Page Text: Wonder Woman mini review (spoiler free)
Wonder Woman was an awesome movie.
If you want to talk super hero movies, I’d say it was as good as any Marvel movie.
It has a perfect balance of incredible action (perfect dose of over-used slomo) and an exquisite amount of humour (not too littel, not too much). Just like Marvel did in their movies, it makes a somewhat silly character like Wonder Woman work in ways you wouldn’t have suspected. I mean, hell, I want to go read Wonder Woman comics now!
And if we want to talk about the first female super hero movie, it was even better. Everything is done with such grace and balance; they touch on every topic you’d think necessary (men, sex, the status of women, Diana’s beauty, all of it), but it is written in such a way that everything felt natural and appropriate top me.
But far more important than all this: how empowering it must feel for women to finally see on screen what men have been getting for over a decade in super hero movies (and a tiny bit longer in society)? A heroic figure that is so badass and powerful that she pumps you up and makes you feel you can take on the world… I felt downright gleeful when in the beginning, when child-Diana was kicking and punching into the air! Finally!
On a side note: shame, SHAME on Marvel for not doing it first. They’ve been making blockbuster super hero movies for ten years now, and not once did they think… I know Captain Marvel coming, but they should have been first. And they’d better not mess it up because Wonder Woman is a tough act to follow.
Oh, and about the female only screenings, what a travesty that men would feel it’s their right to deny this kind of empowerement to women. A decade of super hero movies (not to mention the rest of History); they want to have a moment, let them! Support them! Don’t get in the way with baby tears of pretend-discrimination in the face or real discrimination. The principle of discrimination is that the discriminated party and the discriminating party can’t be considered in the same way. I mean, I understand the questions these screenings raise. But really, these questions don’t rise to the level of serious concern in any way other than a pretty ugly one. Even if you don’t think it’s cool, be a grown up and let it go. They can have this, we’ll survive. I just hope this movie isn’t a single blip and we’ll get more (many more) like this.
Finally, to get back to movie consideration, I hope DC has finally found its voice. I really want to love their movies, and I hope they follow this one with more like it, and that we finally get truly engaging tales of their heroes, and not those pointless “look how edgy we are” charades. I want the Justice League to become something I can look forward to, and not dread. This one is proably the most Marvel-ish of their movies, but in a good way. It works. It’s epic and fun and coherent and has so much energy… If DC keeps making them like this, we’re in for a really great ride.
June 9th, 2017