The comic books wars crossed over from the four color page to the silver screen a while back. DC, owned by Warner Brothers, fired the first shots and were successful with their films involving Batman, even the bad ones. Marvel at first fell on its face until they took back the rights to their comics and made IRON MAN. That led to the most successful comic books based series of films ever made. DC? They fell on their face, opting to a darker look for characters that weren’t dark. And then came WONDER WOMAN.
WONDER WOMAN didn’t fall into that dark and terrifying world associated with Batman. It was bright and colorful and featured a heroine that was, well, heroic. The movie was a huge success and the character helped JUSTICE LEAGUE as well. It didn’t take long before a sequel was announced. So how is it?
The film opens with a look at Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince as a young girl competing in an event on Themyscira among the Amazons. She doesn’t win but she does learn an important lesson. The film jumps forward from there. Where the first film took place during WWI, this time we find her in 1984. Immortal she hasn’t aged a bit and her heroic exploits continue. Her secret identity has her working in antiquities at the Smithsonian Institute.
On her first day working Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristin Wiig) arrives, a somewhat clumsy always overlooked individual who immediately makes friends with Diana. The FBI brings in a stone they came across during a heist that was stopped by Wonder Woman and both women recognize it as the Dreamstone, an object said to bring about one wish for those around it. Unknowingly Diana wishes her long lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) were still alive. Minerva wishes she were more like Diana.
Before the two can get a closer look at the stone Maxwell “Max” Lord (Pedro Pascal) arrives. A failing businessman whose financial world is about to crumble he begins flirting with Minerva in an effort to steal the stone which he does. Using the power of the stone his wish is to become the stone itself giving himself immense power and numerous wishes. But with all the wishes comes a cost that is not apparent.
Diana’s wish came true and Steve returns to her. His fish out of water sequences are amusing. But the cost to Diana is more than she knows. The same is true for Minerva who in gaining attention, looks and powers gave up a part of her humanity. And Max could potentially lose so much more than he bargained for. All will have to find a way to deal with their own problems as well as the conflict that rises between them
Let me start by saying the movie looks great. The images are clear, the effects are mind boggling and the cinematography is among the best you’ll find in movies like this. The character of Wonder Woman is once more skillfully played by Gadot who has shown she can carry a movie of this magnitude. But the movie lacks something that was there in the first film. Restraint.
When a movie succeeds Hollywood is ready to go with a sequel almost immediately. If they can get the same director on board it’s even better. The problem is that second time directors given free rein tend to overdo what they did previously. A bigger budget, more time and a bit of a touch of ego makes them think “now I can do all the things I wanted to in the first film”. The problem is that they then think they need to do ALL of the things they wanted rather than hold back a bit.
Such is the case here. Director Patty Jenkins (who also directed MONSTER) did an amazing job on the first film. But this one runs far too long. AT 2 and a half hours it could easily have shaved off 30 minutes and been a much better film. Sequences of special effects and story plots that weren’t necessary pad out the film to that length and make the film drag in spots and it isn’t long before you know you’ve been watching far too long.
This is not to say the film is
terrible. I enjoy these movies based on comics. And this one even with its
faults far exceeds the darker films of the DC Universe like BIRDS OF PREY which
tossed aside many of the original characters from the comics or altered them
into something completely different just to provide a film for the popular
Harley Quinn character and actress Margot Robbie. This one is entertaining and
if you realize how long it is going in you should be okay. One can only wait
with anticipation to see what comes next.
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