Mass generalization (obviously) that is more right than wrong these days
WONDER WOMAN - 2017
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AndyDursin
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Re: WONDER WOMAN - 2017
There are no good scores. Just different levels of bad.
Mass generalization (obviously) that is more right than wrong these days
Mass generalization (obviously) that is more right than wrong these days
Re: WONDER WOMAN - 2017
I still find scores that I enjoy, albeit nowhere near at the frequency I did in my youth.
As I've said before, I really did like the scores for "Gravity" and "Interstellar". There were a lot of cues written for LOST that I really liked. And there's a lot of the music of "Game of Thrones" that I really enjoy - although the influence of that show has given us WAY too many copycats. (OTOH, we certainly got inundated with plenty of orchestral music after "Star Wars" in 1977 and not all of it was necessarily good...)
I do have to admit that the prevalence in TV and movies of just using "needle drop" songs rather than scoring most of the time is really obnoxious. Even Penny Marshall acknowledged this in her commentary on "A League of Their Own", where she was openly frustrated that most modern movies no longer use character motifs or build any kind of a musical tapestry. And she recorded her commentary for that movie in 2003...
As I've said before, I really did like the scores for "Gravity" and "Interstellar". There were a lot of cues written for LOST that I really liked. And there's a lot of the music of "Game of Thrones" that I really enjoy - although the influence of that show has given us WAY too many copycats. (OTOH, we certainly got inundated with plenty of orchestral music after "Star Wars" in 1977 and not all of it was necessarily good...)
I do have to admit that the prevalence in TV and movies of just using "needle drop" songs rather than scoring most of the time is really obnoxious. Even Penny Marshall acknowledged this in her commentary on "A League of Their Own", where she was openly frustrated that most modern movies no longer use character motifs or build any kind of a musical tapestry. And she recorded her commentary for that movie in 2003...
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Paul MacLean
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Re: WONDER WOMAN - 2017
Spoilers ahead...
In many ways I found it very formulaic. The story is basically the Clash of the Titans remake (ancient Greeks contending with rogue gods) cleaved to Captain America (superhero helps defeat the evil Germans). The effects look like things we've seen countless times before -- and are not especially convincing. The cliched "slo-mo" shots got very tiresome (the Matrix is two decades old now -- how about something new?).
In terms of story, a lot of things didn't really make sense to me. Why does it take place in World War I, when Wonder Woman was a hero of World War II? Why doesn't the German ship off the coast of Themyscira use more of its men (and superior firepower) to defeat the Amazons and secure the island (especially when the ship is obviously in need of repair)? The inference is also that the ship was pursuing Steve Trevor's plane -- but how can a ship pursue a fast-moving aircraft? Why is Steve Trevor working for British intelligence and under the command of English generals if he is American? And the "clever twist", when it is revealed that David Thewlis is actually Aries (ooooh, aaahh!) was completely contrived because it was so out of left field. (Nor was it especially fresh or inventive for Thewlis to transform into a Sauron lookalike.)
The P.C. touches were irritating, like the Middle Eastern character who bemoaned "I wanted to be an actor, but I was the wrong color!" The Native American character was obviously only inserted into the film so someone could tell Wonder Woman that "We were wiped out by his people" (i.e. the Americans). (Wouldn't it have been nice to have a black character who could have instead told her "We were slaves once too -- but we were freed by his people.")
The scene near the end, after Aries is destroyed and all the former enemies suddenly "make nice" came off as silly to me. I half-expected Dan Aykroyd to appear and say "Hey, I love you!"
The score -- like so many others these days -- is the usual Zimmer-esque "wallpaper" that provides the requisite drum loops for the action and white sound for the "suspenseful" moments -- but does little to express the characters' actual inner emotional state (and that electric guitar riff is a serious contender for most annoying movie "theme" of all time -- heavens, I'd have preferred they used the old song from the Lynda Carter TV show!)
I also felt the movie started to drag from the London scenes until they reach the battlefield.
Patty Jenkins is a wonderful director (Monster was an excellent film), but it's pretty obvious she was hired because it's "good PR" for Wonder Woman to be directed by a woman (and also, someone who hasn't made a feature since 2003 is more easily controlled by the studio). I'm all for women directing films (and sincerely admire Jenkins as an artist), but since this movie is little more than a stringent checklist of formula, it's hardly "Jenkins' film" on any level.
Yet all the same, I did find it overall watchable. What saves this movie for me is Gal Gadot, who is so sincere, so endearing -- and so passionate in the role, that she manages to sell the whole thing. To me, Gadot is one of the most beautiful women on earth (no surprise, seeing as she hails from Israel!) and her physique is also refreshingly non-anorexic, and she's genuinely bad-ass in real life, having served in the Israel Defense Force...
She was also five months pregnant when shooting the film's action sequences. "Wonder Woman" indeed!
I also appreciated that the film depicted a strong female lead who actually enters into a relationship with a man, and didn't depict male characters as disposable (as Brave and Frozen did) or simply evil (as in Malificent). Diana is strong and independent, but is no weaker for falling in love with Steve, and their love story is handled in a wonderfully delicate, touching way (I'd hazard a guess this area is where Jenkins actually got the chance to put her own stamp on the material).
So, for all its copious faults, I more or less enjoyed it, thanks mainly to Gadot. I'd even go to see a sequel -- except there probably won't be once, since Steve Trevor was killed off.
In many ways I found it very formulaic. The story is basically the Clash of the Titans remake (ancient Greeks contending with rogue gods) cleaved to Captain America (superhero helps defeat the evil Germans). The effects look like things we've seen countless times before -- and are not especially convincing. The cliched "slo-mo" shots got very tiresome (the Matrix is two decades old now -- how about something new?).
In terms of story, a lot of things didn't really make sense to me. Why does it take place in World War I, when Wonder Woman was a hero of World War II? Why doesn't the German ship off the coast of Themyscira use more of its men (and superior firepower) to defeat the Amazons and secure the island (especially when the ship is obviously in need of repair)? The inference is also that the ship was pursuing Steve Trevor's plane -- but how can a ship pursue a fast-moving aircraft? Why is Steve Trevor working for British intelligence and under the command of English generals if he is American? And the "clever twist", when it is revealed that David Thewlis is actually Aries (ooooh, aaahh!) was completely contrived because it was so out of left field. (Nor was it especially fresh or inventive for Thewlis to transform into a Sauron lookalike.)
The P.C. touches were irritating, like the Middle Eastern character who bemoaned "I wanted to be an actor, but I was the wrong color!" The Native American character was obviously only inserted into the film so someone could tell Wonder Woman that "We were wiped out by his people" (i.e. the Americans). (Wouldn't it have been nice to have a black character who could have instead told her "We were slaves once too -- but we were freed by his people.")
The scene near the end, after Aries is destroyed and all the former enemies suddenly "make nice" came off as silly to me. I half-expected Dan Aykroyd to appear and say "Hey, I love you!"
The score -- like so many others these days -- is the usual Zimmer-esque "wallpaper" that provides the requisite drum loops for the action and white sound for the "suspenseful" moments -- but does little to express the characters' actual inner emotional state (and that electric guitar riff is a serious contender for most annoying movie "theme" of all time -- heavens, I'd have preferred they used the old song from the Lynda Carter TV show!)
I also felt the movie started to drag from the London scenes until they reach the battlefield.
Patty Jenkins is a wonderful director (Monster was an excellent film), but it's pretty obvious she was hired because it's "good PR" for Wonder Woman to be directed by a woman (and also, someone who hasn't made a feature since 2003 is more easily controlled by the studio). I'm all for women directing films (and sincerely admire Jenkins as an artist), but since this movie is little more than a stringent checklist of formula, it's hardly "Jenkins' film" on any level.
Yet all the same, I did find it overall watchable. What saves this movie for me is Gal Gadot, who is so sincere, so endearing -- and so passionate in the role, that she manages to sell the whole thing. To me, Gadot is one of the most beautiful women on earth (no surprise, seeing as she hails from Israel!) and her physique is also refreshingly non-anorexic, and she's genuinely bad-ass in real life, having served in the Israel Defense Force...
She was also five months pregnant when shooting the film's action sequences. "Wonder Woman" indeed!
I also appreciated that the film depicted a strong female lead who actually enters into a relationship with a man, and didn't depict male characters as disposable (as Brave and Frozen did) or simply evil (as in Malificent). Diana is strong and independent, but is no weaker for falling in love with Steve, and their love story is handled in a wonderfully delicate, touching way (I'd hazard a guess this area is where Jenkins actually got the chance to put her own stamp on the material).
So, for all its copious faults, I more or less enjoyed it, thanks mainly to Gadot. I'd even go to see a sequel -- except there probably won't be once, since Steve Trevor was killed off.
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Monterey Jack
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Re: WONDER WOMAN - 2017
Here ya go...Paul MacLean wrote:The score -- like so many others these days -- is the usual Zimmer-esque "wallpaper" that provides the requisite drum loops for the action and white sound for the "suspenseful" moments -- but does little to express the characters' actual inner emotional state (and that electric guitar riff is a serious contender for most annoying movie "theme" of all time -- heavens, I'd have preferred they used the old song from the Lynda Carter TV show!)
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AndyDursin
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Re: WONDER WOMAN - 2017
I was expecting to get a whole lot of that, but was very happy to find out they steered clear of it also.I also appreciated that the film depicted a strong female lead who actually enters into a relationship with a man, and didn't depict male characters as disposable
I had the same reaction as you, Paul, basically down to every issue. It's a good movie -- but it is completely formula. What's making people tend to overstate its overall worth are two issues:
a) the fact it's better than MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V SUPERMAN and SUICIDE SQUAD (plus GREEN LANTERN, CATWOMAN, etc lol)
b) this summer sucks
Both factors are making the movie look much better than it truly is. It's perfectly decent and entertaining, but the mid-section is a bore, the end is a grind, and too much of it falls back on the same exact cliches we see in every one of these movies.
And I still have no idea what the Native American guy was even doing in the film!
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Paul MacLean
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Re: WONDER WOMAN - 2017
Thanks MJ!Monterey Jack wrote:Here ya go...
In all seriousness, I could see that song working -- certainly over the end credits (much as Spiderman II used the old animated series theme). But even towards the climax of Wonder Woman, that tune could have added a really fun tone to the action and overall sense of adventure (but of course it would have been too "irreverent" for comic book zealots.)
Well, we have to keep teaching the kids that America (and western civilization as a whole) is racist, warlike and driven by a genocidal agenda!AndyDursin wrote:And I still have no idea what the Native American guy was even doing in the film!
In any case, Gadot is what really makes the movie, for me at least, and I am totally in love with her. Those dark eyes, those full, sensual lips, the way she moves. Grrrr...
I haven't had a celebrity crush since the 90s. And come think of it, my last one was for Mili Avital — another Israeli. Looks like I need to convert and make aliyah!