Wonder Woman (2017) ****/5: There are some hackneyed and inconsequential elements but this is still one of the best superhero films of the modern era.

(image courtesy of vox.com)

Wonder Woman is one of the best superhero films of the modern era that began in 1978.  There are some iconic visual moments in the film that will influence and define the character for this generation. Wonder Woman/Diana Prince bursts forth from relative obscurity and makes a grand impression. You have to take her seriously. She is a powerful character. Some will even start to wonder how powerful she is and if she won’t end up leading the line for DC. For years Batman and Superman led the line for DC films or films based on characters from DC comics and this culminated in the poorly conceptualized BvS released last year. Wonder Woman may have been featured in some series, animated or otherwise, since the beginning of the modern era of comic book films but there was no film produced featuring her heroics. Most comic book readers know that Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman form the holy trinity of DC comics. They tried to bring this forth in BvS last year in preparation for the formation of the Justice League. Wonder Woman is deserving of a good film because she is such an iconic character. This film is also the best superhero film ever made with a female as the lead. Like I said she is a powerful character and even the men will have to accept that even though some will not have seen such display of power by a female lead in a superhero film. It’s time that she was given her due.

The film stars Gal Gadot as the Wonder Woman, the amazon warrior from Themyscira, an ancient island which is home to the amazons who are all female. Diana is unaware of her godly heritage. She learns as she goes along. Diana leaves her secluded, sacred island to fight in World War 1 or the Great War so that she can confront Ares. She is ably assisted by Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) a British spy, who sounds a lot like an American, who crash lands on the secluded island carrying important secrets that will possibly end the war. It is he who informs the Amazons about what’s happening in the world outside especially the war to end all wars.  Several other male characters also line up alongside her and join in the fight and form an unlikely band of warriors with Diana as the de facto leader.

Positives

The main positive of this film are the iconic visual elements that will come to define how Wonder Woman is identified. Obviously the casting of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana prince has a lot to do with but when she is revealed in all her Wonder Woman glory with all the traditional garb and begins to assume a leadership position on the battlefield then you come to realize how iconic she is. I didn’t have much problem with the final battle because although some people are complaining that it’s typical super hero fare I also saw it as Wonder Woman coming of age where her power reaches its ultimate height. The visual elements surrounding Ares was also significant and seems to be rounded in the visual conception of the Wonder Woman world. The visuals are very important here and so I don’t agree with one critic that the CGI in the final battle could have been from any other film. The visual elements say a lot about Wonder Woman’s world. And when she goes into action you do realize why she is iconic. The bright yellowing light or golden sheen will come to define the character and make her distinctive along with Gal Gadot in the lead. If one looks at the atmosphere of war torn Europe in 1918 with its greying look then you’ll understand why Wonder Woman’s golden sheen look stands out so much. It contrasts with the period.   Gal Gadot does well and she has the look of Wonder Woman and this was immediately identifiable when watching BvS last year. Her naïve charm early on in the film is eventually replaced by the demeanour of a veteran or someone coming into their own and realizing their full potential. The movie does well enough to ensure that Wonder Woman assumes her rightful place. A lot of Diana’s look has to do with the bright Themyscira and it’s good that the filmmakers spent some time explaining how it came into being. I don’t mind exposition because I’m a historian.

I liked the portrayal of European society during World War1. We get a good look at English society and we also get a glimpse of war torn Continental Europe (Belgium and to  a lesser extent Germany) and the contrast between the elites and the casualties of war. There is even some time spent with the Ottomans or in Ottoman territory. I actually liked the character of General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and what he represents. He is one example of how men are corrupted by war and take relish in destruction. I also understood the Ares element better particularly as the war was coming to an end.

The contrast between Diana and Steve is well played. The ordinary mortal alongside a godly figure. It is interesting and romantic but largely about how he convinces her to embrace the more ordinary aspects of life. Life that is not about the Gods on high or great battles to be fought. Just simple tales of the heart. So it’s well done. And the acting is pretty good.

The action is pretty good. I wasn’t that impressed by some of the slow motion sequences but seeing Wonder woman in full flight is pretty interesting. Seeing a female superhero lead showcase that kind of power is truly something. I didn’t hear much cheers in the audience for what she did but there was quiet acknowledgment that she’s the real deal especially when she was in full flight with bracelet, shield, sword and lasso.

I was pretty surprised that Diana’s heroics didn’t generate as much excitement in the world she inhabited. There was not much question about who is this powerful woman on the battlefield. I’m just glad she wasn’t on American soil. Maybe it was deliberate that she was made into an obscure heroic figure because of the upcoming Justice League films.

Negatives

The primary negative for me is that the film does have some hackneyed elements. Diana clearly doesn’t understand the real world and her message about love saving the world is a bit too corny for my liking. Hopefully in other films they will show how the world is built on racial and class struggles. Wonder Woman does not represent other minorities and is clearly another example of the white race showcasing its power although the island of Themyscira does have a good racial mixture.  Based on Wonder Woman’s reasoning there is not only war to be addressed but the various systems of exploitation all over the world even during peace time. It is these systems that eventually lead to the cycle of war and peace. Her beating Ares did not seem like an earth shattering event. It had to do more with her character than about the fate of the world.  It did not seem as if she achieved much by beating him especially as the war was almost over by the time of their final battle. If Diana’s actions were more effective during the course of the war then the final battle would have been more effective. Was Diana even active during World War 2? Maybe that could be the subject of a sequel. I was not clear why Wonder Woman was made into such an obscure figure. Why was she not celebrated more? This is probably due to her battles being very inconsequential. It would have been good if she went on more campaigns during the war in her quest for Ares and then ending up finding him in the midst of the battlefield stirring up the soldiers. In the film they do mention that Ares is likely to be present at the most intense part of the battle but the war is almost over so then what.

It’s a good origin story but I still wasn’t clear on the role of the Amazons. Diana keeps talking about their purpose yet this race of women prefer to remain secluded. Why are all the gods dead? That shouldn’t necessarily be the case and I think Diana’s world would have been richer if more gods were a part of her world. As a fan of Greek myth I would have preferred if they were still around so that we could have some more insight into how they viewed the world. How is Ares so powerful that he is the only one remaining?  Diana is the sole representative but hopefully the Themyscira will play an important role in future DC films

Overall well done Patty Jenkins.

Why I prefer The Godfather 1&2 to GoodFellas

(Image of the Godfather courtesy of rottentomatoes.com)



(image courtesy of wikipedia.com)

This is one of those posts where I have to briefly get something off my chest. In his review the very influential and popular critic, Roger Ebert, declared that GoodFellas was ‘The best mob movie ever’.  Obviously this was a clear challenge to The Godfather which is not only one of the best mob movies ever made but one of the greatest films ever made. Every time I watch GoodFellas I grapple with Ebert’s statement of opinion not only because I prefer The Godfather 1&2, which I just consider to be one massive film, but because I was influenced greatly by Ebert’s criticism of films. He was my go to critic when I was starting to appreciate the great films. His ‘Great Film’ series influenced me greatly. I also used to scour his catalogue of reviews on the great films of the past as well as the current releases.  I was just beginning to appreciate the great films in my late teens, early 20s period. So when I came across his GoodFellas review where he made that declaration I was stumped for the first time. It is those moments when you realize that you’ll never be able to truly follow someone as completely ever again. You will still go along with what they’re saying and will still agree from time to time but you realize that you have come of age and must challenge those who have influenced you. As I went along I realized that I began to disagree with Ebert on a lot of other points but overall i still find myself agreeing with a lot that he says. I understand now more clearly his middle class position and how that influenced how he reviewed films. There are a lot of reviews where he was clearly biased and tried to instill some relevant moral argument into his reviews. One of the biases in his reviews was his overall love for Scorsese. Need I say  more. I didn’t have to be told because I discovered it on my own just by reading his reviews.

Now to the matter at hand. I do think that GoodFellas is an exceptional film. It is a great film about the mob underworld but it is still not my overall favorite mob film. It has a very high kinetic energy and once it gets started the high tempo never subsides and it moves along quite smoothly. One of its strongest points is the counter narrative by Karen, Henry’s wife. The perspective of an ordinary person drawn into the lifestyle of the mob underworld; taken away by its charm but eventually finding it repulsive. I also like the fall from grace because eventually the glamour of the mob lifestyle, which is essentially presented with a carefree, do what you want sort of vibe is eventually replaced by a more sombre tone as things start to fall apart. The ordinary people who pay their taxes are the suckers until you have to join them once the government gets a hold of you.  It’s a lot like life actually. It is a very good film and it has a lot to say but for me it’s not on the level of  The Godfather 1&2 because it is not a very expansive film. It is quite limited to a small group in the mob underworld: Henry, Jimmy and Tommy. They are primarily enforcers. It’s exciting watching them together but it does not have the big picture feel.  The film is also based on a true story which does make it grounded but in the end it does not say much about the mob underworld and the various intricacies that make it function. The Godfather 1&2 do have that expansive feel where there is a lot of meditation on American society especially how the mob underworld makes its mark. These films do emphasize what the mob underworld represents to society and how it became embedded in American society. It has a lot of meditations on the immigrant experience in America and why family bonds were so important for survival.  GoodFellas might mention the links with Sicily but in The Godfather 1&2 it forms a significant part of the story and we are allowed to see why the links are so important especially how some Italian Americans made the transition from the Old World to the New. Whereas GoodFellas focuses on a particular true story in the mob underworld  The Godfather1&2 is about the mob underworld in general with emphasis on the Corleone family. Yes The Godfather 1&2 are fictional but a lot of it is rooted in the reality of the mob underworld in general or its general history. With GoodFellas only focusing on the enforcers it is difficult to appreciate the big picture. The perspective of the enforcer is much more exciting because it’s more violent but The Godfather 1&2 offer the perspective of the very top which is why you get a better understanding of how the mob underworld comes into being and how it becomes embedded into American society, particularly through its links with the dominant bourgeoisie. So whereas in GoodFellas we get to see how Henry, Jimmy, and Tommy deal small time in drugs and theft in The Godfather 1&2 we get to see how the mob underworld makes real money. Real money on the level of the dominant bourgeoisie represented by the casinos in The Godfather 1&2. Scorsese did make a film about the mob’s participation in the casinos in Casino (1995). Casino was actually the first film where I got exposed to Scorsese.  In The Godfather part 2  Michael even goes as far as making an investment in Cuba. You can’t get bigger than that when explaining the reach of the mob underworld and the dark finance in American society. The money of the mob underworld as highlighted in The Godfather 1&2 makes you wonder about how much money is really circulating in the world economy and how much of it is represented by nefarious activity. The legends about Pablo Escobar’s money are really something. In GoodFellas the trade in drugs is really small time because in The Godfather part 1 they are discussing how the trade will be controlled. Even Paulie in Goodfellas seems like a small timer.

So for me the difference between The Godfather 1&2 and GoodFellas is more about perspective. You realize immediately that the flashy lifestyle of the mob in GoodFellas is really small time and does not offer much in terms of showing the reach of the mob underworld in American society. I mention the 2 Godfather films just to highlight my point about perspective. Even if I was comparing GoodFellas with just 1 or 2 I would still come to the same conclusion. GoodFellas is a very good film and a great film in terms of technique and so on but in terms of perspective it’s not on the level of either The Godfather part 1 or The Godfather part 2. So here I am revealing my own bias for big picture and expansive films. My bias is towards films that say something meaningful about society in general. If it’s based on a true story then even better but here I am revealing my bias for the more epic films. The word ‘epic’ has been taken over by mass media and absorbed in the general culture…. ‘that’s epic’…… but in this sense the epic nature of The Godfathers 1&2 is what I prefer to the small time presentation of the mob in GoodFellas. So yes, I don’t think GoodFellas is the best mob movie ever. Whew! I can finally lay the issue to rest and move on.