Wonder Woman (2017)

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nWonder Woman (2017)

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nDirector: Patty Jenkins

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nCast: Gal Gadot, Chris nPine, Danny Huston, David Thewlis

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n I know Hollywoodnwould have us believe otherwise, but for me, Summer Blockbuster Season beginsnwith the summer and that’s June 1^st and so, to officially kick offnthis Summer Blockbuster Season 2017 we begin with the first big movie of thensummer, Wonder Woman (2017). Here’s the thing with female laden Hollywoodnfilms, studios have little faith in them. More often than not, they tank at thenbox office. Examples of this are films like Supergirl (1984), Catwoman (2004),nElektra (2005), Barbwire (1996), Aeon Flux (2005) and most recently Ghostbustersn(2016) to name a few of the ones that have underperformed. If you ask me, these movies tanked, not because they starred women, but because they were not veryngood, in fact, a lot of them are terrible. Which brought me to believe thatnHollywood purposely made movies starring women terrible, because Hollywood isnrun by a bunch of chauvinist pigs and they don’t want female films to makenit on the big screen. But that’s my conspiracy theory version of things. With Wonder Woman, it looks like things are changing for movies starring female superheroes. Could things be looking up for them?  

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nI applaud film studios who are trying to break with thosenold fashioned stereo types towards women. For example, I applaud Disney filmsnbecause they are trying to break with these stereo types by putting female leadsnin the Star Wars movies. I applaud filmmakers like George Miller, for makingnMad Max: Fury Road (2015) about Imperator Furiosa’s story rather than Max Rockatansky’snstory. Point is, if you guys have been reading my blog for a while, you know Inam against being gender biased, I believe men and women should be given equalnopportunities in Hollywood. So yes, I am against female actresses being paidnless than male actors, I am against the female prototype of the “damsel inndistress” and I also believe that there should be more female voices innfilmmaking, which is why I love the fact that Wonder Woman (2017) was directednby Patty Jenkins, the female director behind the Academy Award winning Monstern(2003). So we have a woman, directing a film about Wonder Woman, the biggestnbaddest of all of the female super heroes. Is the movie any good?

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nThere’s something really weird happening with this film,npeople seem to love it collectively even before seeing it. It’s like everybodynhas already decided that they will love it. I think it has to do with the factnthat Wonder Woman was probably the best thing about Batman vs. Superman (2016),nor it could be that feminism is at an all time high, or it could be that peoplenwant Hollywoods portrayal of women on films to change. Whatever the case maynbe, I went to see the film last night and all the shows were sold out. Reviewsnare calling it “the best superhero movie ever made”. The are also calling it the best DC movie to date. But was it really that good? After all the ultra positive reviewsnand buzz, of course my expectations were high. Did I enjoy it as much as Inthought I would? 

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nWell, it’s not “the best comic book movie ever” but I didnenjoy it. I do think it’s better than some of the films that DC has put out. Itnwasn’t bad, but it wasn’t mindblowingly good. It was just good. And that aintnbad!  I am glad that it wasn’t directed by Zack Snyder, the guynwho’s directed practically ever DC movie for years now. It’s not that I hatenthe guy as a director, but I just wanted to see someone else’s take on the DC Universe.nOn Wonder Woman, you feel exactly that. This is a female’s take on the supernhero film, which is refreshing. Wonder Woman has a lot of heart to it, there’snromance, there’s compassion, Wonder Woman is driven by love. The film is as ‘girly’nas it should be. After all, this is the superhero film told from a female perspective,nso of course, while Wonder Woman is a strong female character who kicks assnwhen she has too, she’s also very sensitive, she’s concerned about the importance ofnhuman life, she loves babies, she has a sensibility to her that’s sorelynmissing on male laden comic book films in which super heroes destroy wholencities without so much as flinching. It was refreshing in this sense.

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nWhat is most important about Wonder Woman in my book is thatnit’s making a statement for women across the world, and for women in cinema inngeneral, so of course the film makes references to gender issues. It goes intonhow men think vs. how women think. The ladies in the audience will be pleased,nthe film switches the age old “lady in distress” cinematic trope, to the lessernseen “man in distress” situation. As it turns out, it’s the woman saving thenguys on this movie. The men are the supporting characters, it basically takesngender roles we’ve seen in films for decades and turns them upside down andnthis is good. It’s not about man hating either. Wonder Woman falls for ChrisnPine’s character, she finds him attractive, so it’s not about “Men suck! Longnlive women!”, it’s more about speaking up for women, changing mentalities,nbreaking with old paradigms towards women in society.

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nSo these aspects make Wonder Woman an important comic book movie. Is itna good comic book film? Sure, it’s an origin story. It has action, it has goodnspecial effects. In essence it’s a fish out of water story, with Wonder Womannencountering society for the first time. Having been brought up in the mysticalnisland of Themyscira, the real world is a new experience for her. She gets to enternthe “world of men”, a world she immediately clashes with, having been broughtnup in an all female society. It’s a faithful translation from comic book tonfilm, we get Amazonian warrior women, we get her magic lasso, bullets ricochet from her bracelets, this is Wonder Woman and she kicks as much ass asnyou’d expect her to. Gal Gadot owns the character and makes it hers.It’s a goodnbeginning for the character. Here’s hoping subsequent films get bigger andnbetter, but for now I’d say Wonder Woman is off to a good start. So finally, we have a good female laden super hero film! And it’s name is Wonder Woman! Go see it, it’s the movie of the moment for good reason.

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nRating: 4 out of 5  

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