Wonder Woman is... well... wonderful! This movie is a true representation of the characters I have grown up with and loved from DC comics and the justice league animated series. This movie is about how Diana the princess of Themyscira becomes Wonder Woman, a classic fish out of water tale of innocence and heroism.
The chemistry between the two leads feels so natural and it is because of this chemistry that Steve's sacrifice is so heartbreaking . While the movie may not be as layered or multifaceted as other DCEU offerings such as Man of Steel, making use of a more classic 'by the numbers' superhero formula, it is undoubtedly a more meaningful movie. It shows us the true nature of humanity through the eyes of an Amazon who has no preconceptions or history with our species. It shows us the ugliness of mankind, how cheaply we value human life with the wars we create, and how stereotypical gender roles have been/are to the detriment of women without bashing us over the head with a heavy-handed feminist agenda. On the other hand, through her eyes, we also see the things humanity is capable of through the power of love.
Despite the importance of this movie, Wonder Woman doesn't depress or bog the audience down. It conveys these important messages within the context of an uplifting film filled with fun, action and romance.
Critics have voiced their approval for this movie, but that shouldn't make fans of the DCEU fearful. Wonder Woman seamlessly fits in with the DCEU, making use of similar colour palates, action direction, and story telling. While this is a movie all little girls must watch, it is truly a movie for everyone... it is simply... WONDERFUL!
Well, I do not even know where to start! The Grand Budapest Hotel was one of my most anticipated films this year. My expectations were very high and I can say it exceeded everything I was expecting.
Wes Anderson is a very peculiar and original director, there is no one like him and his style is unmistakable. With an interesting filmography is great to see his improvement over the years. This film is a good example of that. All his usual filming techniques, color palette, the history, quirky characters and scenarios always full of details keep getting better with each film. I would like to give the main highlight for the set design that will get you literally gaping!
Wes Anderson wrote this film based on the books of a writer named Stefan Zweig and the entire universe that he created around this story is absolutely fabulous! The Grand Budapest Hotel is a famous hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka in the European Alps. In it we follow the adventures of the important concierge Gustave H. and his recent apprentice Zero Moustafa, who go far beyond the Grand Budapest. Gustave H. has the particularity to like seducing older and wealthy hotel guests. After years of involvement with one of these ladies, she is murdered and Gustave is the prime suspect of her murder. Then it starts all this great, crazy and hilarious mess!
Ralph Fiennes shines in this film, his performance is magnificent as the concierge Gustave H. In each scene he enters he steals the show! His performance is the one with the most spotlight but he is always supported by a whole cast that play their roles genially. The young and recent actor Tony Revolori is also very good and all the scenes between him and Ralph Fiennes are wonderful, the two had a great chemistry and that is transmited beyond the screen. Big names like F. Murray Abraham, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson and many others are all excellent in their small roles and sometimes we wished to see this talented names have a little more time on screen but each one has its importance in history.
Fun, colorful, with great dialogues and hilarious scenes, also leaving an important message about loyalty and friendship. Wes Anderson now elevates the bar very high, after this brilliant The Grand Budapest Hotel we are waiting to see what this great and unique filmmaker will do next. I think I can say that this happens to be my favorite film of him, because I think it is definitely his best and will also certainly be one of my favorites this year.
The thing about the movie is that it assumes audiences are familiar with the characters so it doesn't bother giving you much in terms of their backstories. This would be a legitimate comparison to the MCU--Marvel built up their audience's connection with individual characters in solo movies. The DCEU skips that and though I think it's possible that you can start with a group movie then branch into backstories and still be able to make the audience connect with a character, BvS needed to work on that a bit more. The movie tries to intrigue you about the characters so that you'll want to watch the other DCEU movies to find out about them.
But that being said, BvS felt like a love letter from DC to their fans. It felt like DC was saying, "Here's what you've been waiting for, you deserve this! I'm giving you all the treats!" I'm not sure why people keep saying that the first part was difficult to follow (I had no problems keeping track of what was happening). The pacing IS fast but if you pay attention (which, why wouldn't you pay attention to a movie you paid for) then you should have no problems.
I had an easier time connecting emotionally to Superman here than I did in MoS. You could really feel how 20 years fighting crime in Gotham jaded Batman and chipped away what little optimism he had left for fighting crime. And the cameos of the rest of the Justice League! The cameos were everything!!
The movie's not perfect but it's definitely an improvement over MoS.
The whole theatre burst into spontaneous cheers several times, and the whole theatre completely went silent - people literally stopped chewing their popcorn - on numerous occasions.
Like you've probably already heard, the movie REALLY is a phenomenal throwback to the original trilogy, with an extra oomph and insane amounts of creativity and new found inspiration that will take the franchise to a whole new level.
The characters are three-dimensional, it's nowhere near as strictly black and white, good vs. evil like in most of the previous movies, and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren is the best example of that. Hands down, the best villian to appear in the Star Wars franchise other than Darth Vader.
Daisy Ridley & John Boyega are thrilling to watch, the old cast members, popping in during the movie were just as fun to watch.
J.J. Abrams and the writers somehow managed to create a plot that was very confined in space and time, yet they effortlessly captured the grand universe that is Star Wars with some pretty great throwbacks to the old trilogy plot-wise. Some might argue that it's lack of creativity and unnecessary repetition, but I thought it was a wonderful homage. It flowed naturally and there really was no dull moment.
Absolutely phenomenal. :)
