Wonder Woman Review
I feel like the superhero film craze has been in swing long enough that the origins for them all are all so well known that there are barely any origin stories worth telling at this point. Fortunately Wonder Woman is just what I was looking for in a genre that has become more and more predictable and downright boring in so many ways for what seems like a decade now. Like any good origin story Wonder Woman has a much slower pace than the standard comic action film that we have come to know and the film benefits greatly from this. You never end up in a situation and think to yourself; wait, how did we get here? The film is patient yet very exciting and goes places very few, if any in fact, other films in the genre have done in quite a while.
I really don't like to draw upon comparisons in film but I feel there is a very obvious one for Wonder Woman and I want to get it out of the way quickly. I enjoyed Man of Steel more than most but my main complaint with Man of Steel was that the film was in such a hurry to get him into the blue and red suit. You get five minutes on Krypton and it's all so hectic and intense. Wonder Woman on the other hand avoids this mistake. Granted we know a little about her already but we get a solid three quarters of an hour with her on Themyscira and it's not just an excuse to show off how much behind she can kick; because we already know that. Instead you get methodical build up of her character, what her ideals are, what she believes and her principals. I almost didn't want this part of the film to end but when she finally gets into the costume of Wonder Woman the timing is spot on and it's a perfect set up for what is to follow.
Once we get away from this segment is where my only real knock against the film is found and that is the humour angle of Wonder Woman being in first world war era London is leaned on way too much and it just isn't all that funny. The setting itself is a very bold one and they aren't afraid to show some pretty terrible things and allude to far worse and because of this the humour just feels unnecessary. At worst it feels like a waste of the main cast too, both Gadot and Pine are superb in their roles and to see them have to go through the mandatory funny bits is a shame.
With that out of the way I can focus on the good and that is literally everything else; apart from some slightly dodgy looking CGI here and there. There is a great supporting cast here too, Connie Nielsen is perfect as Hippolyta; Diana's mother, David Thewlis does a great turn as the main villain. I'm always happy to see Danny Huston crop up too, although I wish we got to enjoy him more on screen as he so good at playing the conniving manipulator role.
Wonder Woman's action is also a rare highlight in a film where it has become increasingly common to disguise bad fighting with rapid editing and cuts. The film does lean a little too heavily on slow motion sometimes, especially when the CG lines show but I'll take that any day over seeing a second of footage from 20 different perspectives at once. They also do a great job of making Wonder Woman herself not feel too powerful but at the same time you know that she is not to be taken lightly. Most of her action is centred around helping and protecting people and this is something I much prefer over people taking turns throwing each other across rooms or punching each other really hard. This makes the final confrontation where she gets to really show off her strength feel like a real treat as for almost two hours we have seen her push herself in the aim of protecting others. Getting to see her go all out on the offense feels like it's earned when it arrives.
I could go on and on about why I enjoyed Wonder Woman so much but I would have to get into spoiler territory to do that. I've said it many times that I have become increasingly tired of the slog of superhero films we've been getting and I really hoped Wonder Woman would be the kick up the backside the genre needed. Wonder Woman didn't feel predictable or as safe as so many other films like this do. In fact one sort of complaint, I say sort of because it's not an actual one is that I wish they given the film had a higher rating and explored the possibilities that would have given. The setting of WW1 could have been much more grim than it is displayed and I think Gal Gadots performance is more than earnest enough to warrant it but I digress. Wonder Woman fills me with not just confidence going forward but I am really hopeful at where they take the character from here. This ranks as one of my favourite comic book films of all time and I can only hope they keep up the standard.
Now please don't mess up the Justice League movie.
I really don't like to draw upon comparisons in film but I feel there is a very obvious one for Wonder Woman and I want to get it out of the way quickly. I enjoyed Man of Steel more than most but my main complaint with Man of Steel was that the film was in such a hurry to get him into the blue and red suit. You get five minutes on Krypton and it's all so hectic and intense. Wonder Woman on the other hand avoids this mistake. Granted we know a little about her already but we get a solid three quarters of an hour with her on Themyscira and it's not just an excuse to show off how much behind she can kick; because we already know that. Instead you get methodical build up of her character, what her ideals are, what she believes and her principals. I almost didn't want this part of the film to end but when she finally gets into the costume of Wonder Woman the timing is spot on and it's a perfect set up for what is to follow.
Once we get away from this segment is where my only real knock against the film is found and that is the humour angle of Wonder Woman being in first world war era London is leaned on way too much and it just isn't all that funny. The setting itself is a very bold one and they aren't afraid to show some pretty terrible things and allude to far worse and because of this the humour just feels unnecessary. At worst it feels like a waste of the main cast too, both Gadot and Pine are superb in their roles and to see them have to go through the mandatory funny bits is a shame.
With that out of the way I can focus on the good and that is literally everything else; apart from some slightly dodgy looking CGI here and there. There is a great supporting cast here too, Connie Nielsen is perfect as Hippolyta; Diana's mother, David Thewlis does a great turn as the main villain. I'm always happy to see Danny Huston crop up too, although I wish we got to enjoy him more on screen as he so good at playing the conniving manipulator role.
Wonder Woman's action is also a rare highlight in a film where it has become increasingly common to disguise bad fighting with rapid editing and cuts. The film does lean a little too heavily on slow motion sometimes, especially when the CG lines show but I'll take that any day over seeing a second of footage from 20 different perspectives at once. They also do a great job of making Wonder Woman herself not feel too powerful but at the same time you know that she is not to be taken lightly. Most of her action is centred around helping and protecting people and this is something I much prefer over people taking turns throwing each other across rooms or punching each other really hard. This makes the final confrontation where she gets to really show off her strength feel like a real treat as for almost two hours we have seen her push herself in the aim of protecting others. Getting to see her go all out on the offense feels like it's earned when it arrives.
I could go on and on about why I enjoyed Wonder Woman so much but I would have to get into spoiler territory to do that. I've said it many times that I have become increasingly tired of the slog of superhero films we've been getting and I really hoped Wonder Woman would be the kick up the backside the genre needed. Wonder Woman didn't feel predictable or as safe as so many other films like this do. In fact one sort of complaint, I say sort of because it's not an actual one is that I wish they given the film had a higher rating and explored the possibilities that would have given. The setting of WW1 could have been much more grim than it is displayed and I think Gal Gadots performance is more than earnest enough to warrant it but I digress. Wonder Woman fills me with not just confidence going forward but I am really hopeful at where they take the character from here. This ranks as one of my favourite comic book films of all time and I can only hope they keep up the standard.
Now please don't mess up the Justice League movie.
Comments
Post a Comment