Wonder Woman 2017

 

"I am Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. In the name of all that is good, your wrath upon this world is over."

 

 

I got worried for a second this weekend. I usually can count on my Russian buddy Yuri to send me the screener for the film I wanted to see more than any other this year but I hadn't heard from him all weekend. But this morning he reached me and apologized for being off in Minsk for the weekend. Now who can't forgive a nice trip to Minsk when he returns and offers me such treasure?

Right from the beginning I was entranced by this tale. So many great directing and writing and casting decisions were made by director Patty Jenkins. Some say only a woman could create the Wonder Woman film we all have been dreaming about since we first picked up our first Wonder Woman comic and after seeing that film, I believe that to be true. The wait has been long but SO worth it because they finally got it right. Oh so right. The story is compelling and exciting. The effects are terrific and they take place in the LIGHT and not the darkness (until the end which is my only criticism of the film) which was the biggest drawback of all the latest DC movies like Suicide Squad and Batman vs Superman.

Watching the look of determination on the face of the young Diana I got a tingle. Then I saw the adult Gal Gadot and I was in love. Perfect casting and a performance that is everything Wonder Woman should be - beautiful, bold, brave, resourceful and kind with a sense of justice that is inbred within her. THIS is why I have always been a fan and my toy collection reflects my love for the character. She was terrific as an animated character in the past 15 years of Justice League cartoons and her own animated features but to see her in live action is a gift. So is all the great art that has come out in celebration of the film.

 

DC wisely set the story in the past (WWI) so that she would be on her own, away from other heroes like Batman or Superman who could steal her thunder. This is Diana's tale and is so far removed from the darkness of the Zac Snyder DC Universe. Another blessing.

 

 

The fight scenes and battle choreography are epic and I have to give credit fully to all the female actors who play the Amazons and especially Robin Wright for being the badass warrior who trained Diana. For an older actress she committed totally to the role as did everyone connected to this project.

The chemistry between the naïve Diana and Steve Trevor is great but does Chris Pine have to ride a motorcycle in EVERY film he's in? The scenes where she learns more about the peculiarity of man' world are fun which is perfect for a character who is truly a fish out of water.

 

The battle scenes were amazing pieces of production and the power of a female warrior at the center of the conflict is something rarely seen and so appreciated by an action movie fan like me. Gal worked her ass off to make it all seem realistic. She is a true Amazon warrior and she made me believe. ESPECIALLY when she enters No Man's Land in full costume to confront the Germans. Something else that gave me that tingle. THIS is the hero I love.

 

 

This film has a great opening weekend and near universal praise and all the good you have heard about this film is deserved. It will appeal to all audiences and in a summer of great superhero movies, this one is the best I have seen so far. Guardians of the Galaxy was fantastic but Wonder Woman is better. Can Gal Gadot save the Justice League movie with her Wonder Woman? That still remains to be seen but after watching this film I know she can't hurt it.

 

I felt like I was discovering something I didn’t even know I had always wanted. A need that I had boxed up and buried deep after three movies of Iron Man punching bad guys in the face, three more movies of Captain America punching bad guys in the face, a movie about Superman and Batman punching each other in the face and then “Suicide Squad.”

Witnessing a woman hold the field, and the camera, for that long blew open an arguably monotonous genre. We didn’t need a computer-generated tree or a sassy raccoon to change the superhero game; what we needed was a woman.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-wonder-woman-crying-20170605-htmlstory.html