Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman (2017)

93% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 268 reviews)

Eh, I am sure you know all the details by now

I have a lot to say about this movie; yes, I did go and see it last night despite my still not being a fan of the genre in general. I don't love this but it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, as I explained below:

NOTE: This will be one of the lengthier reviews from me. Also, as I've said often I am not a comic book/superhero fan in general so my rating does reflect that and if you are a fan of the genre, you should rate this higher.

As I saw a new Marvel movie last month, it's fair that I see a DC entry also in 2017. In other reviews I've noted that I haven't seen too many comic book films in the 21st century, as they don't do much for me. Until this year, the last Marvel one I saw was Iron Man 2 (which I thought was crap) and the last DC one was The Dark Knight Rises (which I also thought was crap) and in the future, I'll do new proper reviews of the ones that I have seen and I'll explain why I liked or did not like them. I haven't even bothered with any of the previous films in this new DCEU; I haven't watched the Marvel ones due to apathy but the DCEU I've heard a lot of dire things about. From various reliable people and detailed reviews, they just sound like absolute messes, totally confused where obvious post-production meddling made things even worse and the iconic characters seem totally different to how they were presented on page.

I was glad to hear that there was finally a worthwhile movie in that universe and it's not yet another expensive boondoggle. Of course it's also nice that this iconic character finally got a movie of her own after all of these years and it's something that women can enjoy, a film from their perspective. I do have to laugh that some men have been dudebros about it... the controversy over one Alamo Drafthouse having two women-only screenings and some men flipping their sh*t and having a gigantic meltdown about it... talk about pathetic. Alamo responding by having even more women-only screenings, a great middle finger to those asshats.

Anyhow, after all the strong reviews for this I figured it was worth a shot. While it does have some nonsense (especially in the final act), I can still give this a nice rating. I won't reveal much about the plot, except that it's the lady who will soon be known as Diana Prince in her Amazonian homeworld, chillin' until World War I enters their universe, because... well, I don't know why, but it happens. She leaves that world so she can go to World War I in Europe and try to find the God of War Ares, who she believes is there in disguise. She gets to hang out with Chris Pine and some other characters we get to meet along the way.

Yeah, it's a film where WW does superhuman things and people in general accept it and don't see it as a sign that PERHAPS she is not a regular human being. Then again I can say that about other films in the genre. I can only best compare this to the Nolan Batman movies, which I've seen. I have many problems with that trilogy; I'll always give The Dark Knight a high rating but that is mainly due to Ledger's Joker and how amazing he was. That is still a stupid movie with gigantic plotholes and things that happen due to coincidence and sheer luck and The Joker apparently having precognitive abilities. The other two are either dull as hell or also stupid and filled with plotholes and me wondering such things as how Bruce Wayne made that gigantic journey back to Gotham undetected. I was thankful that here, things were simpler and you understood what both Diana wanted to do and what Chris Pine's character Steve Trevor wanted to do, and once the plot started it was either trying to find a destructive villain or trying to stop something that will cause millions to die.

Also nice is that you enjoy the lead characters; both Gal Gadot and Chris Pine were swell as the two stars in roles that weren't always easy. I don't know WW from the comics but here she starts off as naive to how things are in this world but she still wants to help people and that is naturally likable. By the end shes does become a hero who stays here and helps humanity despite us being naturally flawed. I was one of those who wasn't sure when Gal was hired as WW a few years ago. While I do find her to be quite attractive, she is a scrawny supermodel who hasn't done a lot of acting. Turns out, she now is built more like an Amazonian woman and she brought it in this role, which was not always easy as she has to juggle plenty of different emotions and feelings.

As an aside, I even hate saying this because some people may misconstrue this as me being a fedora-wearing MRA assclown when I am not like this at all, but I was glad when Diana left her home because many of her fellow Amazons came across as real A-holes to me. Sorry, but it's true. At least not a lot of time was spent in that world, those women still do some awesome things and both their home and World War I Europe look great and nicely brought to life, for decidedly different reasons.

As another aside, the tone of the movie. I know that DC is darker than Marvel, and to me that's fine as it differentiates the two. From hearsay, that is not the reason why their past three movies have received such a frosty reception. Multiple people have said that this is similar to Captain America: The First Avenger; I can only take their word for it. I can say that there are dark PG-13 moments which show how horrible of a war World War I was, and it was clear why WW was so affected by what she saw and why she wanted to help so badly.

I am glad that this was a movie worthy of seeing on the big screen... that it was a big hit with a woman lead and woman director... and it's been well-received by most people, and even a n00b like me isn't totally lost while watching it I am suddenly not a comic book fan and I don't plan on seeing most of the releases in that genre; but, if something seems worthwhile, I am more willing to give it a chance.