Archive for Wonder Woman Review

Spoiler Free Review: Wonder Woman

Posted in Comic Books, Films, Movie Review, Uncategorized with tags , , on June 16, 2017 by boccobsblog

1491990205555-1

Special guest blogger: Ann Johnson

The following is a spoiler free review of Wonder Woman, which is much harder to do than I had thought going into this. Where do you draw the line? Can I assume that the readers already know that Diana is an Amazon from Themyscira who, after rescuing Steve Trevor, leaves Paradise Island and becomes Wonder Woman? Oh crap…really? I mean, did you not see the trailers? Read any of the comics? Fine, that was the last spoiler. Crybaby. I am sticking to the Good, Badass, and Ugly format WITHOUT any other plot spoilers.

The Good

  • A good basic introduction to the character of Wonder Woman as she herself is introduced to the world outside of Themyscira. The exploration of her moral compass in the context of a global war adds depth to her character and gives her room to grow in the subsequent movies.
  • Strong peripheral characters such as Etta, Charlie, Sameer, and The Chief brought an otherwise simple story some much needed depth.
  • Elena Anaya brings sympathy to her portrayal of the villainous Dr. Maru.
  • The contrast between the modern Diana in the bookends and the young Diana in the story is well played and opens the door for additional stand-alone films to show her growth and progression.

The Badass

  • Can we talk about Robin Wright for a second? Her portrayal as Antiope was fully realized and dynamic. She fully illustrated a different archetype of woman, not only is she more mature but she shows physical and emotional strength, grace, and intelligence that is woefully underrepresented in cinema. Badass = Beautiful!
  • Some of the most beautifully choreographed fights EVER.
  • The lame lasso of truth became something truly useful and surprising, adding to the visual appeal of the battle scenes.
  • The cello riffs in the WW theme music are insane, edgy, and powerful.

The Ugly

  • Ridiculously predictable. Pay even the slightest bit of attention to what’s going on and the plot is laughably simplistic. I chalked this up to the framing of the story as an introduction to the newly realized Wonder Woman.
  • Just stop with the slow motion… seriously… we get it. I found the way too frequent slow mo more than a little distracting.
  • Chris Pine was weirdly flat. His intended comic moments didn’t land and I found myself not really caring much about his character.
  • David Thewlis’ moustache…. just no…

Gal Gadot put in a solid performance as Diana/Wonder Woman. Her portrayal fully embraces strength, compassion, and tenacity in a truly engaging introduction of a very dynamic character into the DC cinematic pantheon. I am not certain the movie lives up to the 92% on Rotten tomatoes. The CGI stroke fest that is the final battle fell somewhat flat along with Chris Pine’s performance as Steve Trevor. Danny Huston’s villainous Ludendorff was over the top and more weird and laughable than scary. That being said, I would totally watch it again and look forward to the Justice League movie.

Pick up Wonder Woman on Blu-ray.

(Thank you, Ann! Great review.)

 

1 Comment »