Wonder Woman 2017
This movie has gotten surprsingly good reviews despite a recent run of mediocre DC superhero movies, so I was still a little wary but hopeful. While the movie doesn’t have a lot of spark or really pull you in emotionally, it is also very well done and hard to find faults. It is a little easier to do an origin story because there is so much background to go through and it is always fun to see superheroes getting used to their powers. The movie is set during the closing days of Word War I even though we know Wonder Woman will end up at the Justice League during modern days somehow, similar to Captain America maybe (they even both have indestructible shields), and is told in flashback. The main characters are played well by Gal Gadot and Chris Pine though there is not a huge amount of chemistry between the two. Most of the other characters are cardboard cutouts even though the good guys are likable and the bad guys are despicable. With the origin stuff taking up the first third of the movie or so, they don’t have a lot of time to set up the side characters. The action is not completely ridiculous like it is in Marvel movies though it works towards that as the movie progresses. There aren’t a whole lot of jokes, but it is fun watching this powerful woman at work in the 1910’s, including a scene where she tries to put together an unassuming look that will fit in with London during that era. Definitely enjoyable throughout with some nice historical flourishes of clothes and weapons of that era. And it doesn’t just feel like the first part of a series, but a complete movie. Still, it’s not a great achievement either, so I have to take off a little by giving it a B+, maybe just missing an A-.
Written: 24 Jun 2017
Owned on: UHD, Blu-ray, Digital