I don’t like the movie from DC Universe. Of course there are some good movies but one Batman can’t make a success. I was always intrigued by the darkness around this character and its moral dilemmas.But either Superman nor Wonder Woman have ever really interested me. Cinema didn’t make it easier for me to change this state: while there are a few real pearls among Batman movies, those with Superman in the main role always seemed too pompous. So I was waiting for a movie about Wonder Woman? Honestly - not really. Although I feel a lot of sympathy for Gal Gadot, her heroine isn’t on my private list of pop-culture icons.
Gal Gadot: heroin, which we did not deserve
At the start, I can point out that making a movie with a strong female character is unprecedented, whose role in the story isn’t to rush a cycle spilling out of a small breastplate, even if the heroine, unlike his colleagues, is more undressed than dressed and even in a climate that is unfavorable. I am even more happy about the fact that a woman stood behind the camera of this production and it is also one that has really successful films. Unfortunately, the illusion of feminism and the joy of participation are not enough to defend the end result. And this one is, let's just say it's just as average as other productions of this kind.
Maybe I just can not play, maybe I'm too bitter about it, but I have a bigger problem to distinguish a weak superhero movie from a really good one: all of them seem to me equally fine, predictable, boring, with a bad sense of humor. Some of them save only charisma of a hero’s and chemistry between them - and these two things just "Wonder Woman" can not be denied: Gal Gadot is the heroin we needed and for which we basically didn’t deserve. The latter is evidenced by dozens of comments from the disappointed erotomaniacs who from the dark basements of their parents patted fat-free fingers that the actress is not fit for this role, because - attention - has smaller tits than her comic prototype. Well, maybe it was because if she were exactly the same, she would probably break in half, it's hard to say. It's enough to notice that we've got to a dead end if the percentage of people watching this kind of production confuses them with pornography. So - hands on the table, guys, zip fasteners and try to open up to the idea that women don’t exist just to drool them on the bust. I know that it is difficult and that it requires concentration, but I guarantee that it is worth it, because a change in attitude increases the chance of getting closer to the opposite sex also in a completely analogue life.
These grim enough remarks were enough for me to let Gal Gadot in the role of Wonder Woman fiercely defend, but in the end this defense is basically unnecessary. Apart from the fact that the Gal looks with great pleasure, it is not only her heroine who makes a very pleasant impression, but also the actress herself. Intelligence, a funny girl with a strong personality and an independent character emerges from interviews and statements on the web. And this is the Wonder Woman we've been waiting for. Even if we did not know about it.
Gadot - Pine duet, for which I am scoring the film for the whole point (if not two), and it's hard to wonder why, Pine is just as difficult to dislike as his screen mate, and the mischievous smile, the blue eyes and the disheveled the actor's hair is basically enough to fall in love with the killing. However, if that was not enough, it turns out that Chris is just a nice guy. And in the 21st century, it is not so obvious, as more and more stinky corpses are beginning to appear on Hollywood, and charges of sexual harassment are on the agenda.
“Wonder Woman ": the illusion of feminism
If I can make any claims, then I will only admit that in the case of this film, I wouldn’t be offended if Wonder Woman's love of life was not a blond-haired troublemaker, but an equally rebellious woman. And if not love, then maybe at least a friend, because I do not know about you, but I do not, for example, have the urge to have a romantic story in every action movie. Can a strong, independent woman just not be really independent for a moment, also emotionally? Does every male and female relationship have to end with love for the grave? Perhaps we will begin to slowly grow to real heroin, but we are not able to imagine them as characters liberated from the pressures of social expectations. The conclusion is sad: if you are a woman, you can even be a Wonder Woman, and your destiny will still be a man at your side. Without this, let's not move: leave only from your island and you will fall in love with the first one you will meet. He may and will love you for your character, but being phenomenally beautiful certainly will not hurt. Just in case, or preferably beautiful. And remember to have shaved armpits and calves carefully, because even Wonder Woman is up to current standards. Even during World War I. A real Wonder Woman is ahead of its time.
But the saddest thing is that the inept attempt to get out of the Wonder Woman figure from the limits imposed on women ends with the slamming of another trap. Diana is still tied up with stereotypes that Jenkins apparently doesn’t see or with whom (it's worse) maybe no problem. The protagonist gets along with other women on average (including conflict with her mother) - although there is no one else on the island, the stage-by-stage director emphasizes how much the heroine Gadot differs from the other members of the tribe. She does not have a friend, she does not talk to anyone except her mother and aunt, she cannot be seen in any interactions; she is the daughter of the queen, she becomes the best warrior, unexpectedly discovers mysterious forces within her. It is different: privileged, hidden for a long time under the shade,
separated. She doesn’t fit with other women, she is different than all of them, she is the only one concerned about the fate of the human race enough to leave a safe home. It's better. Is great. It's so great that ... it gets along much better with men.
And actually only with them, because apart from the Amazons - which, as we have already agreed, aren’t partners for talks and for bragging for Diana - only men appear in the film. That's the girl power Patty Jenkins. Would you like to ask if the director believes that this attitude is proper and worth promoting in private life? Assuming that equality relies on a constant equation to men and rejecting everything that other representatives of one's sex can offer? I have already overlooked the fact that there were really many women in the trenches of the First World War and it wouldn’t have been stupid to introduce at least one to the Wonder Woman team. But ok, you have to take an amendment to the fact that there were many more fighting men and it was easier to hit them. However, this still doesn’t explain why the scenario suggests that Diana was the only woman on the battlefield, the only womb holder in the whole of the First World War. Even if there is another female heroine behind her alleged archenemy, this parade ends: from leaving the island beyond the mutilated chemist and funny Etta appearing in several episodes, women just don’t seem to exist here. So what is it - the powerful Amazons weren’t able to help Diana defeat Ares, but the most ordinary men can?
Women who don’t like women
Perhaps it is simply a matter of my personal prejudices, but I have a lot to blame for women who declare that they can only be friends with men, because with other women "they cannot get along". From such declarations invariably the complete lack of self-reflection and understanding for the fact that the blame for this state lies on the side of themselves and how they were brought up. Usually, from such nonsense grows, the sadder is that Jenkins doesn’t see it. Although Diana isn’t such a heroine, because it's undoubtedly just a nice girl, someone - a question whether the screenwriter or director - suggest as if off-limits that to play with boys on an equal basis, you should become like them. Only better: stronger, more determined, more valiant. For this masculine friendship, the fulfillment of every girl's dreams, idiots dealing with some feminine nonsense have nothing to count on. Effect? Maybe you, girl, would like to be friends with Diana, but you have no chance. Diana only collects with the boys. Because Diana is as good at these blocks as a guy. And you are just a woman.
And so a film that could become a feminist one, drowned in misogyny even more spectacularly than the flagship example in this topic, namely "Iron Man". And I feel that very, but I don’t really like Patty Jenkins, who in "Wonder Woman" suggests that friendship and support of a man are more valuable than a bond with another woman. But would anyone want to watch a movie about how women save the world? One of them may still be digested, especially when it is surrounded by so much testosterone, but the second woman with weapons could be too much for a recipient unaccustomed to sexism-free narration.
"Wonder Woman" could do a lot, but stopped with half measures. It isn’t difficult to guess why: the universe has its own rules, the director has freedom in anything limited, and the producers and owners of rights to the DC universe must agree on the number of coins in the pocket. In the end, no one in their right mind expects from DC and Marvel serious engagement in the fight for the world to become a bit better place - that is why we are exaggerated with the fact that we have a girl with a sword, but without a bust size 65K and another girl behind the camera. Although it doesn’t change anything in the wider perspective, it is enough to pause once a while to satisfy the audience.
A sense of humor consultant vs. family movie
Perhaps disappointment wouldn’t be so sad, if "Wonder Woman" offered something more than just a standard level of action with a fantastic background. Unfortunately - these are still the same clichés, the same plot solutions, the same dry retorts and excess pathos. Gadot's natural charm is not able to break through this concrete, and since she and Chris Pine have failed to do so, the question remains whether anyone else is able to pull DC from deadly seriousness. Because it's not Patty Jenkins, it's pretty sure. Maybe she should hire Rachel Parris as a good sense of humor consultant for her next DC movie? Because, let's be honest: Marvel's inept imitation isn’t the way to success.
DC faces the same problem as their unprofitable competitor: it tries to please everyone. He is trying to make films allowed from the age of 12, which seduce at the same time and the student of the primary school and his parents who may have eaten their teeth in the original comics. The effect isn’t difficult to predict: the whole psychological burden, darkness and moral dilemmas, which in the prototypes were the order of the day, are replaced here by solutions straight from the family movie. Somehow even with really brutal moments of "Deadpool" manages to make a slapstick without any horror. Batman tries to be modern and pulls from the cloak old jokes that evokes the facepalm. As a consequence, children may like it, but it may be too unrefined for teenagers. Like the whole universe, which in film scenes is still only an inept and shoddy counterfeit of the world known from comic books.
"Wonder Woman" remains a victim of the same ailment: she tries to feed on the sentiment of the older generation to childhood heroes, cheats on promises of good fun and return to the time of innocence, and ultimately just gives us the same cliches. The creators are once again lacking the courage to go all the way: Nolan understood it well, whose "Dark Knight" doesn’t take hostages. As far a Bruce Wayne could be a buffalo, Batman raised pathos to the rank of art. Joker was terrified in his madness, incomprehensible and strange, and the chosen heart wasn’t a busty blonde with a neat mouth in the shape of hearts. I have never read comics about Wonder Woman, so I don’t know if they have the potential to be as big as those about the Batman. However, I can’t help but notice how enormous the potential this character has and how this potential has been wasted in the film. DC missed the train to modernity and consistently smacks with the mouse, counting, it seems, a miracle. Such a miracle could be Gadot led by the director of the Nolan class. We can not count on that.
And as I mentioned, maybe I'm just too embittered and I can’t play. But if this is true, how do the Disney and Pixar productions directed to children more often surprise me with intelligent conclusions, they play with really cut retorts more often and keep them more tense? It is sad to conclude, but it is difficult for me to defend superhero cinema if it consistently tries to be more infantile, unleavened and emotionally and psychologically flat than fairy tales for the youngest. Once again, folk wisdom is confirmed that if there is something for everything, it sucks. It's worth thinking about it before you make another movie with the attitude "that it has to be for everyone". Because "Wonder Woman" is a great proof that this approach does not work.
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