Wonder Woman (2017) by Patty Jenkins

[cranefly]

As usual, when we reached the theater, Lady Cranefly asked me, Did you remember your hearing aids?  I gave my standard answer: Fuck.

We went with another couple who bought the tickets for all of us ahead of time, for the back row of the ground-floor seats, which was perfect -- except that they interpreted the layout wrong and we found ourselves in the first row, front and center.  A wall of white going straight up and out.  Maybe okay for My Dinner with Andre, but for an action movie?  Oh my.

Superhero movies really aren't my thing.  There's the usual problem of near indestructible beings tossing each other endlessly all over the place.  It's hard to feel any emotion or sense of suspense over such shenanigans.  Still, this is a very decent movie.

As for Gal Gadot, who plays Wonder Woman, I had to pause the movie every now and then -- much to the chagrin of the rest of the audience ("Cranefly, would you stop doing that!  Just let us watch the effin' movie!") -- to gaze up at her 25-foot face, or 25-foot figure.  Because, my god, she's an incredibly good-looking woman.  I mean, just awesome.

Lynda Carter set the bar for Wonder Woman long ago.  There were several attempts to resurrect the character, but always with horrendous actress choices.  What were they thinking?  And then again, What were they thinking this time?  And yet again, What were they thinking even now?  I know there's been controversy over Gal Gadot getting this part, though I haven't heard the reasons (because I refuse to look at the effing news during the Horror Clown's act).  But I'm blown away by her.  She's five foot ten (twenty-five foot tall on screen!), very athletic, with just the right valence to her face and expressions.

I wouldn't recommend watching this from the front row.  But if you go see it two or three times, make one of those times from the front.  Gal Gadot's close-ups are more mesmerizing than Cthulhu.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Gal whatever -- What about the *poster*, man, THE POSTER!!!

[cranefly]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Gal whatever -- What about the *poster*, man, THE POSTER!!!

Oh, the poster.  Let me tell ya, they got the best poster artist out there -- the guy that gave us that unique and innovative John Carter poster.



For Wonder Woman he's demonstrated his sheer genius again.

[Greg]

It was fine. I guess I heard too much hype and expected a life changing event. But no. I said it was 3/4 of a really good film.

There were some scenes that were spectacular especially once they got to the front. I liked they portrayed Diana as being naive but not stupid. But once you become a god, who can defeat you? I did like the hyper-stylized fight scenes but did not like the reliance on the CGI stand-in characters.

Chris Pine seems to be taking his time as Captain Kirk to heart because he now seems like he's parodying Shatner's acting style. And next to Gadot he looks really tiny. Gadot seems to be this embodiment of womanhood and Pine looks like a little boy next to her. When you see the film compare her head size to his head size. It's distracting.

And Deadpool has ruined many things for me. When I saw Wonder Woman jump from a great height, all I could hear in my head was Deadpool saying "Super Hero landing. Super Hero Landing!"

We saw it in the Dolby cinema where the chairs shake. I don't know if they actually shake or they vibrate from the deep bass from the speakers. I had to go to the bathroom early on and that shaking was no friend to my bladder.

[Drunk Monk]

My Father's Day gift was a hand drawn card, dinner at Mosaic (fine salmon - highly recommended), and WW. It was fun and I agree w/CF & g on all points. Gal is stunning as WW and it all hinges on her. I rooted for Gina, but no way could she have carried it off with the grace and style of Gal. I'm now a fan and follow her Instagram. Chris is even doing the motorcycle schtick (his own spin) from Kirk, but he still worked for me here as a foil for Gal (didn't buy the love interest bit though as WW was way out of his league despite his claims to be above average). Sword fight choreography was very Bollywood, very Bahubali. HP1 - prof lupin, who had the wrong accent in the end. Overall enjoyablebut comic book movies need to figure out some other finale than the superhero duel or the faceless horde of invaders.

My valadictorian thought the feminist message could have been stronger but was pleased about dr poison as that was a character from the original based on the creators own suicide attempt with cyanide (she did a paper on WW).

[Drunk Monk]

Seen again on the airplane.  I wanted a movie that would amuse me but I could fall asleep in because I'd seen it.  This was perfect.  

Gal is luminous.  She really owns WW.  The weird thing was this film has the D'Artagnan syndrome - what the hell is up with her Godkiller sword appearing and disappearing all the time?  I mean, she can sneak it in under an evening gown (how does she hold that up anyway, clenched by her bum cheeks?  I'd like to see that.)  And never mind her sword, what about her shield?  That just sort of appears and disappears randomly and it's not like she could clench that.  Could she?  Heck, she is Wonder Woman.  I am both frightened..and aroused.

Our flight was 40 mins ahead, so we spent 30 mins just sitting on the tarmac, just enough time to finish the flick, even with the constant interrupting announcements.

[Drunk Monk]

Wonder Woman (2011)

This was an abandoned pilot that never aired. It's about an hour and headed to NBC, but it never made it and rightly so. Adrianne Palicki is in the titular role and she's bad. She's bad in that she fails to carry the role, as bad as Cathy Lee Crosby (which I hardly remember), and she's bad in that she's a vigilante working outside the law who relishes beating up burly villain dudes. She's the CEO of Themyscira Industries, which funds her jet plane, etc., through sales of her action figures. There's a notable scene where she complains about the newest action figure because her tits are too big. For the rest of the episode, it's hard to not notice Palicki's voluptuousness. Palicki's Di is much more aware of her sexuality, telling a cop to let her in to see a guarded prisoner because of her outfit, which she shimmies in voluptuously, then she tortures the prisoner with her lasso so bad that his screams can be heard in the hallway. There are some amusing ideas like Diana Prince joining facebook, but not nearly enough to save the rest of the flop, even with the villainess being Elizabeth Hurley, as well as Cary Elwes and Pedro Pascal as supporting cast.  

The amusing thing is the leaked version my ninjas brought me had an early cut before the wires were deleted in the fight scenes. No sword fights though. Not DOOM recommended.

[Drunk Monk]

Wonder Woman (2009)
This is the DCAMU although it's the creation tale again, divergent with what will be presented in Bloodlines (http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=5617). This goes way back to Diana's conception and the creation of Themyscira. It's very enjoyable, a solid retelling with some new twists.

What a voice cast. Animated Diana is recycled Pocahontas, and voiced by Keri Russell. She's fiercely feminist, deliciously so. Nathan Fillon is pitch perfect as Steve, and he's a shallow womanizer. Like I said - perfect. He nails it. Others include Rosario Dawson as fellow amazon Artemis, Alfred Molina as villainous Ares, god of war, Oliver Platt as Hades, Virginia Madsen as Hippolyta. It invokes the Greek gods, and ends with an epic battle of amazons vs demons, dragons, minotaurs and zombies. 

Lots of sword fights. It opens and ends with sword fights. This would have been amazing in live action. Recommended for DOOM Wonder Woman fans. 

For the rest of the evening, I think I'll chill out with some Lynda...