Wonder Woman
2017, Warner Brothers Pictures et al
It took long enough to bring Wonder Woman to the big screen, but with the seemingly endless parade of big-budget superhero movies marching into theaters, it was all but inevitable. Although much was made of the fact that it was directed by a woman, I'm not prepared to debate the point, other than to insist the accolades she earned are well-deserved.
At first I wasn't all that keen on Gal Gadot, but she grew on me. I was actually much more taken by Chris Pine's fine performance as Wonder Woman's ill-fated mortal paramour; he seemed perfectly cast as a period hero, and I sincerely hope we'll be treated to more of him in similar roles. Getting back to the subject at hand, the film is technically almost flawless; my only relatively minor gripes would be somewhat uneven pacing, and a strangely less-than-thrilling climax—as the credits rolled, I recall thinking, "That's it?"
DKS 12/17/17
GRUMPY OLD FART-O-METER® Rating:
Wonder Woman 1984
2020, Warner Brothers Pictures et al
I had really high hopes for this film. For starters, the first one was quite enjoyable; and then the advance reviews of WW84 were glowing. So it was with considerable enthusiasm that I popped the disc in the player (I even went with the 4K version) and settled in for a fun ride.
But it was with considerable disappointment I watched my popcorn get ruined with a sack of saccharine and silliness. The introduction, showing a young Diana compete in the Themysciran Olympics (performed with exceptional aplomb by Lilly Aspell), dragged on interminably, and the moral of that story was about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
Unfortunately, things got much worse when we cut to the film's present day (1984), as Diana tackles a bunch of classically inept thugs robbing a store in a shopping mall (think the old Batman TV series—yup, that bad), interspersed with thoroughly ridiculous interactions with children. Kristen Wiig embarrasses herself as a nerd-come-evil-creature Cheetah. And Pedro Pascal is equally difficult to watch as the Chief Bad Guy, Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano. Even Gal Gadot was somewhat disappointing, but I suspect this was more the fault of the script and direction.
The only thing that saves this film from being a wet fart is Chris Pine, reprising his role as Steve Trevor. Pine is delightful as he takes in 1984, having last seen planet Earth back in 1918; their flight through a fireworks display is the highlight of an otherwise waste of 151 minutes. I really must question director Patty Jenkins' goal here, as it seems impossible the same person directed both WW films. Meanwhile, a third installment is in the works; one can only hope this is another case of even-numbered ones being bombs (although I doubt I'll live long enough to find out).
DKS 4/11/21
GRUMPY OLD FART-O-METER® Rating:
