** Spoilers **
Wonder Woman is glorious. Glorious.
That is the perfect word for how I felt watching it. I cried, I laughed, I loved it.
It’s glorious in a way that makes me so very happy. The central character, the supporting cast, the Amazons (oh my god, the Amazons!), the movie as a whole.
I don’t review movies here, that’s not what this blog is for, but I talked about Furiosa for the same reason I am talking about Wonder Woman: Action movies starring women, aw yeah!
It makes me delighted to know that little kids will grow up thinking that female super heroes and action stars in movies are the norm and rather than *gasp female! Whaaaa?!* it will be more ‘who’d win a fight: Wonder Woman or Batman?’ (Wonder Woman, obvs :P). We aren’t there yet or this wouldn’t even be a thing, but I’m made happy by seeing these movies being produced, this one being directed by a woman, and seeing them be successful. It puts a dent in the ‘ain’t nobody gonna pay to see that!’ argument that has been simmering in the American movie industry forever.
I can nitpick at it (more female characters! less skin! proper armour!), but I’m not going to (well apart from that little bit there).
A wonderful surprise for me was Robin Wright as Amazonian General Antiope because, you know, older women being badass is totally my thing.
I’ve just binge-watched House of Cards and she is wonderful in it: the cool psychopathic uber villain always impeccably dressed in designer suits and killer heels. I didn’t know she was even in this so when I saw her I was stupidly excited.
More after the jump (a bunch of gifs so if you can’t be bothered loading it up, don’t click… but trust me, you will want to see these…).
And woah, older women being fierce and kicking arse is totally my aesthetic.
Arrrggghhh… so good!
I mean, look at this leaping shot where she’s shooting multiple arrows at once at the bad guys.
No, seriously: look!
Do you need to see her coming at you with that shot? Of course you do…
Anyway, TAKE THAT NAZIS!
<3 <3 <3 *fangirl swooning*
She is SO FUCKING GOOD!
The Amazons train as warriors even though they live in peace and never see any other people: I’m guessing this is why they learn how to do things like ‘elegant backroll off a horse while shooting arrows’ and other such moves: they’re bored and trying to find ways to entertain themselves.
Oh look, here are the Amazons hanging out on set *more swooning*.
You can tell I’m obsessed with the Amazons even though that wasn’t the crux of the story. DON’T CARE THEY WERE AMAZING.
Is Gal Gadot good as Wonder Woman? Yes, yes she is. Her default expression seems to be ‘a little baffled’, but her character is a great mix of naive vulnerability and brave determination and she pulls out a good level of ‘fuck youuuu!’ when needed. Watching her find her power is awesome (in the original sense of the word), and director Patty Jenkins did a great job with it.
Plus great battle-stunts a-plenty. Of course!
There are some great little interplays between Wonder Woman and our male hero, some subtle, some much more blatant. Set in an era where traditional roles were unquestioned, we watch him learn (slowly, sooo slowly) that this isn’t how it has to work: She obviously doesn’t need him to protect her and won’t put up with that patronising bullshit that has nothing to do with her safety and everything to do with telling her to ‘keep out of it, little lady, and let the man do man things’.
There is one scene that is my absolute favourite in their interactions (no spoilers), and completely reminiscent of my favourite scene in Mad Max: Fury Road, where our male hero-sidekick casually behaves in a way that acknowledges her skills and talents. No grand epiphany, just ‘okay, I get it now, let me help you do your thing’.
In case you haven’t seen this trailer:
TL;DR: I went and saw Wonder Woman, I loved it, it made me all:
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18 comments
I feel so bad about this disappointing thingy I’m about to say…but there were no Nazis yet; this was WW1. Doesn’t detract from the Amazonery awesomeness of the shebang, of course.
Oh! No Nazis?!
If I see WW-somethin’ I always assume Nazis. I DID wonder why the flags weren’t Nazi flags, but then I got distracted by fabulous feats of athletic heroism… I am easily distracted from war stuff, I have to say…
Ferns
Yes. All the yes. Absolutely brilliant movie. And like you, I was thrilled with the amount of time spent on Themyscira.
My favorite anecdote about the making, and specifically the making by a woman director, is that execs pushed to cut the No Man’s Land sequence for length. Jenkins was, “Fuck that–this is the most important scene in the movie!”
After the first two DCEU movies spent almost no time on character development, I’m so happy she won that fight.
:)))
Ferns
I can’t wait to see it, especially since Robin Wright has been a celebrity crush of mine since I saw her for the first time in “The Princess Bride”. I am still halfway through binge watching “House of Cards” for the second time.
I have only recently discovered the fabulousness of Robin Wright.
I’m way behind the 8 ball here.
Ferns
Oh Ferns… older women kicking ass… your aesthetic is my aesthetic! It sounds as though we both sat back as the narrative unfolded and thought pretty much the same things!
Do you recall the ‘charmingly awkward’ moment regarding the sleeping arrangements on the boat? I remember thinking that the ideal resolution could have been for him to lie at her feet. But I suppose Goddess etiquette was a steep learning curve for him.
Also, from what you say, House of Cards sounds like something I would like!
Totally our aesthetic *smile*.
And yes, I absolutely do remember that moment.
House of Cards would have been better if they didn’t get so OTT with it, but Robin Wright is wonderful in it.
Ferns
Interesting to hear. I read the comics and Wonder Woman is one of my favourite characters, but she tends to be inconsistent. Sometimes she has a good writer and is fantastic; others she has a terrible writer who has no idea what to do with her. I hoped the movie would do her justice, but was terrified it would not. I have been considering going this week, but awfully worried about being disappointed.
Just to nitpick your nitpick, proper armour may not fit your idea of proper. I have not seen the movie, so I do not know how accurate it is, but they should not have excessive armour. The Amazons in the comics have a heavily Ancient Greece-influenced aesthetic. Ancient Greek armour involves a cuirass (usually), a helmet (often) and maybe greaves (sometimes). They did not have the full-covering armour of medieval knights (that was invented more than 1000 years later).
Morion, I don’t know Ferns’s complaint about the armor, but mine was that most or all of the cuirasses were “boob plate,” which is terrible.
I think it’s lot harder for fans of a written work to like the movie. Because you can’t compete with your imagination so it’s hard for it not to be a disappointment. I don’t care or know about comics, so it doesn’t matter to me.
As for the armour: Yes, what Naga said. The fashion-boob armour, some with only one breast covered with metal, some with one one strap over the shoulder.
Ferns
Following up the armor conversation is this Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/AWeaverWrites/status/878967719072288768
Bugger all to do with the film but I feel I must share this with anyone else who hasn’t seen it
https://www.instagram.com/FOREST_FR1ENDS/
Coug
*laugh* The one about the Tories… :PP
Ferns
IKR?
I liked the one, Lets split up :)
Coug
Hey, I’m a Xena man.
Lucy Lawless as Xena? I mean FFS it takes more than one lifetime to get over that.
Also after her oil rig protest I’m also completely sub for Lucy Lawless
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/72503955/Lucy-Lawless-recognised-for-bringing-end-to-Shells-Arctic-oil-search
We went together and saw it in 3D, and it was awesome. (She told me later she cried; I see that it’s very special for women, but I have to be dommesplained why.)
I’m a little in love with general Antiope too. Actually, we both are; also with the kickass black Amazon.
My only complaint is that the interrogation scene was kind of lame. I was hoping for more than `the golden thread of truth’.
Also: it’s the kind of movie that inspires young boys to be future subs. Just saying…
12 MORE DAYS!!!!!! Then it’s finally out on BluRay/DVD! :)
Somewhat irrelevant: Whenever I see this movie I feel like I should be locked in shackles while viewing it or giving a woman a foot massage or fetching her snacks. I’m not complaining.