2017: The Year in Film: "Wonder Woman" Review

DC's extended movie universe has to this point been.... kind of a disaster. Man of Steel was a perfectly decent flick but Batman V Superman was an overstuffed and nearly unwatchable disaster and Suicide Squad was... dumb. Warner Brothers/DC needs a success in the worst way possible, and honestly, the world is better with Marvel having competition from someone, somewhere, so there's a lot of pressure on Wonder Woman to rescue DC from its own horrible decisions. Then you have the fact that superhero movies thus far have not been overly kind to women. There's a noticeable lack of diversity both in front of and behind the camera, so the world (and DC) needs a successful woman superhero to get behind. The good news is that Wonder Woman was the best part (by a mile) of BvS, that they seem to have nailed the casting (Israeli actress Gal Gadot was amazing in the Fast and Furious franchise), that they brought in director Patty Jenkins (an unconventional choice most famous for the film Monster), and that they seem to have been taking the responsibility of launching a huge franchise anchored by a woman seriously.

So, as an unapologetic Marvel fanboy, I've never in my life read a Wonder Woman comic. I don't know a whole lot about the character except that she has ties to Greek mythology and she's a straight-up badass. In Wonder Woman, the creative powers that be decided a straight-up origin story was in order,  so we're taken to the mythical island of Themyscira during WW1.

The Good: Gadot is great, simultaneously lending the flick a heart, humor and gravitas that's been missing from DC's films since Chris Nolan departed. The rest of the cast is also strong, with Chris Pine and Gadot's chemistry being the best part of the whole endeavor. I'm not a HUGE fan of the constant slow motion in DC's films, but the action sequences are generally good, with the film generally building to a solid emotional climax, even if the villain is a little silly. Connie Nielson and Robin Wright are strong as Amazonians, and the film in general has a good-natured humor that really offsets the darkness of the WW1 setting. I think the best decision the film could have made was setting the film in the past as a true origin story, allowing the flick to exist completely separately from the mess that's been DC's films up to now.



The Bad: I think the flick just barely missed, with ultimately the villain and plot being a little nonsensical. Like I mentioned above, the slow-mo makes the action sequences seem a little overwrought and ties back in not necessarily a good way to the other DC films. It's also a little weird that there were SO MANY similarities to the first Captain America film... I think a little similarity was inevitable, but there are some very conscious choices here that make it even more reminiscent that the flick had any business being.

Ultimately, the chemistry between Gadot and Pine alone is worth the price of admission, and Wonder Woman's origin story is well worth watching. The WW1 setting makes the film truly unique and its done smartly and with enough humor to make this one an absolute blast. If you're a fan of superhero flicks, or any of the actors involved, you could do much, much worse than Wonder Woman. 

8/10.

2017: The Year in Film: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" Review

2014's Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the most pleasant movie surprises in years. Readers of this blog will (or should) know that I'm something of an all-around Marvel enthusiast, and the original Guardians flick was one of the absolute best that Marvel has done. Equal parts fun, heartwarming, charming, and crazy, the 2014 original raised the bar for what a comic book movie could do, in that it was just so off the rails from your typical superhero fare. It had almost a sitcom feel while mixing sci fi with classic 70's pop songs, trippy visuals, and massive action sequences. So, expectations were high for the follow-up. Would it be more of the same or represent a regression for director James Gunn, Chris Pratt, and the rest of the cast?

Following the events of Guardians of the Galaxy, our titular heroes are out there taking jobs and basking in the glow of being renowned... galaxy guardians.  In between petty squabbles and rivalries between the crew, the larger mystery of Peter Quill's parentage is hanging out there as an unresolved mystery from the first installment.

The Good: the cast is incredibly likable and they all clearly have great chemistry. If anything, this flick is even funnier than the first installment and as the universe of the Guardians expands, familiar characters are brought into the fold in ways that make the whole film all the richer for it. It's irreverent, charming, funny, and occasionally touching, and ultimately the plot is a self-contained tale about family... what's not to like? All the first film's strengths are present here, and this is absolutely the most laugh-out-loud funny of any of the Marvel movies, including the original Guardians. The cast is solid, especially Pratt and Michael Rooker, with Kurt Russell continuing his tour through summer blockbusters as Starlord's mysterious father.



The Bad: Ultimately, I think the surprise of the original film was always going to be impossible to duplicate. In making efforts to top the original, this one occasionally comes off as trying TOO hard TOO often, with Baby Groot and Drax especially crossing the line into straight up crowd pleasing territory as opposed to actual characters as both were in the original film. There's a lot to like here, but ultimately the film's disparate plots don't all work and leave the film feeling at once overstuffed and also rushed, with some story lines and characters drawing the short straw because there's just so much going on all the time. Plus, I have to say it, the music just isn't as good here. The music is such a key part to these films and this time around it feels less inspired and more forced in. It's also very weird how expanded director James Gunn's brother's role was this time... I don't like nepotism, guys.

Ultimately, if you liked the original, you're going to like this one. It's not quite as good, but still an absolute blast, and the charming cast, great visuals, and rapid-fire dialogue won't leave you disappointed. Where the original Guardians is in the discussion for the best Marvel movie of all, this one is "merely" in the top half, but still well worth watching.

8/10.