Movie Breakdown: Wonder Woman

Pre-Screening Stance:

I was slightly skeptical when Gal Gadot got cast as WW, but she was a real highlight in the murky Batman v Superman and everything in the lead up to the release of her debut solo film has been totally on point.  Hard to not be at least a little excited about this one.

Post-Screening Ramble:

While I dig that superheroes everywhere are getting their shot on the big screen, that whole game has grown old for me.  It’s all generic origin stories and drawn out setup films, and I’m just ready for the genre to disappear for a while.  And yet, Wonder Woman delighted me.  Now, this isn’t to say it does anything different.  It’s booked-ended with an unnecessary connection to the DC films that have come before it, and the middle is one big by-the-numbers origin story, but the movie works and it works well.  I give all of the credit to Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, who are both absolutely fantastic in the movie.  Seriously, without them, Wonder Woman just wouldn’t work.

I should probably say more here, but I don’t really want to tell you anything about the story.  It’s not particularly complicated or difficult to predict (again, it’s the two main performances that make it function), so you might as well let it unfold at the theater.  Just go, watch Gadot and Pine dazzle, and then feel good about DC finally getting something legit right.

One Last Thought:

I wonder if all of the DC flicks are going to look like Zack Snyder movies?  I suppose it helps thematically (and Snyder’s style is definitely cool), but I wouldn’t mind seeing some different takes.  Otherwise all of these films will start to look the same, which is a problem in the MCU (with the exception of Guardians of the Galaxy and, hopefully, Thor: Ragnarok).