Wonder Woman (2017)

Bringing a female superhero to the big screen in a leading role hasn't been done often, but DC did a solid job of it with Wonder Woman.

Unsurprisingly, Wonder Woman is an origin story. The character appeared briefly in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the entire movie is basically a flashback sequence from that modern-day version of Diana. The entire movie takes place in the past, specifically the World War I era. If that sounds familiar, it's because Marvel did more or less the same thing with Captain America. It's hard to really fault the writers for copying, though, since all these superhero movies have their roots in decades of comic book stories, many of which are very similar. Hard to really say who is copying what, with all that history.

I felt like the movie did a good job of setting up Diana's past, explaining the role of the Olympian gods and her home of Themyscira. Seemed to me that there was enough explanation to make sense to a non-comic-nerd, though I admit that it's hard to tell since I am one. There have been lots of versions of Wonder Woman over the years, and this one seems as good to me as any.

Gal Gadot did a fantastic job as Diana, and I thought the writers and director captured the character very well. Diana's naivete is very clear as she makes her first foray into man's world, but she never seems weak or lost because of it. There's very little sexual content, which isn't easy when your main character is a gorgeous woman running around in skimpy battle costume. There's a fine line to walk with this character, and I think they did an outstanding job.

I wish I could say the same about the action scenes. There's constant use of slow-motion sequences in the middle of the action, and just about every one of them annoyed me. The scenes themselves were fine, well designed and executed. I particularly liked the no-man's-land advance, with Diana playing the "tank" for the soldiers. I just wish the director hadn't been so in love with slowing the action down over and over again. It's fine to do that once or twice, to call attention to some particularly impressive feat or important small detail, but it was badly over-used here.

The plot and minor characters are serviceable, if not particularly impressive. The "twist" with Ares' identity and the god-slayer weapon was so heavily telegraphed that I hesitate to even use the term. Outside of Steve Trevor, other characters are present only as opportunity to show off some aspect of Diana. But none of that is surprising, as it's hard to do much in an origin story film outside of the main character without making things too complex to easily follow.

Wonder Woman is a big step forward for the DC cinematic universe. I know we'll be seeing more of Diana, and I look forward to it. I hope to see more of this quality of writing, directing, and production in the future DCU movies as well.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Every once in a while, Google sends me an email offering a discount on digital movie rentals. I used the most recent one on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

I didn't go to see Batman v Superman in the theater when it came out earlier this year, largely because the reaction from my friends that did ranged from "meh" to "avoid at all costs." So I went into this with a pretty low set of expectations. There were two major complaints: the iconic characters weren't portrayed as expected, and the way the movie unfolded just didn't make a lot of sense.

Batman is pretty easily my favorite comic book character of all time. Not even close, really. I've enjoyed all the various versions over the years, from the campy Adam West TV show to comics through the 80s and 90s to the Christopher Nolan films. Which is a bit of a long way to say that I don't really care about staying true to any particular "iconic" version. Same goes for Superman and just about any other character. The fact that this movie showed a Batman didn't seem to mind killing a few bad guys, or a Superman that is more conflicted than bright-and-shiny undaunted hero, doesn't bother me much.

I do, however, care about a movie's plot, characters, action, and setting flowing together to make an entertaining whole. On this front, I'd say Batman v Superman was pretty awful. The entire plot hangs on one thing: Lex Luthor is nuts, while at the same time being incredibly smart and manipulative. Batman and Superman both come off as chumps, maneuvered by Lex into fighting one another. I thought it would have been a much better movie without them getting into any kind of fight at all. Meanwhile, Lex is busy creating some uncontrollable monster, clearly just as bad for him as for anyone else - insanity at work. Unfortunately, basing the entire plot on the workings of an insane mind does nothing for narrative flow - things just sort of seem to happen for no reason other than to put a big fight in the spotlight.

If I had to pick a single word to describe Batman v Superman, it would be "clumsy." You can see what the writers and director are trying to do, but it just falls flat. Lex's manipulations only make sense if the heroes are stupid, distracted, or both. The romance between Clark and Lois is assumed from the very beginning, and then a bunch more scenes build it up later...as if we don't already know they're lovebirds after the very first rescue. Other Justice League characters pop in for a scene or two, adding exactly nothing to this movie (other than Wonder Woman) - an incredibly clumsy way to tie into a larger movie universe. Even the big fight scenes feel as if they were choreographed by the special effects people for the most spectacular shot, regardless of how silly that makes the actual characters look. And the character design is nothing special even outside of poor action choreography - Doomsday in particular looks terrible.

Despite all that, there were still some good things to come out of Batman v Superman. I enjoyed Ben Affleck's portrayal of Batman, and Jeremy Irons did a pretty decent Alfred. Gal Gadot did a good job as Wonder Woman, actually fitting better into the story than anyone outside of Batman - certainly better than the cameos by other Justice League members. Gives me hope for future movies, as long as some lessons are learned instead of just repeating the mistakes.

If I'd seen this movie 10 years ago, it's possible I'd have liked it a lot more. But now, I've got the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to compare it against, and that's not flattering for Batman v Superman. With luck, future DC movies will be better.