I went to see Wonder Woman today. It's the first comic-to-movie adaptation I've allowed myself to see in 11 years (& that one was X-men: The Last Stand). I would NOT have gone to see this film had it not been for the hearty endorsement by Lynda Carter who, for my generation, & several others, IS Wonder Woman. It was also helpful to me to know that the studio DID reach out to LC about playing Hypolytta first, & that she wasn't overlooked. LC could not commit to the film b/c of scheduling conflicts. I grew up watching her, wanting to BE her, & I also read WW during the glorious post-crisis era, under the team of Karen Berger, & George Perez. I went in w/ VERY low expectations, & while I was disappointed to see that this movie was heavily influenced by the "New 52" continuity, I DID see some subtle nods to the post-crisis WW as well, & i suspect that other long time readers of the WW comic picked up on them as well. The fact that this film was directed by a woman was also a selling point. Bringing Wonder Woman to the big screen required someone who was aware of the source material & was NOT going to pull a "Bryan Singer." Patty Jenkins clearly GOT IT when it comes to WW's portrayal, how she would behave, would motivates her, as well as the presentation of power of the amazons. & I'll give credit to Gal Gadot. For the longest time, I was not convinced she could pull this role off, but she did it, & very well. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor?? OVERALL, I can say that this movie was not bad!
I'm obviously not as well versed in WW as you are, but I've always appreciated the character. In DC my favorites have always been Batman [mainly villians lol] and WW. I've always HATED Superman with a passion...so the only reason I went to go see Batman v. Superman was because of Batman and WW. The movie was overall pure shit. I enjoyed Ben Affleck as Batman because he brought an older, darker, weathered feel to the characters, and the only decent parts of the movie were when WW were in it....which was a whopping 15 minutes lol. So I was already excited about the character and the fact that she was getting a stand along movie. BUT, I was also very reserved because BvS WAS so bad. So I went in with hope, but low expectations. Spoiler But I overall REALLY enjoyed it. I love the origin story and how they focused on how Diana came to be, her training, how powerful the Amazons were, and what they stood for. I absolutely LOVED how pure and compassionate Diana was portrayed, wanting to help the world and the innocents of mankind. And the fact that when she got to the outside world the littlest things like seeing a baby and eating ice cream were so foreign to her. It really emphasized how this woman is so strong yet knows little of the 'man's' world. I also really loved the contrast of Diana being amongst powerful women and teachers then going to 1900 England and being treated like a second class citizen. It really show how women have struggled to make a footprint in the world of man and how Diana wasn't about to let them step all over HER. I think the action sequences were great. I really loved the first moment she stepped onto the battlefield in No Man's Land and they revealed her costume in slowmo. It was very old school comic to me lol. I also enjoyed how because of the origin storyline it's showed the overall GROWTH of Diana in the modern day world [the beginning of the film and also in BvS]. She's not the naive women she once was; having nearly 100 years worth of experience in the world now. She was strong when she first arrived, but now she's a mother fucking bad ass. Last, I LOVED that Patty Jenkins directed it. Not only because she was able to capture the pure, innocent, yet strong character of WW, but because she had a strong female point of view throughout the whole movie but also didn't diminish the male aspect of the film either. It wasn't one sided, femnazi crap that people thought it was going to be. This showed an equality that was SO needed. And this is the FIRST comic book movie with a leading female character that's been on the big screen and it needed to be done RIGHT. Because honestly, if it wasn't....the DC movie universe would have been fucked completely after the crap that was BvS and Suicide Squad. I'm not a huge fan of origin storylines [hated the first Captain America], but I really enjoyed this. I just hope that if they make a second WW movie, it'll be in MODERN times. And also, I hope they don't completely fuck up Justice League since Zach Snyder directed it. Anyway that's my two cents.
A lot of ppl that I know who saw B v S said it was shit, & the only interesting thing about it was WW. I'm REALLY glad that I chose this film to break my decade long boycott of comic movies, it was well done. Yes there were things about it that were disappointing, but these are things that only someone who is a long time reader would notice, & thankfully, the small "misses" did not take away from the overall HIT. This movie really does represent more than just "another super hero" movie. As you pointed out, its the first block buster super hero film helmed by a woman, starting a woman, portraying a prominent woman in the comics, who's also a pop culture icon. Supes and Batman, by now, have both had TWO movie franchies, & now it's time for WW! The fact that Patty Jenkins sought out LC's blessing for the film shows you that she cared, she got it, & she was invested in seeing this film succeed. She wasn't going to pull a Bryan Singer (the director of the X-men films at Fox) & totally disrespect the source material & be arrogant to impose her own "vision" on the character. I'm so glad this movie succeeded, & since I'm sure a sequel will be coming (as they often do w/ this kind of success) it WOULD be smart of them to do it in the modern times (& hopefully w/ LESS new 52 influence). There are so many excellent WW stories set in modern times that could be adapted to film, including the introduction of Wonder Girl (I or II).
