Finally....finally they've made a FUN DC movie. After sitting through the boring, dark and stupid Batman V Superman last year, WONDER WOMAN arrives with plenty of action, thrills and YES, laughter!
The best thing in that mess that was BVS, Gal Gadot as Diana, Wonder Woman carries the film effortlessly from start to finish.
The film opens with a long sequence where we learn (a bit too much for me) the mythology and history of the Amazons and Diana's emerging importance to their legacy.
When a WWI spy pilot Steve Trevor penetrates the invisible shield that surrounds the Amazon's world, Diana is drawn into the world wide conflicts that are being driven by a God from their world.
Chris Pine is fantastic. A great action hero with perfect comic timing, Pine nails yet another important franchise role and makes it look easy.
Much of the enjoyment of this nearly perfect summer action pic is letting the story unfold, so I wont spoil a bit of it.
The entire film has a cool "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vibe to it as Diana and Steve battle the Germans of WWI. The evil this time comes from General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and his disfigured poison wizard Dr Maru (Elena Anaya) as they work to create the worlds first weapon of mass destruction.
Steve and Diana's arrival in London is hilarious and fascinating, setting up the adventure ahead perfectly as Lucas/Spielberg always did in the Indy flicks.
Steve's secretary Etta (Lucy Davis) delivers laugh after laugh and Sir Patrick emerges as a trusted source of support and funding for Steve's mission. Sir Patrick is played by David Thewlis, who's having an unbelievable season right now in Season 3 of TV's 'Fargo" and brings a similar presence to his role here.
Steve's band of trusted mates that join the adventure are a great lot. Said Taghmaoui is Sameer, a smooth & charming con man, Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting, Pearl Harbor) is a drunken, Scottish sniper for good and Eugene Brave Rock (The Revenant) is The Chief, a soft spoken Native American loyal to the cause of freedom.
There are several incredible action sequences, perfectly staged. They're massive in scale, but always easy to follow, unlike those massive CGI battles that fill every other DC and Transformer mess like some unintelligible orgy of noise and destruction that numb the brain.
Here, you'll follow every whip of the golden lasso (a whole lot cooler than the TV show version) and every slow motion move of Diana in action, probably the best use of slow motion and effects since "The Matrix".
The opening scenes on the Amazon island went on a bit too long for me, but anytime you have Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright in lead roles, its hard to complain too much.
Rupert Gregson Williams music score is fantastic, building off the the crazy screaming rock/electronic/symphonic theme he created for Diana in BVS. It's one of the best superhero action music scores in years.
The closing credits are excellent, probably the best title sequence since OO7's "Spectre" and "Skyfall". It makes sitting through the first part of the closing credits more than worth while, but there are no Marvel-style teasers at the end of the film.
Bottom line: this is the DC superhero film everyone's been waiting for, matching the best of the Marvel films (Captain America, Ironman) for fun and adventure.
Directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster, The Killing) it's just debuted as the highest grossing film ever directed by a woman, with over $100 million at the US box office in its first three days.
Gadot is fantastic, tough and perfect, an action hero for the ages and stunning. You could cast her as a female James Bond tomorrow and I wouldn't blink.
WONDER WOMAN delivers and gets an A.
Kommentare