Wonder Woman
June
6, 2017
Gender is a focus of this movie. Undeniably this is a female
movie; the female cast (with a few male exceptions), the director even the film
projectionist is female. The revenue for this film has been stunning (opening
week north of $200m worldwide in the first weekend). Sexual labels aside, is
this a film worth seeing? YES !
The opening scenes in Amazonia, I mean Themyscira, were prosaic, with a little willful
Diana being a naughty demi god. Quickly battles ensue and the Amazon warriors
are twirling in the air shooting three arrows at a time and making three kills.
This is a very impressive marriage of stunt work and CG. Besides Wonder Woman’s
many powers (alas I did not see her invisible jet) it is Gal Gadot performance that
makes Wonder Woman a creditable super hero. She is heroic, fearless and the best
fighter you will see in a leather mini skirt. Being an undocumented demi-god she
is a bit naive in the land of men. Her naiveté sets up endearing plot points with
her co-star Chris Pine, who plays Steve Trevor. They definably have scene
chemistry or this movie would have crash and burned (a hell of a lot better
than with Bruce Wayne). Pine plays the role a bit like Captain Kirk from Star
Trek, cool, cocky, self-assured but vulnerable with Wonder Woman.
The action shifts from Themyscira
to World War I Europe and Wonder Woman is fully engaged in the fighting. At one
point, she is a one-woman dynamo advancing the morbid trench line by yards deflecting
rounds of bullets and mortar shells just with her shield and bad attitude.
Interestingly her posse is all male. There is Steve Trevor, the heart throb;
Saïd Taghmaoui as Sameer; master
of disguise; Ewen
Bremner as Charlie, the Scottish sharpshooter
and Eugene Brave Rock as the Indian Chief.
Their comradery is infectious and they use their skills to fight Germain
solders. Their arch enemy is General Erich
Ludendorff, who with the deadly talents of a deformed female Doctor
Maru, is researching toxic gases that could change the course of the
war. The obvious comparison of the hideously deformed face of Dr. Maru to Diana’s
beauty is evil versus good.
The film gets a bit off the rails when Wonder Woman battles
Ares, God of War and Diana’s half-brother. This is lethal sibling rivalry, but
it was a good platform to show case Wonder Woman’s fighting skills. The action
sequences are as impressive as any successful comic centric film. No punches were
pulled.
The producers of Wonder Women are using the “f” word…franchise.
They see this movie as a catalyst for other DC super hero films, especially
after recent flops. Hollywood desperately wants to expand the audience base for
comic/adventure movies to include young females and their pocket books. Wonder Women sequels will propel this movement.
Maybe we will see the invisible jet in the next film.
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