Before I start, I want to take just a moment and remind
everyone of the best thing about “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
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| You emailed her, Bruce; why do you think she's with Clark? |
Indeed, I think there’s a fair argument that Diana is not
only the best thing but the only good thing in the movie.
Gal Gadot dominated the screen every time she was on it. She’s the only one in the entire movie acting
like a superhero. And though denied the
obvious killing blow her character should have had in the film, she leaves an
indelible impression. (You have an
Amazon warrior you worked in for this cameo; you have a SPEAR that makes no
sense to exist in the film, that will kill the other good guy if he uses it;
OBVIOUSLY you give the spear to Diana! But I digress…)
So yeah, Wonder Woman, best thing about BvS.
So yeah, “Wonder Woman,” best thing about the DC Cinematic
Universe.
DC's previous efforts turned me off so much, I didn't even plan to see this in the theater. But, the right people were saying good things, so I gave in.
Thank Goddess I did.
We finally have a DC movie in this new continuity that seems
to understand the character. We finally
have a DC movie that understands “Epic” does not have to mean “Disaster
Porn.” We finally have a DC movie that
has a consistent message throughout and does not seem to be confused at its own
theme. We have character development
instead of characters doing what they do because that character needs to do
that, motivation be damned.
We have a DC movie with a superhero being a goddamn
superhero. And it’s about time.
Patty Jenkins knows what she’d doing here, primarily
understanding how to present your protagonist as the center of her own
story. As much as there is humor in how
Diana deals with her first trip to Man’s World, she is never a victim of
events, she is always ready to act, and the movie never apologizes for the fact
Diana is the most powerful being on the planet.
There’s never an irony to Diana’s strength that winks and says “it’s
funny because she’s super and she’s a girl!”
Diana is given to us as a warrior, even as a child, and the movie is
stronger for it. Patty Jenkins knows the line between "sexy" and "beautiful" and knows which side of it Diana should be on. Additionally, Jenkins
does a great job taking one of my major complaints about the Zach Snyder films
and using it as a storytelling tool here: Desaturation.
Themyscira is brilliant colors and bright daylight, while
London is dingy and drained of hue; it makes sense. Man’s world is dark and at war, and it is a
darkness that threatens to overtake Diana as well. I have heard rumor that color will slowly ebb
into “Justice League” as the story proceeds and Supergrim returns to be
Superman. I hope that’s true, because
“Wonder Woman” shows us what a world full of heroes should look like…and then
tells us ours is lacking.
In this film, Diana is the hero we should be aspiring to,
even though this movie presents a journey of self discovery and understanding
for her. I have long said the difference
between DC and Marvel is not a matter of which is better. Marvel has heroes to identify and commiserate
with; DC has heroes to whom you aspire.
Choose the one that works best for you.
The films we have seen from DC so far have not understood that, and have
chosen only to blunt the purity of character and purpose in the comics in the
name of “badass” and “edgy.” Finally,
“Wonder Woman” does not do that. Wonder
Woman says plainly that we’re not worthy…but we can be, and Diana gives us an
example up to which we should try to live.
This, Zach Snyder, is what Superman SHOULD be. I know Snyder was involved in production on
this film (and there’s one place I feel like he was TOO involved- more in a
minute) and even worked on story, but as a whole this movie captures what makes
Wonder Woman’s character great while still making her someone who is growing
and learning, and it neither abandons her character in exchange for action
(MoS, act 3), nor chooses to make her a grim and gritty facsimile of the comic
book hero (BvS).
Now, I hear some folks groaning at me, because yes, Wonder
Woman kills people in this film, and I have been pretty vociferous in my
criticism of Superman snapping Zod’s neck and Batman basically being the
Punisher with pointy ears and a better budget.
But Diana is a Warrior, and warriors fight wars. But, unlike the previous movies, we see the
consequences. It’s not, snap a neck, cry
once, then a sudden “everything is great!” coda. It’s a horrible, horrible war, and Diana wants
it to end, wants all war to end. Her
discovery that the Great War is not the manifestation of Ares but rather just
the evil of man tempers her; but she knows the fight must continue, and she
finds that the ultimate weapon against war is love.
And sometimes love is sharp like a sword named “Godkiller.”
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| Which we may now give our Daughters and Granddaughters; awesome! |
Now, I’ve gone on a bit about what I liked about the film,
but I do have to warn you all that it is not without its flaws. Like MoS there are some third act pacing
issues. When Diana does finally confront Ares (and I do like the bait and switch we
get there) the fight is probably three minutes too long, and drifts into
Snyderland in its depiction. Ares passes
the “Awesome and Epic” mark on the onscreen Super Scale and lands firmly in
“Cheezy” for a few moments. Though, we
manage to keep from pegging the Snyder Disaster Porn needle, so it’s not a show
stopper.
I don’t know that the human villains get as much due as they
deserve. I know you can’t give
Ludendorff too much background because then you lose the Ares red herring, but
surely we could have explored a bit more of Doctor Poison’s motivations and
history. Elena Anaya brings a good
vulnerability to her, and the cracked porcelain mask is very effective here. Her scars speak to some tragedy making the
villain, and would be a good anchor for Diana’s later mercy, but we don’t quite
get that. Chris Pine is a little too
Captain Kirk in some places (right down to a motorcycle scene- though I don’t
think he hangs off of anything), but honestly it does work well for Steve
Trevor. Given Pine’s fate (and fame) I wonder if “Wonder Woman 2” might do what
the Lynda Carter series did and in advancing the second season from WWII to the
70s, make Pine play a descendant of Trevor’s just as Lyle Waggoner suddenly
became Steve Trevor Jr.
The supporting cast is pretty great here, from a
delightfully British and cheeky Etta Candy (played by the original “The Office”
Lucy Davis) to Trevor’s trio of do-gooder (for the right price)
mercenaries. Though, stealing the show
are the citizens of Themyscira. Robin
Wright’s Antiope (and her grin as she rides into battle against the Kaiser’s
forces hitting the beaches of Paradise Island) is a small but absolutely
stunning presence, and I want my Antiope spin-off right now. What’s one more minor gripe about this
movie? Needs more Antiope.
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| Frank always underestimated her. |
Now, something small but potentially great, boxer Ann Wolfe
plays the Amazon Artemis and certainly has the presence to pull it off. There was a time in the comics where Diana
stepped out of the role of Wonder Woman, and Artemis stepped up. Do I want to someday see Ann Wolfe in that
role?
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| Yes. Yes I do. |
But right now, there’s Gal Gadot (whose name I recently discovered
I was mispronouncing- it’s “guh-DOTE”) who may be as suited to this role as
Chris Evans is to Captain America or even as Christopher Reeve is to
Superman. Yes, I am guilty of being all
“she’s too skinny” when they cast her, and for the record, I am an idiot. She absolutely brings the physicality, but
along with that, she is the Warrior and the Diplomat; the Violence and the
Tenderness; the Justice and the Mercy. She’s
just Wonder Woman, and she disappears into the role. She gets to be—unlike Cavill’s Superman or
Affleck’s Batman—a Superhero. I not only
buy it, I want seconds. Almost enough to
rewatch BvS (or just fast forward to the Diana scenes).
So there we are DC.
You’ve shown you have at least one set of movie makers working for you
who actually understand the character.
You’ve flipped Marvel the bird in showing you can have an excellent film
led by a female character (cough Black Widow cough). You have done much to cleanse my palette of
MoS and BvS*. Do it again, learn your
lesson.
You could start with an Antiope spin-off.
*You may think I have not bothered to mention “Suicide
Squad” because I am trying to ignore it even exists. You are correct.
