Movie Review - Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman

2017

Production Companies:  DC Entertainment, Warner Bros, Atlas Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, Wanda Pictures, Tencent Pictures, & Cruel & Unusual Films

Finally, the DC Movie Universe has made a film they can be proud of.  This film is definitely a step in the right direction for the DC Superheros, though, it doesn't make up for the travesties which came before it.  They should use this as the mile stick with which to measure their up and coming films.  Though I cannot help but feel Justice League will be taking a few steps backwards from this film.

I liked the fact that the writers decided to use mix the origin stories up and have Diana coming to the world of man during the First World War; this strengthens the concept of her being immortal.  As well as allowing for some nice special effects in the dog fight scenes and other period specific weaponry.  Zeus created the Amazons to bring love and peace to mankind, though mankind corrupted by Ares enslaved them.  Hippolyte led a revolt to free the Amazons and when Zeus brought the god to help in their defence Ares killed them.  Zeus with his dying breath crippled Ares and created Themyscira to hide the Amazons from mankind.  So here is the first error, Zeus is dead but yet he later breathes life into a clay-shaped human effigy to create Diana.  All is well on the island until Steve Trevor's plane crashes off the coast and Diana dives in to save him.  Trevor has the secret poison book of Dr, Maru; the Germans hot on his trail shoot him down,  Here comes a second error, there's a group of Germans in a rowboat looking for the wreckage of the plane, they stick their head through the fog which hides the island and then attacks the Amazons... and lose, of course.  Though I did wonder where the battleship they came from and the one which had shot Trevor down has disappeared to... as we see no more Germans (sloppy writing).  Believing Ares is to blame for the ongoing war, Trevor describes, Diana takes it upon herself to hunt him down and kill him, with the God Killer sword.

As I stated there are a couple of obvious errors in the opening set up and this continues throughout the film.  It would have been nice if somebody had pointed them out so they could be taken care off.  Most of them are small issues and easily resolved but they do hinder the film a little.  

However, they are only small and the movie is pretty massive so the good does outweigh the bad.  Though Gal Gadot does a good job in the Wonder Woman persona, she's not too great as Diana Prince.  Saying she's coming from an island where the main way to travel is by horse and foot, where they are trained in sword fighting and archery, and the main food is fresh fish, vegetables and fruit she doesn't appear too surprised by automobiles, aeroplanes, ships, and the modern weaponry... let alone the "new food".  Though they include the "Ice Cream" scene it would have been nice to have seen a little more childish enthusiasm and awe in this character.

Chris Pine fits the Steve Trevor character like a glove and gets his persona down pat, though a little more womanising, or even hints at it would've added strength to it.  Lucy Davis is splendid as Etta Candy, Steve Trevor's secretary, and actually has the air of awe I wished Diana Prince to have.  The bad guy Ludendorff and his crony Dr Maru are brilliantly played by Danny Huston and Elena Anaya, respectively.  They give a creepy and flesh-crawling performance in their roles.  David Thewlis was an inspired choice for Sir Patrick, though I have to admit I'm not too sure that he was completely right for the part, though I do know what the writers and director were doing when they cast him.  Not a completely genius move, but close.

Patty Jenkins does a marvellous job of the directing.  She keeps the action tight and fast paced though has the nerve to slow it down at the right times to emphasize an action, a movement, or a special effect.  This keeps it interesting for the viewer.  Though in the more drama based sets she opts for a more standard style of camera work.  A few differing camera angles would have been nice.  Though this is a lighter film in atmosphere to other DC adaptations there are a lot of scenes shot in dark atmosphere's  A little normal lighting and brighter sets would've strengthened the darkness and grimness of the front line, which was filmed with the same filters as their entry into London.  So the front line could have been a muddy football field in London.  It would have been nice to bring DC out of the dark fully.

That said this is a really entertaining film, which sticks to the characters basic ethos.  It is a spectacularly nice waste of time which I would recommend anybody to see and unlike previous DC Universe Movies, this one is really worth watching... and may even be worth keeping.  As stated before, I hope they take heed of this movie and implement this style of film making and storytelling into their upcoming films.

This is why the 1975's Wonder Woman theme is still the best...

...and just because it's AWESOME...

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They were coming. They never stopped coming.

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Meanwhile, war clouds the horizon and rebels gather under a mysterious leader. Alone, with her two younger sisters, Elissa watches the mountain road desperately for her brother’s return. Instead, she receives news of his capture by a strange figure covered in scars and cloaked in wolf skins.

With rebels drawing nearer, she sets off to find her brother. To save him. There is no one else who can.

Yet she soon finds the rose that granted her warning now holds her captive in safety. Outside the valley, war threatens those she loves most. Though her strange host claims the ancient promises of the Prince’s return and victory over the rebels, Elissa knows the blood-drenched truth. She is on her own. Elissa will do anything to keep her family safe, but more than one kind of wolf stalks the Blackwood and danger lurks closer than she could ever imagine. 

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Comic Book Review - Night Of The Monster Men (Batman Crossover)

Night Of The Monster Men

A Batman, Nightwing, And Detective Comics Crossover Story

2017

4 / 10

Story By Steve Orlando And Tom King with James Tynion IV

Artists:  Batman - Riley Rossmo; Nightwing - Roge Antonio; Detective Comics - Andy MacDonald

I'm not a big fan of the crossover way of publishing and creating a story and the Night Of The Monster Men is the perfect example as to why.

The main reason is artwork.  Since comics are pretty much graphically immersive with the action being shown via the artwork while the writing expresses the characters feelings so when you have three differing styles telling the same story it can hamper and even hinder the work.

Being honest I'm not that keen on any of the artist's renditions though there are some similarities between Riley Rossmo and Roge Antonio's work.  Though they are different style-wise the characters do have recognisable faces and body sculpture.  For the most, it nearly flows, though I didn't like how Antonio drew Gotham Girl.  However, it's Andy MacDonald's art that is just too different from the other two's and this spoiled the story for me.  I am NOT saying that MacDonald's art was below par, it isn't... well not up to the last page in the series where you have difficulty recognising Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane, but it is too different to Rossmo's and Antonio's to be a distraction, though his rendition of Gotham Girl is the strongest.

I believe this would have worked better had Rossmo drawn the whole series.  His style is so well suited to this type of story.  Along with the colourist Ivan Plascencia they give the story a nice moody feel and I really love the way they created the rain-drenched streets of Gotham.

The only thing that annoyed me about his style was how small Batman's ears were on his cowl.  Rossmo's rendition of the monster men themselves, for me, was the best.

Riley Rossmo

Roge Antonio

Andy MacDonald

As for the story, we start off with a severe weather warning and a storm which threatens to flood Gotham worse than the Zero-Day flood so Batman and the Bat-Team take it upon themselves to help the police to evacuate the populace.

Though, who would have thought it, Hugo Strange has avidly been watching the weather and has chosen this particularly nasty day to attack the Batman.  Not really, it must be chance and luck he chose this particular day to fight; Batman and his posse will be spread thin when he activates the Monster Men to strike.

This is a strong beginning as we learn how Strange orchestrated his scheme while watching the team defend themselves against monsters, some of which are pretty near indestructible.

As the story progresses the Orphan and Spoiler who have helped to move the Gothamites out to higher ground start to have some issues of their own as the people crammed into the cave start to get restless and violent.

What will happen to the team...

Now, this is where the story begins to spoil.  The ending is pretty weak compared to the rest of the story and lets it down pretty badly.  Strange's reasoning for starting the assault and Batman's resolution to the situation left me feeling deflated, I wanted more.  For such a grand plan I expected Strange would have a grand justification.  Then I was expecting a big boss fight when Batman finally faced Strange, after all, you see strange working out his muscles.  The ending the writers give their readers is worse than the conclusion to Batman V Superman or Stephen King's "Dark Half".  It now ranks up in my top ten of letdowns.  Though I have to say the journey to get there was greatly entertaining... mostly.

I wouldn't recommend this title to anybody as there are so many better pieces of work out there.  It's just as shame because this story had the potential to be one of the great Batman stories.

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