Ben Affleck
    Black Panther
    Blade Runner
    Blade Runner 2049
    Bradley Cooper
    Charlie Hunnam
    Chris Messina
    Chris Pratt
    Christopher Nolan
    Coco
    Cyborg
    Dave Bautista
    DC
    Director
    Disney
    Drama
    Dunkirk
    Ferdinand
    Game Of Thrones
    Gangster
    GLOW
    Guardians Of The Galaxy
    Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2
    Guy Ritchie
    Happy Death Day
    House Of Cards
    I
    Jennifer Lawrence
    Jude Law
    Justice League
    King Arthur
    Kumail Nanjiani
    Live By Night
    Marvel
    Mob
    Movie
    Orange Is The New Black
    Oscar Picks
    Passengers
    Patton Oswalt
    Pixar
    Podcast
    Prohibition
    Rain Man
    Review
    Sci-Fi
    Space
    Spider Man
    Spider-Man
    Star Wars
    Suburbicon
    Superheroes
    Superman
    The Big Sick
    The Dark Tower
    The Faculty
    The Flash
    The Last Five Years
    The Last Jedi
    The Little Giants
    Tommy Boy
    Tonya
    Top Ten
    TV
    Twin Peaks
    Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
    Universe
    Vin Diesel
    Wonder
    Wonder Woman
    Zoe Saldana

    Archives

    May 2021
    February 2020
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.