Welcome to my world! So often I will see a trailer for something that I by all accounts should be crapping my pants over and yet I feel nothing.
I enjoyed the first movie even though it was too long and the villain was goofy. As far as this trailer goes, I love the Blue Monday remix and how it was edited to the trailer. Though by all accounts movies and TV shows seem to think that song was the only hit from the era. How about a little Depeche Mode??? The movie itself looks fun. Part of me sees all the marketing ploys being used to suck me in, but the other part of me would totally be down to see it. I feel split right down the middle.
The shot with her "riding the lightning" looks so over the top schlock that I could in fact love it for being so goofy. It does resemble Spiderman. The truck flipping end over end is right out of the Dark Knight. The White house sequence right out of X2. Maybe it's the recycling of shots from other movies that is annoying me. Kristen Wiig will basically be Electro from Amazing Spiderman 2. Dorky friend who is enamored with her to begin with then turned villain when she feels snubbed by Diana. That shot from inside the coliseum is a mix between Gladiator and Batman begins with the kids running on those posts. The street shot with Capital Hill in the background is from The Quest for Peace and The Search for Spock. The 1984 title card is from GLOW. The vibrant color palate is likely from Ragnarok. The mall is from Stranger Things. Steve's return is Captain America being thawed out and playing his fish out of water in the modern world trope for laughs. As long as the story isn't just a mashup of other movies and the script had something fresh to give us, it could be a lot of fun.
Do I kind of love/hate this obsession with the retro 80s nostalgia? Yes. It's getting to the point where it's starting to be overused and I can see all the tropes from other movies being pulled in this trailer alone.
Either way I'll give it a chance. I was surprised by the chemistry between the two characters in the first movie and while I'm sure they will come up with some ridiculous reason to bring Steve back, other than the obvious one, then I'm on board.
The trash can bit did make me laugh.
It's always a balancing act that few movies, especially ones with passionate fan bases, tend to get right.
I think it looks fun and I want to see it. I don't have huge expectations. I just want to be entertained. I mean honestly parts of it could be super dumb but as long as it's fun I can have a good laugh. It could end up being a surprise too like the first and I ended up enjoying it more than I expected to.
What do you expect when you get nerds talking about a comic book movie on an internet discussion forum? Of course we will debate the validity of the set dressings, especially when it's a forum dedicated to props!
Honestly I'm not really feeling this new trailer. The first trailer had me pretty split because I could see the copy and paste job from other movies and shows used to make the trailer. I love Kristen Wiig but her CGI Cheetah looks terrible. If you want to see what an incredible actress she is, check out Skeleton Twins, or Welcome to Me. Both great movies I highly recommend, especially Skeleton Twins.
As for Wonder Woman, I find Gal Gadot's "modeling" poses kind of annoying in this new trailer, but I really did enjoy that first movie. I hope this one can pull it off and I'm totally wrong about having mixed feelings on the trailer. We shall see.
I agree with this sentiment, except for the part I made bold. I'm all for internal story logic. If you establish a certain idea in the story it has to remain consistent to keep from being jarring, and if there is a need to change it, it better not disrupt the story (or theme) too far off course. But I do at least like a story to make some logical sense, even within it's own universe. Like if you're going to throw away any sense of peril for a character I can't even remotely take it seriously. That's a deal breaker for me.
Just my 2 pennies worth.
Normally I wouldn't quote myself but for the sake of brevity and backing up earlier statements I have to say this movie was a disappointment. It played out beat for beat mostly how I expected as a mix tape version of every trope I described in my trailer breakdown.
The motivations for the characters felt forced and it was so over the top that I had a hard time getting invested in any of it. I'm starting to tire of this technicolor retro look of the 1980's and all the cliches it entails. While there were questionable fashion choices in one of my favorite decades, it often gets amped up to the point of absurdity for movies and shows (my biggest gripe with season 3 of Stranger Things) to the point where it becomes too self aware and distracting, pulling me right out of the story. Colors were never
that vibrant, even with my rose tinted glasses on.
Gal Gadot surprised me in this and she's becoming a better actress despite being saddled with a mediocre script. Her sincerity in the first film really came through and endeared me to her character enough to win me over and unabashedly become a fan of the movie. Sure the villain was corny and the final showdown felt like a video game, but it had heart and I felt genuinely thrilled to see her in action because by that point in the story she felt like a real person who I cared about and that humanity and love for others is what carried the movie.
The thing that also sold me on the first Wonder Woman was that there was a real sense of peril. Despite being fictional, Patty Jenkins did a great job balancing the heroics of a comic book film with the visceral realities of a historical war that shaped the world. That was one of key elements that set it apart from other superhero films because it brilliantly mirrored actual history and framed Diana's journey as a means to explore issues of the day and one that was sorely missed in this movie. It could have been a great commentary on the decadence of the 1980's. My wife keenly observed even how something subtle like Diana's fashion choices being more conservative than the pomp of the times and to my mind it sold us on the idea that she wasn't concerned with the excess of the age. Had this idea been explored better it would have been a thematic triumph like the first film's use of the suffrage movement. Wonder Woman's success was it's positive message and this sequel sorely lacked one.
Her chemistry with Chris Pine was one of the strengths of the first outing and it's still present here, even if the circumstances of their reunion was superficially tied to the plot. It makes me wonder if they'll be brave enough to have another possible love interest in the third installment. Though I'm guessing her interaction with the man who inhabited Steve's soul is a likely sign that she'll move on with her life without him. My wife was surprised that the guy didn't at least ask for her number, and I was thinking they would have gone on a date at the least.
The main issue I had with it was the lack of theme and no real sense of danger, like ever. It felt all over the place and muddled by plot points and character motivations that really had little to do with Diana's journey as a character. It also set up rules that it violated within it's own movie. Often a criticism I have of franchise films is that they contradict rules made in previous installments, but when they play fast and loose with them in a
single movie it becomes frustrating. I also never once felt as though Diana or any of the characters could die. I know being the protagonist she wouldn't, but even though they showed her bleed, I never felt she could be truly hurt. We all know the protagonist in these films never dies, but at the least we need to feel at some low point they
could.
I liked the golden armor and the Linda Carter cameo was a nice nod to the history of the character, though my wife pointed out immediately that she should have had vibrant green eyes like in the flashback sequence. This is but another small example of how continuity within a film is super important. Had this been the only instance I think the both of us would have happily overlooked it, but considering all the other missteps, it was hard to ignore.
All in all I would take Wonder Woman over Wonder Woman 1984 any day. In fact it makes me want to revisit the original to get this one out of my head.
