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bowelfly · 2 years ago

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while i usually keep this blog focused on art and bugs, movies are my third big passion, and since i don't believe in streaming services i don't have a spotify wrapped for 2022 to show off but i do have a letterboxd account so i felt like going through my 2022 movie watching stats. this post is basically for me alone and will be obnoxiously long so i'll put in a read more thing here out of courtesy:

ooh so close to almost 1000 hours of movies! still 718 films is pretty good, though that does also include around 80 or so shorts, mostly animations, that i also logged.

i was averaging around 2 movies per day for the year. being 500 miles away from all your friends, family, and partner does give you a lot of free time it turns out. the most movies i watched in a single week, december 10-16, was 28. the weeks i only watched a couple things were either when i was visiting my partner or too depressed to even watch movies

one of the things i've done this year to keep myself sane in isolation was to stream movies for friends. however since i have multiple non-overlapping friend groups, there were a number of movies i watched multiple times because i have a deep psychological and emotional need to share weird shit with the people i care about. NOVA SEED, FANTASY MISSION FORCE, and BUDDHA'S PALM were the triple crown winners this year.

i only watched 7 movies that came out in 2022. my sweet spot is genre movies made from the late 70s through the mid-90s which you can see clearly if you look at my lifetime stats. predictably, i have very strong opinions about practical effects and stunts and film stock

my ratings spread for 2022 is about what it normally is for other years with a lot of things ending up in the 3.5-4 star range. maybe i'm just generous with my stars or maybe i just like what i like and try to not watch things i won't like unless they're bad in a fun way but i really feel like i've been moving away from the whole so-bad-its-good thing over the years and focusing on things that i unironically like--though these are often films that other people do categorize as bad or so-bad-its-good.

my most watched actors is a bunch of golden age hong kong dudes because i went super hard on the kung fu and wuxia films this year. like about half of these are big name stars and the other half are less well-known character actors that still are in like 200 movies playing assorted emperors and evil administrators. really glad to see my main man lo lieh running away with first place. he's most well known for playing evil white-haired kung fu masters usually named pai mei or variations of that, but he's also played the protagonist or antihero of a number of great films like FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH or THE FUGITIVE (1972, not the harrison ford one). my favorite role of his is without question Bi Gu of East Island the rascally kung fu wizard who hollers his name from offscreen before every time he enters a scene in BUDDHA'S PALM (1982).

also very pleased to see one of my favorite american character actors, brion james squeaking his way onto the list, though sad that he got separated from his best friend and frequent collaborator tim thomerson, who i think is just below the cut here.

most watched directors. i've been a huge fan of the very recently deceased albert pyun for years now, largely on the strength of his absolute god-tier masterpiece NEMESIS (1992) though he has a number of other very entertaining movies (RADIOACTIVE DREAMS, CYBORG) and also a cavalcade of very bad movies that are nonetheless all fascinating in their own ways. i could go on about him at length but this post is long enough. maybe another time.

other than that, chor yuen (THE MAGIC BLADE, DESCENDANT OF THE SUN) and chang cheh (CRIPPLED AVENGERS, FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS) are gods of early wuxia cinema and fucking rule, and keita amemiya's 90s work (ZEIRAM, MECHANICAL VIOLATOR HAKAIDER, CYBER NINJA) are pinnacles of kickass japanese practical effects work.

i also watched a lot of russ meyer and john waters films because i'm a pevert.

this is mostly just a reminder to check out my WUXIA WIZARD WARS tumblr post and letterboxd list if you like movies about wizards shooting lasers at each other and summoning fucked up monsters and shit like that

finally, because i have a brain disease, i made a list of the 100 best films i watched this year, mostly first-time watches but probably like 15-20 rewatches that i especially enjoyed or think more people should know about or give another shot. if i didn't already have way too many projects i'd consider setting up another sideblog just going through all these one by one with reviews and screenshots but that's a lot of work and i am a tired old man. i might give an occasional highlight post like i did for THE BARON AGAINST THE DEMONS

and i guess that's about it? this has been an especially heavy year for golden age hong kong kung fu and wuxia films but i explored a lot of other interesting places and times and genres and microgenres and have a lot more i plan on checking out next year. i've got stacks and stacks of unwatched japanese V-cinema and pinku violence and kaiju and tokusatsu films; tons of giallo and hammer horror and eurotrash lesbian vampire flicks; classic westerns, revisionist westerns, spaghetti westerns; SOV horror, eastern european stop motion, hong kong CAT III sleaze, russian postapocalyptic dirges, poliziotteschi, krimi, and noir films; AIP and PM Entertainment action schlock; italian mad max ripoffs, italian alien ripoffs, italian conan ripoffs; approximately 300 movies with NINJA, BLOOD, or SHAOLIN in their titles; and probably some other shit too.

finally, if you've made it this far and you're a nasty little film freak like me i'll let you in on a secret: i have copies of every single one of these movies on my hard drive. literally thousands of movies dug out of dozens of digital dumpsters with my own two greasy grabby raccoon paws. if any of them particularly catch your interest but you can't find a copy, well you can maybe slip old professor bfly a little private request and get yourself a copy of whatever you need. it may take some time since i only have so many google drive accounts unless someone wants to subsidize a deluxe mega.nz subscription for me to mass-upload things to. i also have a soulseek account sharing the entire hoard but it's very slow and not always online but you can DM me for that as well. again though you may have to be patient because i am old and tired and slow and have a full time job and a hundred dumb hobbies and social anxiety and generalized brain damage

happy new year everyone now go watch a movie about some dudes kicking the shit out of each other for me

#bfly talks movies #letterboxd #long post

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canirove · 1 year ago

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Tagged by @anifffff Thank you 💜

C -> Cynical - Twocolors

A -> All or nothing - Topic

N -> Never going home - Kungs

I -> In the dark - Purple Disco Machine

R -> Rock my body - R3HAB

O -> On the loose - Niall Horan

V -> Virus - Martin Garrix

E -> Esta vida - Marshmello, Farruko

Tagging: @bea-snow @cichocicho @a-little-bit-rascal @treblebluesblog

Your urls are long as hell, have fun 😂😂😁

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chernobog13 · 3 years ago

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ESSENTIAL HONG KONG LIBRARY

Another in my list of tomes that will help introduce you to the world that is Hong Kong cinema, or give you a deeper understanding and appreciation if you’re already one of the converted:

From one of the co-writers of Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head, and its recent updated version, More Sex, Better Zen, and Faster Bullets, this little jewel released in 2000 is a companion volume that is complete in itself.

Hollywood East is not filled with film reviews, although there are dozens scattered throughout. It is, instead, a deeper dive into the Hong Kong film culture, along with profiles of some of the major figures in that industry.

But most of all, it is a fan’s love letter to the Hong Kong cinema that he loves so well, and that love is infectious.

There are “hex errors” (actual mangled English subtitles that have appeared in HK films), which were introduced in the the previous book, in almost every chapter. Some of the gems included:

“If a rascal is trustable, even a pig will climb up a tree!” (Sexy and Dangerous)

“Is this your territory?” “Yes, this is called Street of Copyright Infringement.” (Suicide)

“We, cops, have no time for farts.” (Twist)

“I wanna kill you bastards to death!” (Walk In)

“Now, I’d like to open your mysterious 8 sinus.” (Top Bet)

And how can you go wrong with chapter titles like So. You think your kung fu’s...pretty good. But still. You’re going to die today. Ah ha ha ha. Ah ha ha ha ha.

(“But still” is probably the most used line in all of the Hong Kong and Chinese films that have been dubbed and/or subtitled into English. Back in my youth we played a drinking game: pop any Hong Kong or kung fu movie (the are not one and the same) into the player, and take a shot or down your beer every time a character said “but still.” If you were lucky, you didn’t pass out before the film ended.)

Anyhoo, if it seems like I’m a fan of this book then you have certainly got the right impression. This is a good, fun read that is also packed with all sorts of information. Highly recommended!!!!

You can find it on Amazon for only a few more dollars than it sold for 22 years ago.

#Hollywood East: Hong Kong Movies and the People Who Make Them #Stefan Hammond #Hong Kong library #digging through my storage unit

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the-nights-parade · 4 years ago

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Ocean Park | Hong Kong's Largest Theme Park

Ocean Park is Hong Kong's largest theme park. In fact, it is Hong Kong's only theme park. With its 35 attractions and rides, the park has won several awards, including "The World's Seventh Most Popular Amusement Park" and "33rd Most Visited Tourist Attraction in the World". These are not statistics that I would necessarily brag about, but maybe that's just me.

Ocean Park is a 10 minute taxi ride away from our home, and Sadie has been at least a dozen times with her friends. In fact, her school did a trip there earlier this year and attempted to sell it to the parents as a physics lesson. Right.

I am reasonably informed that watching a teacher get spun around until they puke is the height of entertainment for a teenager. Anyway, I had never been before. I'm not sure why this is, but I guess that it is partly to do with David's lack of interest. I guess I can understand that. Any roller coaster becomes Space Mountain when you are blind, and although I love Space Mountain, I'm not sure that I'd want to spend the whole day riding on it. David is in the UK though, and I thought it might be a fun thing for Sadie and me to do.

This is the latest in a long string of my attempts at mother/daughter bonding. I try to kid myself that Sadie and I really have a close personal connection, that she loves and respects me as much as I do her, and that she actually enjoys my company when in reality what I perceive as bonding is probably just Sadie playing along to get something she wants. Regardless, if that's all I can get, I'll take it.

So, off we went to Ocean Park. I had to queue up for the ticket as Sadie already had a season pass that paid for itself if the first month. The price was comparable to other them parks - about £20 for the day. Now it is time for me to fess up about the real reason I wanted to go to Ocean Park. It has two different sections, one of which has animals, an aquarium and kiddie rides and the other which has thrill rides. The animal section has PANDAS! For a long time, seeing pandas has been on my list of 100 things to do before I die* and I was finally getting to do it!

I am marginally embarrassed by my passion for pandas. I have seen Kung Fu Panda three times and that is really not something of which to be proud. I am completely suckered in by their furry, fat cuddliness and those big black circles around their sad eyes. To be fair, I was also completely suckered in by Pete, the dog from the Little Rascals too. Something about a black circle around an eye. I like to think of myself as mature, urbane, sophisticated, cool and more than a little cynical. Loving cuddly panda bears blows that image. It's like Henry Kissinger saying he loves "My Little Pony". I guess I am out of the closet now.

Anyway, back to Ocean Park. I decided to prolong the expectation for as long as possible, so we visited the aquarium first. It is a pretty good aquarium as these things go - maybe even in the top 50 aquariums in the world.

I couldn't really contain my excitement much longer though. I had to see the bears. I spotted the Panda House from several hundred metres away. I knew it was the panda house because there were 10 metre tall plastic pandas waving to us from the roof. For one brief moment, I actually thought that they were real and waving just at me. We walked up the ramps and into the house. There are three panda enclosures, each with its own panda. They are solitary creatures and don't like to mix much. Thank goodness. The sight of two pandas cuddling or playing might just might be more cuteness than an ordinary human could bear (ha ha - I swear that wasn't on purpose).

There are two parallel ramps in front of the enclosures, and you are encouraged to stroll down one and up the other, giving everyone a good chance to have a look. Good manners went out the window as soon as I walked in the door. I stopped, creating a domino effect of panda watchers behind me. I couldn't move. I was spell bound. There in front of me was a giant panda sound asleep on a wooden platform. He was on his back, mouth open and with all four paws up in the air. I couldn't hear it, but I am absolutely sure he was snoring.

It is not terribly mature or sophisticated to jump up and down and shriek "OOOOH! LOOK AT THAT PANDA! HE IS SOOOOOO CUTE!", but that is what I did. Sadie,even more than usual, pretended that she didn't know me. Finally, someone behind me gave me a good push and forced me to carry on.

The second and third enclosures were empty, so I hurried down to see snoring panda again. Then, just as I was about to go past window number two, out came a beautiful female panda bear. I know it is unspeakably rude, and I am really not proud of it, but I simply would not budge from that spot.

Parents tried to push their eager children in front of me, but I wasn't having it. I figured that I had less time to do the 100 things to do before I die than they did. I took photos and watched her amble around for a good 10 minutes. I probably did more to damage Chinese/Western relations at that point than Tienanmen Square, but my wish was fulfilled. I have seen pandas. I am also the very, very proud owner of a cute, overpriced panda cuddly toy that we have named Bing Bing.

Back out into the sunlight, no other event that Ocean Park could offer could possibly live up to the panda experience. I have to tell you though, that in the dozen or so time Sadie had visited, she had never before seen the bears. She comes for the rides. So, off we went to the other part of the park.

This can be accessed in one of two ways. There is a cable car that offers magnificent views over the southern part of Hong Kong or there is a train. The trip up is unbelievably steep. There are stairs, but it would probably take me the better part of my life to get up them. I don't think that they are even open for public use. We took the cable car, and it was lovely, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for anyone with height issues.

Once at the top, Sadie said she needed food. There were a number of food options, most of which involved some form of squid. There is something not quite right about eating something that was one of the attractions we had just visited. I am just trying to imagine how this menu would go down at Alton Towers or at Six Flags.

Thankfully, there were other options than munching on Squidward and Sadie was very happy with her french fries and diet coke. This is the ultimate food oxymoron.

During her feast, Sadie had been eyeing the temporary tattoo parlour. "No", I said, "Don't even ask". Of course, a few minutes later we were sat on the chair inside the booth whilst Sadie got her Panda tattoo. Giving in against your better judgement is a big part of the bonding process.

As foreigners, we are used to being stared at sometimes despite the fact that Hong Kong is one of the most cosmopolitan and ethnically diverse cities in the world. Just recently, I was accosted on the MTR by about 20 teenagers demanding to have their picture taken with a foreigner. Of course, I obliged with my goofiest grin.

Sadie actually attracted an audience whilst her tattoo was painted on. There was a crowd of people gathered round, pushing each other out of the way to get a view. When the tattoo lady was finished, Sadie stood up and the crowd actually applauded!

We then moved onto the arcade. This time I was really going to hold firm, and I set about telling Sadie how all the games are rigged and that it is virtually impossible to win a big prize. Then I saw the shooting gallery. OK, it was a Nerf shooting gallery where you shot plastic pegs with suction cups onto a plastic target, but it was still a shooting gallery. My resolve crumbled and I became the world's biggest hypocrite.

When I was about Sadie's age, I went to a summer camp. It was altogether a miserable experience, except for one thing. I discovered that I was really good with a 22 rifle. I've been hooked ever since. I would NEVER shoot at a living thing (I won't even let Sadie go to BB Gun parties when EVERYONE else gets to go), but boy do I love shooting at a target. I bought 10 rounds and sidled up to the bar counter. Everyone around me was doing rapid firing, but I took my time to line up that bullseye in my site. I felt like Clint Eastwood, Annie Oakley and John Wayne all wrapped up into one. Slowly, I pulled the trigger. Bullseye! I took my time with the rest and managed 5 bulls eyes and 5 in the next circle out. God, I'm good.

On to the rest of the park. It was time to do some rides. We headed off to the log flume. On our way, we saw large groups of mainland Chinese wandering around in packs. Some of them had on matching hats. Others had perky little matching bandannas. All of them had little tags around their necks which I can only presume said "If found, please return to Hunan Provence". Hong Kong tourism is big business in mainland China, and the groups are typically made up of older couples. It's sort of like visiting the Florida of the east.

These groups, with their bad teeth, worse clothes and what I can only imagine is the Chinese version of a hillbilly accent, are treated with complete and utter disdain by the local Hong Kong community. I rather like them. I can only imagine what they must have seen in their lifetimes, yet they retain a certain child-like innocence in the pleasure they take in places like Ocean Park. Then we got to the queue for the log flume.

All innocence was gone as these old folks pushed and shoved like they were in the queue for the last kilo of rice at the state rice store. I'm not kidding, they were vicious. They cut in front of as many people as they could, tread on toes and elbowed their way to the front. Then once on the ride, they looked miserable when they got soaked to the skin. What were they expecting? We got soaked to the skin too, but it was fun.

Then I had a really strange experience (as if being jostled by old Chinese people wasn't strange enough). We were in the queue for another ride (Raging Rapids, if you must know), and I spotted someone I knew in the queue. I knew I knew him, but for the life of me I couldn't thing of how. His was not a face I would forget as he looked like a youngish Paul Newman. I stared for about 10 minutes before he looked up and nodded at me and smiled before he turned away to talk to his very young Thai wife/girlfriend. It finally came to me.

It was a close friend of one of my exes whom I like to call Lucifer (No Grizz and Billy, that is not a nickname I have for either of you). It was driving me crazy because I couldn't remember his name. I remembered that he had been born with a really bad name (Malcolm Pratt), but he changed it by deed pole as soon as he was old enough. Who could blame him? So, although I could remember the old name that he changed before I even met him, I simply could not recall his new name. Then it came to me. Pat. His new name was Pat. Just to test out this theory, I yelled out "Pat" to see what would happen. What happened is that Sadie nearly died of embarrassment and the bloke didn't even turn around. I'm certain it was him though. I had heard to had moved to Asia a few years ago for the women to teach.

After a couple hours of different rides, it was time to head back down. This time we opted for the train. We were waiting for the train in a sort of holding pen with a bunch of mainlanders. Several of the women were staring at me and giggling. I smiled at one lady and she came over to me and poked me in the chest several times. Then, she gave two big thumbs up. All the other ladies then started smiling, nodding and pointing at my boobs like they had just won an academy award. I swear to you this really happened.

#ocean park #hong kong

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activateyourdantian · 7 years ago

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I got the news of his passing while I was at work, a part of me knew it was coming but all other parts of me were absolutely unprepared for losing him, I had just gone through the process of splitting up with my girlfriend of 8 years, and this loss coupled with that, was a final blow to an already bruised body.

It was close to Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, and I remember thinking, this is a good time to go, all those candles lit, all that honouring of light within the vast darkness, those candles serving as a guide to him as he past through the process of death.

Diwali is a celebration, with joy and laughter at the heart of it and there is nothing more than he would have wanted, for us to celebrate him in that way. He would often describe his courses as a duck farm, with all the students laughing endlessly like a team of ducks.

The fireworks that accompanied Diwali were the perfect send off in my mind, like those Norwegian burial ships, set on fire by flying, burning arrows, lighting up the night sky and guiding the fallen warrior to Valhalla.

He was a warrior to me, a fighter from old Shanghai, raised in an area filled with mythical Kung fu teachers, and he studied under some of the best of them, watching secretly as Tian Zhaolin performed secret styles, all in the privacy of his own courtyard, Snake, Dragon, Eagle, Spear, Sabre, Staff, where other eyes were not permitted, and only my young teacher, watching from the top of a wall, could remain.

He was wiley, a rascal, a mischievous teacher, well into his 70s, he would occasionally walk past me in meditation and casually touch me on the nose, as if to say, don’t worry so much, everything will work out just fine, just work at it patiently and you’ll reach your chosen destination.

He was like a grandfather to me, as well as my teacher, his care and presence in my life came at exactly the right moment, at a time when I was so lost that even spiritual coast guards had given up the search.

He came and sheltered me from my own storm, forming a barrier between me and insanity. In the early days I found it excruciating to be in his presence, he was completely intimidating, like he knew everything that was in my mind and in my heart, in just one look. And yet I needed his protection desperately, and the potential redemption that I could find with his guidance.

During courses he used to tell the story of the monkey king, Sun Wu Kong, explaining that he was just like him, able to pluck a hair from his head, blow on it and create multiple versions of himself, an army of monkeys all imbued with the same powers as their father.

At one point I performed as the monkey king in a small performance in a school hall, on his birthday, it was extremely fun, jumping around on stage with a golden staff, fighting the white bone demon, with my old pals pigsy, sandy and horse. On a later course, he asked me to do it again, but it came at a time in my life where I was struggling with university, and struggling to present myself to the 500 people that were attending. It was his ‘final’ course, his retirement party, and I was unable to put myself out there like that, when it would have meant the most to him.

On an evening a few years prior to that we sat together in another student’s flat in Primrose Hill, I cooked a Chinese meal for him and his girlfriend, or at least my version of a Chinese meal. I knew it wasn’t up to his usual standards, but it was great to be able to give something back, and I felt pretty proud of myself afterwards.

Later that evening as we relaxed in the front room, such a profound feeling of love and contentment came over us all, and I knew he was the one responsible, it was his gift back to me. It left me grinning from ear to ear, especially as right after that he decided to put a furry brown pillow on his head and pretend to be some kind of Tibetan Lama, who had travelled down to see us from the heights of Tian Shan (heaven mountain).

In that moment I’m not sure I could have loved him any more.

A year after his passing I was sitting with another fellow student and she was talking to me about how she felt she had let him down as a student, and now that had become embedded in her sense of loss, causing her to feel really awful. I could empathise, a lot, because of the many times I felt like I let him down. But in that moment I knew what he would have thought, and how he would have responded. He would have causally touched her on the nose, encouraging her to meditate peacefully, until she knows, without any shadow of doubt, that everything will be ok.

His only wish while he was alive was to pass on the knowledge and compassion that were the mission of his life, and I will always hold that teaching close to my heart, in honour of him, and in honour of myself, and really I know that nothing has changed in that intention after his passing into this new state.

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odanurr87 · 8 years ago

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My thoughts on... Wonder Woman

I had been looking forward to this movie quite a bit ever since I saw Gal Gadot’s portrayal of the Amazon Warrior in Batman v Superman. DC has had a rocky start with their superhero cinematic universe and I don’t think it’s unfair to say they’re playing catch up with MARVEL. Indeed, that is the reason why their second offering already pitted the Man of Steel against the Dark Knight, drawing upon Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns to create one convoluted, if action-packed, mess of a story. However, despite the movie’s many flaws, I think most people would agree that Wonder Woman’s introduction in Batman v Superman, while unnecessary to a certain extent, helped elevate the film and made people eager for more.

Sadly, I didn’t know a whole lot about her character at the time of BvS, something I rectified in the coming months by reading up on a few of her comics. Based on a recommendation, I started out with Brian Azzarello’s New 52 take on Wonder Woman. It seemed like as good a place as any to start so I dug in. For better or worse, the New 52′s take on Wonder Woman was a bit grim, reminiscent of Zack Snyder’s approach to the DCEU, and centered around an already experienced and weary Wonder Woman rather than retell her classical origin story. It still managed to entertain me and pulled some very interesting twists, focusing more on the strife between the Greek Gods and Diana’s role in that conflict.

My second encounter with Wonder Woman was more due to chance than thorough researching. I do recall searching for a modern retelling of her classical origin story and eventually stumbled upon a digital series called The Legend of Wonder Woman by Renae De Liz. Everything about the series spoke to me, from the vibrant and colorful artwork to the story about Diana’s younger days living in Themyscira, how she came across an American WWII pilot named Steve Trevor, and how that encounter set her on the path to becoming Wonder Woman. I loved everything about this story and I direct you to my Goodreads review for a more detailed breakdown.

Like all Golden Age heroes, Wonder Woman has gone through multiple evolutions.

So enthused was I by Wonder Woman’s story that I decided to go further back in time, all the way back to the 1940s, when William Moulton Marston first introduced the character to the world. I had only just finished reading the excellent compilation The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years, so I decided to do the same for Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I was less than thrilled by what I found. Wonder Woman’s earlier stories alternated between the dumb and the ridiculous, and the depiction of characters like Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and Wonder Woman herself, left a lot to be desired of. Steve Trevor was an idiot, Etta Candy reminded me of the fat kid archetype of the 90s, and Diana had a rather bland personality. Of course, I’m looking at these stories from a different perspective than that at the time they were written. Indeed, Wonder Woman comics sold pretty well into the 50s and 60s, but as readership declined it was decided that a makeover was overdue. As a result, the early 70s saw Diana lose her powers and costume, instead becoming a private investigator and a fashion store owner who fought evil doers with kung fu. It wasn’t long however, before she was reinstated into the Justice League in her role as Wonder Woman. After Crisis on Infinite Earths reshaped DC’s continuity in 1985, George Pérez rebooted the character, reinforcing her link to the Greek Gods.

And this is where I’ll stop with the comics seeing as I still have to read George Pérez’s complete run of Wonder Woman. Instead, let me last draw your attention to the 2009 animated Wonder Woman movie, directed by Lauren Montgomery (who you might know from her work in The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender), and starring Keri Russell as Wonder Woman and Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor. It has been said that for all that DC has gotten wrong with the Cinematic Universe, they’ve done a pretty neat job with their Animated Universe, and the 2009 movie is a perfect example of this. While not without flaws, Wonder Woman returns to the origin story but set in modern times, and has our titular heroine fighting against none other than Ares, God of War, in an impressive showdown that pits the Amazons against Ares’ minions. Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor plays the part of the charming rogue who introduces Diana to Man’s world while Keri Russell’s Wonder Woman is a stoic character, initially distrustful of men and their evil ways.

This Wonder Woman is not afraid to throw a punch... or several.

With a variety of interpretations throughout its 75-year history, DC had its work cut out for them to deliver a strong origin story for one of comics’ most powerful female superheroes. To further add to the pressure, it would be Wonder Woman’s first time on the big screen (Lynda Carter previously played her on TV from 1975 to 1979), not to mention it would be the first female-led superhero movie in the DCEU, finally breaching new ground that MARVEL has yet to tread with their own cinematic franchise.

Perchance to distance itself from MARVEL’s Captain America, Wonder Woman takes place during World War I and successfully combines elements from previous stories to tell a compelling origin story for the Amazon Princess. The movie’s first act draws, to my mind, heavily from Renae De Liz’s The Legend of Wonder Woman as we explore Diana’s younger days on Themyscira as a troublesome rascal who yearns to become a powerful warrior like the rest of the Amazons. The movie spends a deserved half hour to forty minutes fleshing out this colorful world and weaving it into Greek mythology, giving us a small glimpse into the creation of the Amazons and Hippolyta’s and Antiope’s warrior days. This scene was so well-executed that I wouldn’t mind a prequel story, with Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright naturally reprising their roles as Hippolyta and Antiope respectively. Their performances were always on point; Hippolyta tried to protect Diana by sheltering her while her sister, Antiope, did likewise by teaching her to defend herself. A small departure from The Legend of Wonder Woman where it is Philippus, not Antiope, who trains Diana, but a welcome one nonetheless. Props also to Lilly Aspell who played the part of young Diana wonderfully (pun not intended).

Hippolyta and Antiope are strong role models for Diana.

Eventually, of course, Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor makes his fateful appearance what puts the Amazons in a bit of a bind. This scene develops along the same lines as the 2009 animated movie, and the Amazons use the lasso of truth on him to compel him to talk, forcing him to reveal his nature as a spy and enlightening the Amazons on the fact that a “war to end all wars” has submerged the world in chaos. Without spoiling much (there’ll be time for that later), Diana assumes this world war is the doing of Ares, God of War, and resolves to accompany Steve to the front lines to kill Ares and put an end to the war. One of the strengths, and at the same time weaknesses, of Wonder Woman is precisely how it toys with the notion that maybe humans don’t need a God of War to goad them into battle, and that their world, and nature, is perhaps more complex than Diana is willing to admit. Understandably, Diana is initially very naive and sees the world through a child’s eyes, firmly believing that man is, at its core, kind-hearted, and that only through the corruption of someone like Ares they could turn so cruel and wage such ruthless war on each other.

Throughout the film Diana struggles to understand this new world she has stepped into, and is eased into it largely through the character of Steve Trevor, and to a smaller degree through his Captain America-like squad and his secretary, Etta Candy. These supporting characters are obviously overshadowed by the leads Diana and Steve, much like Captain America overshadowed his team, but I felt they were serviceable. From time to time these characters interact with Diana, improving her understanding of man’s world in organic, natural, ways, never overdone to the point their conversations rang false. In fact, and unlike Suicide Squad where exposition is shot to the viewer left and right, Wonder Woman takes a more subtle approach and often leaves it up to the viewer’s imagination to piece together what personal wars the characters may be fighting through.

Hats off to a great performance by Chris Pine and Gal Gadot.

As good as the supporting cast might be though, they don’t hold a candle to Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor. Their story and relationship is at the heart and soul of the film and their starting points couldn’t be more opposite. Like I said before, Diana sees everything through a child’s eyes and feels compelled to help whenever she sees pain and suffering. Steve however, hardened by the reality of war, understands that you cannot save everyone and often butts heads with Diana over this. This eventually leads to the epic No Man’s Land scene that is making the rounds, where Diana comes into her own as Wonder Woman, proving to Steve that sometimes the impossible can be made possible. Fun fact, this scene almost didn’t make the cut as Warner Bros. and some of the film’s creative team members couldn’t understand its significance. It wasn’t until Director Patty Jenkins storyboarded the sequence herself that she was able to sell it.

Having mentioned No Man’s Land, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the soundtrack of the movie. Rupert Gregson-Williams composes a wonderful soundtrack truly deserving of the word “epic” and well-worth listening to on its own. This isn’t often the case with movies, featuring perhaps a single great theme to the detriment of the rest of the soundtrack. I now get goosebumps re-listening to the “No Man’s Land” track, knowing exactly what transpires, and I can’t help but be amazed by how perfectly the music fits the scene. Music has the incredible power to speak to our heart, appeal to our feelings and emotions, and thus elevate a movie beyond what we can see and hear, and that is precisely what Rupert Gregson-Williams does with Wonder Woman’s soundtrack. The music is so good that I’d be hard-pressed to pick favourites, even though certain tracks resonate more with me because of how and when they’re used in the film. A few of these include, “Pain, Loss and Love,” “No Man’s Land,” “We Are All to Blame,” and “Lightning Strikes.” If you have some time to spare, I encourage you to listen to the soundtrack and, to that effect, I leave you with “No Man’s Land.”

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Returning to our leads, for all his hardened exterior, Chris Pine’s character ultimately represents the best aspects of humanity, something Diana holds onto throughout the movie, even in her darkest moments when she wonders whether humanity is really worth saving after seeing so much death, misery, and suffering. Their characters don’t always see eye to eye, but they respect each other and their strengths, bringing out the best in one another. Both actors embraced their characters so fully that their interactions were always a pleasure to watch, regardless of the subject matter. Fortunately, the dialogue was always up to par and it never overstayed its welcome. For a film with such incredible action sequences, I must admit some of Wonder Woman’s best moments are the calmer, more subdued, ones.

About the action, both slow motion and CGI are indeed noticeable during certain action sequences, particularly towards the end as Diana unleashes the full extent of her powers, but I didn’t mind because they were so well choreographed, living up to Wonder Woman’s reputation. Seeing her expertly wield the lasso of truth in battle, as if she had been born with it, was far more rewarding than her sequences with the blade.

Another potential pitfall for the movie could have been how it switches aesthetics, turning to a darker, more somber, color palette when the movie transitions to man’s world. Personally, this is the one instance where such a transition is not only justified but also makes sense, marking a stark contrast between paradisaical Themyscira and the gloom of a world at war. Indeed, with Wonder Woman victorious at the end of the film, color returns, if only for a brief moment.

Sadly, villains don’t break the mold in Wonder Woman.

As far as the villains go, I feel that they at least fared better than previous DC movies, although that is not saying much. General Ludendorff and Dr. Poison are not particularly fleshed out characters but, in view of the larger plot, perhaps they needn’t be. Certainly, we get to hear Ludendorff’s rationalization on why he’s eager to prolong the war but Dr. Poison isn’t afforded the same luxury, comfortably settling in her role as henchwoman. At the very least there is one perversely funny scene that adds to the insane personality of their characters, even if it did follow a rather trite and predictable one.

Ultimately, I have little doubt that Wonder Woman is DC’s best movie to date and then some. While it does echo Captain America at times, Wonder Woman’s story is less about fighting the evil Germans, and more about recognizing the darkness within oneself as well as the light. It is the story of Diana coming to terms with the world around her and making that fateful choice between rising up to defend it, or leaving it to consume itself into oblivion. The execution is not flawless, something I’ll address in the spoilers section, and opens the door to a couple of interesting questions, but it is nonetheless a delightful ride throughout that takes the best elements of Wonder Woman’s mythology and combines them into a tale worthy of the Amazon Princess.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

When Steve Trevor reaches Themyscira and warns the Amazons about a World War, Diana immediately makes the connection that Ares must be the one behind it. According to the movie’s mythology, Ares is that last remaining Greek God, following an ancient battle where he killed his brethren. However, in his last battle with Zeus, he was gravely wounded and forced to retreat. Knowing Ares would eventually return, Zeus purportedly entrusted the Amazons with an incredibly powerful weapon known as the God Killer, the blade shown in the trailers that Wonder Woman eventually wields. Naturally, by that point, and given how worked up her mother and aunt both were about Diana’s destiny, I had already figured out that the real God Killer was Diana herself. Why? Because she was not made out of clay as her mother had told her, but was instead the result of a union between Zeus and Hippolyta, following Azzarello’s New 52 take on Diana’s origin story. As such, Diana can wield the power of a God as she proves during her final showdown with Ares. It is a good twist, even if it lacked punch in the movie.

It is during the third act of the movie that this is revealed, and it is also during the third act that some of the more obvious weaknesses of the film start to show. Throughout the movie, Diana was convinced that if she killed Ares, who she then thought to be General Ludendorff, the war would stop, and the darkness in men’s hearts would be suddenly lifted. She’s so passionate over this, nearing the point of obession, that she bolts on Trevor and his comrades to single-handedly pursue and kill Ludendorff. She eventually does... and nothing changes. The wheels of war continue to spin, puzzling our hero and making her wonder whether Steve may have been right all along and that war cannot be stopped by the death of any one man, however powerful. This would have been an interesting crossroads for our heroine, with the God Killer being nothing more than a red herring. So overwhelmed is Diana by the notion that men might have darkness within themselves, that not even Steve’s impassionate speech and plea about overcoming that darkness and doing the right thing is able to move her. At this point, Diana has practically given up on mankind but Steve, being the good guy that he is, is determined to see this through to the end, even if it leads to his death.

In retrospect, this setup would’ve made for a very compeling third act. Imagine, if you will, Steve and his squadmates pinned down by the German forces, overwhelmed and close to being overrun. In fact, we could remain relatively faithful to the movie, and have Steve boarding the plane to blow it up while his squadmates make a desperate last stand to buy him time. It is then that Diana realizes that even amidst all this darkness, Steve and his men are still willing to lay down their lives to give this world a chance. Despite their many failings, they are being selfless, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. How can that fail to stir the Amazon’s heart and have her come to their aid? She would honor Steve’s sacrifice, save his men, and do her utmost to bring the light to this world. Perhaps the war won’t stop right then and there, but Wonder Woman would keep fighting for us all. Pretty neat, huh?

For better or worse, shortly after Ludendorff’s death, the movie does introduce the real Ares as the architect of the world war. To my mind, this was a mistake as, instead of having Diana struggle with the realization that war isn’t the doing of a single man, she falls back on her original mission to kill Ares. War was, after all, the doing of a single man, she just got the man wrong. At this point, the movie tries to suggest that, while Ares may have indeed nudged mankind to the point of war by providing new recipes of destruction, it is ultimately up to mankind to decide whether to use them or not. Ares can’t choose for mankind, and what they have chosen makes them unworthy of being saved by the Gods. It would have been an interesting point to consider, certainly, but two things happen that undermine this.

The first is Ares suggesting that there’s not a single shred of goodness in humanity and outright mocking Steve Trevor as an example of this. This is patently false as Trevor represents the best of humanity and Ares should probably know this. A better approach would have been to suggest that even when a bright light like Trevor rises up to fight back it is quickly snuffed out by the darkness that surrounds him. That would have been a more powerful argument to sway Diana to his side but, alas, Ares chooses to be a dick about it and pays the price.

This is what you get for being a dick.

The second event to undermine Ares’ argument is the ending itself. Once Diana defeats Ares, we see the German troops take off their masks and breathe a sigh of relief. They look happy, and no longer see Trevor’s squad as their enemies. To further add to this, the film immediately cuts to the victory celebration at Trafalgar Square. All of this reinforces the notion that, yes, Ares was indeed the single architect behind the world war, and once the world was free from his presence, the darkness inside all men was instantly lifted. This completely undermines the film’s message that we all have darkness and light within us but that it is our choices that define which side comes out on top. Diana herself acknowledges, right at the very end of the film, this duality present in mankind and suggests that it is love what will ultimately save the world, just like her love of Steve Trevor gave her the strength she needed to overcome and defeat Ares.

I give the movie props for at least trying to tackle this subject, but the third act clearly fumbles and muddles the message. It wrestles with the superhero movie legacy of facing and defeating the big villain at the end while trying to suggest there is no such big villain.

Another, smaller, issue I have with the third act concerns the scene where Steve says goodbye to Diana. Steve has already made up his mind about taking the plane to the skies and blowing it up but he manages to catch up with Diana for a last farewell. However, Diana was deafened by a recent explosion and doesn’t understand what Steve is saying. Steve eventually departs but leaves something with her, his father’s watch, something Diana knows he would never go anywhere without what can only mean one thing. This scene is a perfect example of how much you can say in a scene without uttering a single word of dialogue and I absolutely loved it. Which is why I didn’t like it one bit when the scene is revisited moments later in a flashback where we get to hear what both characters said. This was utterly unnecessary and somewhat undermines the impact of the earlier, silent, scene. There is no need to hear their words; Steve’s final act of leaving his father’s watch with her is all Diana needs to understand he’s saying farewell. This is the one time when the movie can’t help itself, needlessly re-writing an otherwise pefect scene.

The ending of the movie also raises several questions about Wonder Woman’s role after World War I. If she was so determined to defend mankind after the events of the Great War, where was she during World War II (a war that arguable did have a chief architect), Korea, or Vietnam? I would have to assume she didn’t take part in those wars or Lex would have found far more evidence than a single, obscure, picture taken in 1918. In fact, had she being more active in her role as Wonder Woman after the 1920s, odds are the world would have already known about her by the time Superman made his debut (further justifying the choice of World War I as the setting for Diana’s origin story). Where was she then? What was she doing? Why did she give up fighting until Batman v Superman? These are questions one cannot help asking but Wonder Woman provides no answers. Hopefully, Bruce will get to ask her these questions in Justice League but I’m not holding my breath.

At the end of the day, despite a weaker third act than the two preceding it, Wonder Woman is one of the best superhero movies to be found in both MARVEL and DC to date. Ironically, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman perfectly embodies the strength, hope, and innocent, kind-hearted, nature of Christopher Reeve’s Superman, far better than Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel. Director Patty Jenkins has done a truly remarkable job delivering the first great female-led superhero movie and bringing DC back from the brink in the process. DC’s future looks a little brighter now, and they have the Amazon Princess to thank for that.

#wonder woman #diana prince #gal gadot #chris pine #dc comics #dceu #steve trevor #movies

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