Wonder Woman for the Win!

4/5

At this rate, we've seen all we could possibly see in a superhero origin flick: The world is in danger, one person must stop said danger and either fit in a newfound society or hide their newfound powers from society (or just be Iron Man and flaunt it everywhere). That being said, Wonder Woman still manages to be a fresh take on the origin formula yet still remain true to the source material.

Like most origin stories (and unlike Batman v Superman), Wonder Woman stays concise with its story and avoids overbearing itself with unnecessary subplots. Simply put, if you haven't liked any of DC's recent films, you should definitely give this one a shot. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine absolutely nail their roles of Diana/Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor respectively.

With these two leads guiding the film, most of the script and cast surrounding them are pretty solid. Some distracting acting and the fact that the main side cast is almost two-dimensional can be overlooked since the faults in these aspects are few and far in between. That being said, the film still manages to make you empathetic towards Diane and Steve as they go on their adventure. You understand them as people and you can read the emotions written in between the lines, which is something you don't see often (especially in a superhero film).

On top of this solid script is also great direction. Every action sequence becomes more inventive than the last, utilizing slow-motion at its highest grandeur (again, something we really don't see that often). A lot of the cinematography is impressive and the comedy is well-timed and doesn't feel as forced as a typical Marvel film. Zack Snyder's influence is still apparent, but director Patty Jenkins uses Snyder's cinematography as a template and creates an interesting vision of her own. Who knew she could execute action sequences better than Snyder?

Though there are some issues in the third act such as an edit in one of the scenes, a certain casting choice that felt a bit cheesy compared to the rest of the movie, and a lack of a memorable score outside of Hans Zimmers's well-used theme, Wonder Woman still kicks butt and deserves the praise it's been getting.

Comments

"Need for Speed" (2014) REVIEW

I know I'm not the only one who thought this movie was going to be a flop. I mean, not only is it a high-speed street racing movie, but it's also a videogame movie. Still, I gave it a shot, but mostly for the D-Box experience. Even with the earnings from winning illegal street races, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is still unable to keep his auto repair shop from his father open. For a chance to get $500,000, Tobey takes an offer from his street racing rival and successful car dealer Dino Brewster (Domonic Cooper) to finish building the Ford Mustang that Caroll Shelby was working on when he died. After building the car and selling it without Dino's consent, Dino challenges Tobey and Tobey's friend, Pete, to a street race for the money. Nearing the end of the race, desperate for revenge, Dino pushes Pete over a bridge and drives away, leaving Tobey to be blamed for vehicular manslaughter. Two years later, fresh out of prison, Tobey seeks out to knock Dino off his p...

"The Eyes of the Dragon" (1987) by Stephen King REVIEW

I was pretty excited to read this book, being it is Stephen King's only novel appropriate for a younger audience. In the kingdom of Delain, King Roland is poisoned. Framed for the crime of murdering his father, the king, Prince Peter is thrown into prison and his younger brother, Thomas, is crowned king. Although, little do the brothers know, Flagg, a magician and closest advisor of the now dead King Roland, is working behind the scenes to make sure King Thomas completes his plans in turning the kingdom towards chaos. However, even the greatest plans leaves room for failure, including Prince Peter's plan of escape and the dark secret Thomas had seen through the eyes of the dragon. Though the main plot of the story is quite basic, Stephen King take this tale to the next level. Characters, both main and side, each have their shining moments and are very well fleshed out in this story. Simple enough for a child to understand, the story moves at a slow but steady pace. Also...

Blue Beetle Rebirth Vol. 1: The More Things Change (Rebirth #1, #1-#6)

2/5 Jaime Reyes as the Blue Beetle has interested me and been on my reading list for a while. When I first discovered the character watching Batman: The Brave and the Bold , seeing Jaime as a relatable teen arguing with the sentient suit that gives him his powers, his New 52 line had already been cancelled. Then Geoff Johns wrote Rebirth and added a little scene with Jaime Reyes that I thought was both very interesting and promising. In short, Keith Giffen doesn't deliver in this volume until issue #6, where he kind of gives a small splice of what the series could be. Getting the obvious out of the way, the dialogue here is absolutely horrible. I tell myself it feels like a first draft, but then there are moments of repetition and sentences upon sentences of nothing going on. By then, it feels more like a very bloated outline with the characters speaking mostly hot air. The dialogue here isn't flat, it's completely empty. This, in turn, makes all the charac...

Kevin Lau

Search This Blog