+ Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Gal Gadot + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year
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| Gal Gadot looks incredibly cool on this poster for Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman |
Wonder Woman is the 4th film in the DC Extended Universe franchise, following Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Suicide Squad (2016). It is written by Allan Heinberg (The O.C. (2003-05)), with Zack Snyder (300 (2006)) and Jason Fuchs (Pan (2015)) contributing story elements, based on William Moulton Marston's comic book character, who debuted in 1941, and directed by great Californian filmmaker Patty Jenkins (Monster (2003)).
Princess Diana lives with her protective mother and all-female clan on the Pacific island of Themyscira, when an American pilot crashes into the ocean and is saved by her, catapulting her into the horrors of WWI, - and her destiny as Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman has been many many years in the making, and luckily the wait has resulted in the probably best combination of talent involved that we could have wished for: Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious (2009)), who has been the most likable cast member of the last 4 Fast and Furious movies, emerges as a charismatic and hugely endearing superstar on her own here, combining, in her performance, sincere kindness, charm, strength, courage and outrage, always while presenting the character as a gracious and dignified woman. She is partnered with Chris Pine (Just My Luck (2006)), who is also great here, and the two have undeniable on-screen chemistry. The film endears itself with a healthy dose of humor and warmth that makes it more similar to an Indiana Jones movie, - though with a super-human hero, - than one of the broodingly dark superhero entries we have often been given lately. This is a liberating and highly welcome change.
Wonder Woman also holds off some on the CGI typhoons that simply swallow up some of the other Marvel and DC tentpole films and make them unrecognizable as examples of cinema. - Sure Wonder Woman has stylized (and exciting) actions sequences and CGI used throughout, but it feels more authentic, and its locations contribute more, than in several other superhero entries. Its period setting provides both occasions for amusement and horror, as some realities of WWI are brought back to us, and cleverly woven into the plot, as the main goal becomes obstructing the invention and production of mustard gas, which was a key part of the gruesome mass-deaths of the war. The recent superhero movie that is definitely most comparable to this is Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), which is also an origins story set in a world war period (WWII), but where The First Avenger keeps derailing in unreal CGI and loses any emotional bind we may foster with its hero, Wonder Woman keeps itself more grounded and character-centered.
This thrilling adventure starts at Themyscira, a mythical island where Robin Wright (House of Cards (2013-17)) and Connie Nielsen (Nymphomaniac: Vol. 1 (2013)), mother and aunt of Diana, struggle passionately to decide the mentoring of the unusual girl and, later, young woman. This part almost recalls corny past offerings such as Red Sonja (1985), but Jenkins holds the fantasy tight and serious, and it captures the imagination. As we move on, we get Elena Anaya (Room in Rome/Habitación en Roma (2010)) and Danny Huston (Big Eyes (2014)) as the main villains of the war, whereof Huston is especially strong, (and a cinephile might enjoy musing that he plays the diabolical part that his legendary father John Huston might easily have commanded 50 years ago.) Gadot and Pine also have an exciting and wide-ranging group of helpers in Saïd Taghmaoui (American Hustle (2013)), Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down (2001)), Eugene Brave Rock (Jamestown (2017), TV-series) and Lucy Davis (Some Guy Who Kills People (2013)), who is a hoot as Pine's secretary Etta Candy. They represent a diversity that may not seem altogether realistic, (especially the native American Indian popping up near the European war front), but again Jenkins makes the unlikely work to the movie's advantage, as their differences and camaraderie in spite of these heighten the film's adventure and give it another timely edge.
Wonder Woman does feel very timely. Although the heroine, - who in a way seems like the female superhero the world has sighed for for several decades, - and her diverse group of helpers fight the evils of WWI, the villains' contempt for human life and sheer unfathomable evil have several current proponents in the world today that deserve the cool lashings of Diana's whip given here. Yet the film holds its head high in denying that evil to change the general tone into the gloomy; it is an enthusiastic call to fight for the good in the world, and for love.
Wonder Woman deserves great praise for this, and deserves to be seen by high and low of both sexes and everyone in between everywhere. Rupert Gregson-Williams (Zookeeper (2011)) has composed an effective score with the great theme, Wonder Woman's Wrath.
The small detractors from the film's success lie in some over-length, SPOILER and in its third and final villain, Ares, who is portrayed without vigor by David Thewlis (Anomalisa (2015)) and feels disappointing as the divine counterpart to Anay's Doctor Poison and Huston's Ludendorff.
Still, these notes are minor issues in a generally terrific film that deserves to become a worldwide smash.
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
Watch an official trailer for the film here
Cost: 149 mil. $
Box office: 263.6 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[Wonder Woman premiered 15 May (Shanghai) and runs 141 minutes. Development began in 1996! At different points, involved talents include: Ivan Reitman, Sandra Bullock, Mariah Carey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chyna, Lucy Lawless, Joss Whedon, Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé and Paul Feig. - It is clear (at least to me) that Jenkins/Gadot is likely the best combo of all of the possible ones. The WWI setting differs from the comics, in which Diana comes into her own during WWII. Filming lasted from November 2015 - May 2016 in France, including Paris, Italy and England, including in London, with reshoots in November 2016: Gadot's five months pregnant tummy was hidden under a green cloth and changed in post production. The London premiere was canceled due to the cowardly 22 May ISIS Manchester attack on an Ariana Grande concert. Gadot's Israeli ethnicity has, ridiculously, caused Lebanon and a court in Tunisia to ban the film. The film opened #1 to an impressive 103.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it is expected to beat Tom Cruise's debuting The Mummy this week in a spectacular box office upset. It has gotten a fine start in many foreign markets and is poised to open in Germany and Spain later in June and in Japan in August. It has already become the top opening for a female-directed feature ever, and the film has found its way to #213 on IMDb's user-generated Top 250, between Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind/Kaze no tani no Naushika (1984) and Sholay (1975). Wonder Woman is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
