Given all the hype, I expected to see The Best Movie In The World. It was good, but it did not transport me to Nirvana. I give it a solid B.
Should you be interested, look up Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston. He was a "unique" fellow, to say the least; for those of you who won't believe anything unless it comes from NPR, here's an even juicier version:
The man behind the most popular female comic book hero of all time, Wonder Woman, had a secret past: Creator William Moulton Marston had a wife — and a mistress. He fathered children with both of them, and they all secretly lived together in Rye, N.Y. And the best part? Marston was also the creator of the lie detector.Wonder Woman was written to have an alluring sexuality--and both Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot have been capable of playing that up. In fact, when her hair is pulled back, Gadot bears a striking similarity to Carter. But while Carter's Wonder Woman was limited by the censors of 1970's television, Gadot most certainly is not. Carter was hot, Gadot exudes sexuality but with barely a nod to it.
Carter's Wonder Woman used violence only as a last resort, and when she did use it, she used no more than was necessary to accomplish her task. I don't recall her ever having killed anyone, for example--but again, that's a limitation of 1970's TV. Gadot's Wonder Woman is a fierce fighter and takes out many people (while looking good doing it).
I know the argument for setting this movie in World War I, when Wonder Woman's story actually took place in World War II--and I don't accept the argument. Wonder Woman, Captain America, and Superman all have a place in World War II, and the war was big enough for them not to bump into each other. I grant that the WWI story line was a good one, I just don't accept that it was necessary to deviate from "canon" for this movie.
It dragged in a few places, too.
The movie started and ended in the modern day, so this World War I story line seems to be a one-off. That also sets the stage for the modern Justice League, which will no doubt be DC's version of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm looking forward to such movies.
Overall, I give the movie a B, perhaps because it would be near impossible for it to have lived up to the hype.
I think it was praised so much because it wasn't garbage like the last few DC movies, so anything that is half decent is treated like the second coming. Granted I definitely enjoyed myself watching it as well.
ReplyDeleteI think this story was a setup for her "violence as a last resort" as WW1 showed her the worst of the worst in humanity (even if also some of the best aspects), though I wish she wasn't so quick to just join the British guy and happen to luck out on meeting a guy not on the side using chemical warfare Haha. I do think even with canon objections a WW1 setting was refreshing to see from a superhero movie instead of WWII like every other movie.
And yes Gal Gadot is stunning, even as someone that swings the other way I found myself in awe of her beauty.