A fun popcorn movie, with an empathetic yet kick-ass superheroine, directed by a woman, based on a comic strip that I avidly read in elementary school, actually lives up to its hype. We saw it opening day almost four weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to writing about it, since I knew it would be playing a long time.
Israeli model/soldier/law student Gal Gadot (her name rhymes with doll afloat; she has been in several projects I haven't seen, including the Fast & Furious original and three sequels as well as Batman v Superman earlier this year) seems born to play the title role AKA Diane Prince, and not only due to the smokin' physique that she shares with her 2D origins. Chris Pine (last blogged for Hell or High Water) brings occasional lightness and humor to the love interest Steve Trevor. In Diana's back story we have Connie Nielsen (my favorites include The Devil's Advocate (1997), Rushmore (1998), Gladiator (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), and Battle in Seattle) and Robin Wright (after I wrote about her in The Congress she was in 65 episodes of House of Cards) as Diana's Amazonian mother and aunt and it's always fun to see Ewen Bremner (just in T2 Trainspotting). There are too many cast members to discuss them all but I do want to mention amusing Lucy Davis (16 episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip five of Better Things, six of Maron) as Etta Candy and Elena Anaya (in The Skin I Live In she was first introduced with her beautiful face bandaged and in this she wears a prosthetic mask) as scary Dr. Maru/Dr. Poison.
Patty Jenkins (won the Independent Spirit Best First Feature for Monster (2003) and this is just her second feature) works from a screenplay by Allen Heinberg in his feature debut after a lot of TV, with the story by him, Zack Snyder (directed Man of Steel), and Jason Fuchs (just a few other credits).
Rupert Gregson-Williams (most recently in these pages for scoring Hacksaw Ridge) provides the orchestral music I'm streaming right now on youtube and there are a few songs, too.
The movie opens with a trailer for Justice League, a two-part series featuring Wonder Woman and other DC comic heroes. There are dozens of trivia items, including that the comic book was set in World War II but the filmmakers decided on World War I for this version; this has been in development for twenty years; that Gadot was pregnant during reshoots and they covered her bump with a green screen costume; and, as you may know, a theatre in Austin Texas restricted a few screenings to women only. One guy got mad and wrote the mayor. His response was creative and diplomatic.
Pretty much everyone who doesn't hate the superhero genre likes this movie--92% critics and 91 audiences on Rotten Tomatoes--and those who hate the genre know to stay away anyway. Yes, it's still playing in 3D and standard. Standard is just fine.
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