Review of "Wonder Woman" movie

Rating: PG-13, Timing: 2hr 21 min, Director: Patty Jenkins, Cast on IMDb

What did you think of the woman super hero movie?

Well, when I entered the place was packed before all the commercials were even run, so definitely off to a great start and the audience clapped at the end.  I think it really demonstrated the desire for a female super hero, played by Gal Gadot,  that is mostly missing from Hollywood films.  As a well known comic put it, there have been 4 different Batman movies, 2-3 Superman movies, 9 movies that you had to believe Vin Diesel was smart before this movie was made and allowed to be made by a woman.  I'm not sure I agree with that opinion since newer movies like Alien 1-3, Kill Bill 1/2, The Silence of the Lambs, Erin Brockvich, Black Swan,  Salt, Underworld, Resident Evil, etc. I would agree that generally women even playing the lead are in kind of submissive roles to the whole film, so maybe there are very few of these types of movies.

Were you expecting the background to take place in WWI?

Well I knew it was going to take place in a war, but I thought it would be WWII similar to the origins of Captain America.  It was great to see Wonder Woman having to adapt to the modest 1900s going into WWI.  Of course, during any wartime the social mores around what a woman can or can't do or can or cannot wear loosen up due to war conditions.  I think as the origin of the comic Wonder Woman came from the 1940s, hence my assumption they would use WWII to introduce her, but I think WWI is funnier since the social mores are so different.  The comic introduces her fighting the Axis powers, but the movie takes a bit of liberty to introduce her earlier.  The switch is actually quite delightful as it was unexpected for me, although I did try to avoid as much of the ads to not ruin the movies.  Maybe it was also to take away the stigma as her comic could be seen as more propaganda in a way based off the depiction below.

Was this the first depiction of Wonder Woman filmed?

No in fact I grew up on Lynda Carter playing her in the 1970s on TV.  It was fun, since she changed into Wonder Woman by doing a twirl and presto magic she came up as Wonder Woman.  You can see the costume has been modernized from the 1940s dress code with shorter shorts and loose hair vs. the pony tail seen in the comic.  It still is very true to the patriotism symbolized by the original comic with the American flag basically a part of the uniform. There had been a plan to include Lynda Carter perhaps as one of the older Amazonians in the film, but the location in Italy made it difficult to coordinate unfortunately. 

Do you think they will do more than introduce Justice League with Wonder Woman?

Thanks to the great launch there is talk of doing a Wonder Woman 2, which I think as awesome being so few female super hero roles out there currently. The current director may be a part of that or not.  Let's hope so as she did a great job on this version of the movie. 

 Were you shocked they introduced a love triangle to the movie?

I think it makes sense, but kind of shows us the typical girl falls for guy scenario in most female lead films except maybe Resident Evil.  I think Chris Pine is a great actor, especially in the new Star Trek remake movie.  It adds more dimension to Wonder Woman and show how she is learning about the world despite being a semi-god.  I think they kept the movie smart in that aspect showing her accepting humanity, but not really getting it until living it with Chris in the WWI trenches. The funny thing is he gets to play the typical loss a guy goes through to save the girl.  The conclusion of his character really transitions Diana from Amazonian to Wonder Woman so to say. Looking back at the comic, this is the original Intelligent officer Steve Trevor, but set in WWII vs. WWI, but truer than later versions of the comic and the origin story changes to include derivatives of Wonder Woman including Hellenic characters and attributes to Wonder Woman.

How did you find the villains?

There is a delicious moment of you found him and then you didn't.  I think this adds to the movie depth as it confused Diana not finding Ares, God of War at first.  Of course, then she does find the God of War.  This is a great plot wrinkle to keep us guessing when the real battle will take place.  One role is the supporting villainess Dr. Moru played by Elena Anaya, who is developing the killer mustard gas that is impervious to gas masks.  As we know during WWI, gas warfare was a major element in the war although not as effective since the wind could change and impact the army deploying the gas. She has the chance to defect, but is loyal to her side fighting the Great War. 

Real trenches in WWI

Have you thought of doing art on comic?

I think you have to have that appeal to do illustration and comic to really do it.  In my art, I don't really see myself doing Wonder Woman probably because of the wild costume and origins in WWII kind of leave you flat nowadays or too dated.  That said, the movie really rocked it for the viewers. ​
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