#connie nielson
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lack of affection
The story of Emperor Geta, who has borderline personality disorder, harassing General Marcus Acacius. (1/2/3/4)
Contrary to the plan I expected, the ending of the cartoon doesn't end easily. What will happen to General...🤔
I drew it as a hobby, but the content became serious, so how can I finish the ending?! 😅
The story continues.
#pedro pascal#general marcus acacius#gladiator 2#joseph quinn#emperor geta#marcus acacius#my art#pan art#drawing#emperor geta x marcus acacius#pedro pascal fandom#paul mescal#connie nielson
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Character poster of #GladiatorII
featuring #PaulMescal #ConnieNielsen #PedroPascal #DenzelWashington #JosephQuinn #FredHechinger
In the theatres November
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Origin Review- A Powerful Film About The Black Experience And Much More
Ava Duverney has been a divisive filmmaker during the span of her career. Sometimes, her work such as Selma and 13th she knocked it out of the park, other times, like A Wrinkle in Time, she misses the mark. Her latest film Origin is back in that realm of hitting it out of the park. This is going to be a film people are going to be talking about more and more when it comes out in theaters. It was…
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#Audra McDonald#Aunjanue Ellis#Ava Duverney#Blair Underwood#Connie Nielson#Donna Mills#Finn Whitrock#Jon Bernthal#Neon#Nick Offerman#Niece Nash Betts#Origin#Vera Farmiga#Victoria Pedretti
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One Hour Photo geht damit um, wie gruselig Robin Williams oft ist, das macht es zu einem herausragenden Meilenstein des Unwohlfühl-Kinos.
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By being Connie Nielsons MAN
#Tell me why this was so attractive#This kind of behaviour has me on the floor#giggeling and kicking my feet#he is Connie Nielsons MAN in this movie#he serves her first and Rome second#you fucker you are so ahhhhhhhh#this is the energy#this is gosh#pedro pascal#connie nielsen#marcus acacius#gladiator 2#paul mescal#entertainment weekly
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championship (round 12)
descriptions under the cut
season 7 -> the girls (mh + cm) were nominated for an emmy, mariska won hers. tamara tunie promoted to main cast. dr rebecca hendrix did her thing. episodes of note: 911, ripped, FAULT!
season 8 -> connie nielson comes through as dani beck while mh is on maternity leave. Liv moves to oregon (!) the season also introduces michael weston as simon marsden. episodes of note: informed, infiltrated, choreographed, burned, philadelphia, florida, annihilated.
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Actually watching the trailer for Gladiator II though me towards unexpected thoughts and feelings. I went into it thinning “I liked the original, but haven’t seen it in a while and have no reason to revisit it. Who wanted this anyway?” Then I saw it and my thoughts went to “I bet now the original looks like it’s about the end of the 1990s. And I like the idea of a follow up being about the time since then, using latter days of the chaotic latter years of the Roman Empire as a metaphor. I like how gaudy it looks, especially the emperors. This as a continuation of rescuing the ancient world from the ‘good taste’ of more recent centuries. “ I am more interested in this as something that refuses to be tasteful than as something that could be good. (No the baboons do not look great.) I hate that they (supposedly) made Lucius Maximus’s son, but I am glad to see Connie Nielson back. (I’m really ambivalent about any connection to the original.) Is Denzel Washington as Macrinus going to be a performance for people who thought American Gangster was too humanizing of Frank Lucas?
I don’t know if I am going to see it. I don’t get to the movies much. I did when the original came out. But lately I have been fining myself regretting not seeing many things on the big screen when I had the chance.
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Attack On Titan X Reader- Dutch Playlist Headcanon
A/N: Nothing To Lose was repeating in my brain and I couldn't help but think how the doomed, let's runaway theme fits Eren Yeager, and then my mind slowly started attributing Dutch pop songs to AOT men. I hope my AOT girlies can enjoy my picks!
Eren Yeager: Douwe Bob - Nothing To Lose This song is entirely sung in English so you don't need me explaining this one to you. The music video was actually shot in Japan.
Connie Springer: Fouradi - 1 Ding It means 1 Thing, and is about a guy with a somewhat player and clown-like image begging 'you' to be his: "One thing that I want from you, is that you stay by me and become my woman". The more playful lyrics in the rap verses really fit regular Connie and Slap On Titan's Connie both.
Jean Kirstein: Kim - Ik Ben Verliefd Means I Am In Love, this was a finalist song from the Dutch national contest of Junior Eurovision. It's a very mature ballad that fared better with adults then it did with the children watching and lyrics like, "In the silence rings your voice," just really remind me of the way Jean would look at Mikasa or in this instance, you as the listener imagening Jean feeling that way about you
Onyankopon : Re-Play - Kijk Om Je Heen Means Look Around You and it's about realizing you are not alone because there is a guy that loves you, "There is one who waits for you, all day and all night long." Because Re-Play is a pretty famous R&B group from the 90s, they were immediately who came to mind when thinking of this dude as he just fits that smooth R&B vibe.
Armin Arlert: Nielson - Beauty & the Brains Despite it's English title the song is in Dutch, if any of you watched TVD you might recognize this as the song playing during the Amsterdam scene. The title is pretty self-explanatory though and it is about simping for his girlfriend who's equally smart as she is beautiful and just an overall package deal. "I'm not so much of a hero myself, but I have my superwoman with me," is a lyric I can see Armin sing.
Reiner Braun: BLOF - Dansen Aan Zee Means Dancing At The Sea and this would totally fit Reiner falling for a girl on Paradis during his mission. It's about saying goodbye to the one he loves whilst he doesn't wants to and having one final dance on shore. "One for your tears, two for mine and three for the horizon to which we disappear". (tiny fact about me: I was actually classmates with the singer's nephew that had a crush on me in elemantary school)
Levi Ackerman: Claudia De Breij - Mag Ik Dan Bij Jou Means May I Go To You. It's about opening up and showing yourself at your most vulnerable state to a strong protector, the latter role is really befitting for Levi, I mean the song literally opens with "If there comes a war, and I'd need to hide, may I go to you?"
Bertolt Hoover: Paul De Leeuw - Ik Heb Je Lief Means I Hold You Dear. It's just a very sweet romantic song that I can picture Bertolt listening to whilst thinking of you. 'I hold you dear, what am I without you. They are four very small words, and they'll make you a little frightened. I hold you dear, a thousand and one nights long.'
Honorable mention for fluff's sake:
Falco Grice: Melle - Dromen Means 'Dreams'. This was a another finalist song from the Dutch national contest of Junior Eurovision. Not only does Melle have a Falco vibe, but it's a really adorable love song where Melle talks about his dreams of becoming a singer and sharing a life with his crush with whom he will always feel like the little boy he is now, no matter how old he gets. I can totally picture this as a shipping song for Falco and Gabi.
#aot#attack on titan#aot x reader#attack on titan x reader#armin arlert#eren yeager#reiner braun#jean kirstein#levi ackerman#onyankapon#bertolt hoover#connie springer#falco grice
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Connie Nielson, nice.
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Gladiator sequel starring May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi and others alongside Paul Mescal
The main actors for the highly anticipated sequel to Gladiator is taking shape following recent rounds of hiring by famed director Ridley Scott and his casting team.meeting reports that May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah and Matt Lucas are among the actors recently cast to star in the as yet untitled film, which stars Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix some 30 years after the original storyline should.Also, Fred Hechinger could be coming on board soon, as he and his team are currently in talks for the role of Emperor Geta after Barry Keoghan had to drop out of the race for the unspecified role due to scheduling conflicts.The new cast joins a cast that already included Irish actor Paul Mescal, 27, in the lead role of Lucius, son of Lucilla, who was played by Connie Nielsen in the original 2000 film.Like Jacobi, who is reprising his role as Gracchus, Nielson is believed to be one of the few veteran actors returning to the cast, alongside other previously announced actors such as Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn.Considered one of the best films of the 2000s, Gladiator was a smash hit with fans. On a budget of $103 million, it grossed more than $503 million at the worldwide box office.Most critics praised the production, particularly the acting of Crowe and Phoenix, which led to twelve Oscar nominations and eventually won five, including the coveted Best Picture Oscar and Best Actress Oscar for Crowe.In the wake of the success of Gladiator, Crowe saw his star rise to the top of almost everyone's A-list in Hollywood and beyond.Last year, news broke of a sequel starring Ridley Scott, which in turn caught the attention of male actors around the world who fit the profile.Scott is producing and directing from a script by David Scarpa, who is credited with writing The Last Castle (2001), The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) and All The Money In The World (2017) is known for the upcoming historical drama Napoleon (2023) produced and directed by Scott, due for release in November. Calamawy wanted to do a thorough search for the most important main characters and finally landed her role after several auditions.She got her big break last year in Marvel Studios' Moon Knight series, starring alongside Oscar Isaac in the Disney+ series.The Bahraini native, 36, is also known for her ongoing role in the Hulu comedy-drama series Ramy, which also stars Ramy Youssef, Hiam Abbass, Amr Waked, Dave Merheje and Mohammed Amer.
BACK ON BOARD: Ridley Scott, 85, returns as producer and director of the as yet untitled Gladiator sequel; He is pictured on the set of the original 1999 film
Starring: The new cast joins a cast that already includes Irish actor Paul Mescal, 27, in the lead role of Lucius, son of Lucilla, who was played by Connie Nielsen in the original 2000 filmAs for the other hires, 51-year-old Raz is better known to his fans in his native Israel for his roles in the political thriller series Fauda (since 2015) and Hit & Run (2021).Jacobi, 84, is an English actor with a long and distinguished career in film, television and theater dating back to 1959. He has received numerous awards over the decades including a BAFTA, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Tony Award.Mensah, 63, is a Ghanaian-English actor with films such as Tears Of The Sun (2003), Hildago (2004), 300 (2006) and The Incredible Hulk (2008). And Lucas, 49, has achieved acting fame with his roles in the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003-2006) and Come Fly With Me (2010-2011) and the films Alice in Wonderland. (2010) and "Bridesmaids" (2010) fame as an actor. 2011).Best known for his breakthrough role in the first season of HBO's The White Lotus, 24-year-old Hechinger made his film debut in and starred in the coming-of-age dramedy Eighth Grade (2018). Drama “Human Capital” (2019) with.
Epic hit: In January, after Russell Crowe revealed he would not be appearing in the sequel, he revealed on a podcast that the storyline takes place some 30 years after the original film; Both Crowe and his co-star Joaquin Phoenix were praised for their performances in the hit 2000 film, which also included a Best Actor Oscar for CroweEarlier this year, Russell Crowe confirmed he wouldn't be appearing in the long-awaited Gladiator sequel, but offered a few plot pointers after chatting with Scott over dinner.Although he didn't reveal much, during an appearance on the series he revealed that the story revolves around Mescal's character, Lucius Fitzy and Wippa Podcast."If you remember, there was a little boy who wanted to defeat the gladiator, which leads to the 'My name is' speech," he said of the original film, adding, "So this little boy grew up, and that he is also now.' the Emperor.' He then summed things up by declaring: “So it's not a remake. And it's not a direct sequel. It's not like the day after, you know, 30 years later or something. And then the situation arises, you know? So far, there's no official word on when filming for the Gladiator sequel will begin. Read the full article
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Upskirt shots! Get your upskirt shots over here! The trailer and posters for the upcoming Gladiator II have been released and if we were feeling a little ambivalent about this one before (we haven’t seen the first film in at least a decade), those feelings have completely evaporated:
Oh, HELL YES. We will be sat, Ridley Scott.
It looks absolutely stunning and Joseph Quinn deserves all the props in the world for launching his blockbuster movie career in clown makeup.
ABOUT THE MOVIE: From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome. Years after witnessing the death of revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people. EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Raymond Kirk, Aidan Elliott PRODUCED BY Douglas Wick, Ridley Scott, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss, David Franzoni BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED BY David Franzoni STORY BY Peter Craig and David Scarpa SCREENPLAY BY David Scarpa DIRECTED BY Ridley Scott STARRING Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, with Connie Nielson and Denzel Washington
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Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (Spoilers)
Spoiler Warning: I haven’t been able to see this movie when it came out here in the U.K, so had to wait until a couple of days after Christmas to both watch and review it. If you haven’t seen this movie by the last week of the year and want to avoid spoilers go and watch it before reading on.
General Reaction:
I have finally seen Wonder Woman 1984, the first new superhero movie I have seen in 2020 outside of The New Mutants and my god it has been a trial to be able to watch this.
Being from the U.K, which was surprisingly a factor with one minor part of this movie, we over here usually get the big blockbusters particularly of the comic-book variety before or on the same day as the U.S. However, thanks to this fakakta pandemic and the new world order that movie studios and theatres find themselves in during 2020, I have been reduced to watching a blockbuster movie for the first time initially on my laptop rather than on the big screen as movies like this should be brought out first as.
I am fully aware that this is a global pandemic and that watching movies in the cinema pales in significance to what needs to be done to combat and eventually defeat this crisis, but being from an area where all cinemas are closed I’m out on a limb basically.
I won’t turn this part of the review into a COVID rant because frankly I am sick of talking about it but I do feel COVID will be a factor with the performance of these upcoming movies.
That being said, the second real world rant factor I have for this is WW1984 I feel has suffered due to constant schedule shifting and I feel a fairly uneven advertising campaign.
I went into this movie not thinking I was going to see the villains the way they are in the trailers or the comics and honestly it does seem that Cheetah and Max Lord, who are both credited Wonder Woman villains, have their roles reversed and the one who you think is going to be the biggest threat pretty much becomes a henchman and the one mainstream fans may not know a lot about is surprisingly the big threat but you’re also meant to feel sympathetic for both of them to a degree.
It seems a complete 180 spin from the first Wonder Woman movie which was a very grounded and gritty WW1 story to now be in the zany 80s...which as a decade has aspects of being zany yes but the way in which this movie plays out genuinely made me think of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies...but the best of them rather than Emo Peter.
There are so many plot points in this movie that more or less spawn from the main McGuffin of the movie which is the Dream Stone allowing people to make wishes but grants them with a sacrifice. The movie has several sub-plots that are the repercussions of the wishes that everyone makes and individually all of these sub-plots are very interesting...it’s when you then try to tie them all together for the big climactic battle that is when you get a bit of a mess,
Also, there is hardly any action in this movie and as both a Wonder Woman movie and a superhero movie in general, I am longing for some action sequences this year and the fact there are almost no good v evil fights would be disappointing, if not for the fact I understand where Patty Jenkins and the writers are trying to accomplish with this movie in comparison to the first movie.
I am not a massive Wonder Woman fan, I know the basics of Diana, the two Wonder Girls, Cheetah and Max Lord enough to understand what is going on. But the one thing that has always drawn me to her is that she is a hero with two distinct sides.
Firstly there’s the warrior that most mainstream fans would be aware of which is more played up in the first movie, but then there’s also the diplomat and the ambassador who attempts to always get across her message of peace which is more played up here.
If I think about it from that perspective, I can forgive the lack of action.
That being said, there is still a jumble of plot points that once you do untangle them all lead to the same conclusion, but there are too many ideas in 2h30 to make the movie coherent.
That’s the main negatives out of the way, the positives somewhat outweigh the negatives, let it be known I did enjoy this movie and there are some brilliant moments and sequences, but a lot of scenes aren’t developed enough or some aspects seem to be kept on the backburner maybe for a sequel.
Characters:
Diana:
We have to start with Wonder Woman herself, but as I mentioned before I am calling her Diana rather than Wonder Woman in my subheading because there wasn’t a lot of Wonder Woman action in this movie. If you’ve seen the trailers you’ve seen pretty much everything.
Going back to that first action piece when we are reintroduced to Wonder Woman at the shopping mall, I do understand why she’s doing what she’s doing by acting as a vigilante rather than a public superhero and not using violence does keep in step with where we first met her in Batman v. Superman during present day where she claims not to be about fighting or saving mankind anymore and to be honest here she does keep with that. She’s given up her Godkiller sword and shield but still makes full use of her lasso of truth along with her bracelets of submission and Aunt Antiope’s Tiara in a defensive manner but never to outwardly cause harm.
But yes, this entire sequence could easily substitute Wonder Woman with Spider-Man and her lasso and tiara with his web-shooters and feel like the good parts of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. It’s just borderline corny and somewhat cartoonish particularly when she’s saving the two young girls by either dropping them on a rocking horse or spinning them into giant teddy bears.
Also there’s that Cairo highway chase scene which sees Steve and Diana chasing after Max Lord who has just achieved his goal of claiming an army. I both like and dislike this scene. I like the scene for showing the starting effects of Diana’s power loss which is later explained to be the cause of Barbara’s wish to be like her which means she is syphoning Diana’s power.
On the flip-side, I really don’t like the overall action in this scene. Firstly, she seemingly has her armour on underneath her clothes because as she’s getting out the car she has her clothes on one minute and her armour in the next shot with no spinning involved.
Secondly, she gets out the car and starts running almost instantly while the car is still moving...I get she’s a demigoddess and therefore normal laws of motion may not apply to her but there’s no dodgy transition or stumbling or anything, she just starts running...Baywatch style to a remix of her theme which is brilliant but because of her losing her powers she is somewhat weakened and therefore you see her bleed. The whole scene just seems rather sloppy.
Regardless of the somewhat lacklustre action of the movie, Wonder Woman 1984 excels in presenting a different form of battling with words rather than weapons. Diana’s message of hope and love at the end of the movie may be a complete switch around from how she was all for being the god-killer in the first movie where Ares was involved, but it’s definitely a good message and, particularly in these times, a needed message.
Sometimes love and hope is enough, Diana does try and see the best in everyone and cannot understand or comprehend evil unless there is no other option. Ares was the God of War and as such a personification of hate and therefore evil. Max was simply corrupted and misguided and Diana could see that, just as Barbara was.
All of this is sold in Gal Gadot’s performance. You can tell from the start Diana is doing what she’s doing because she feels it is what’s right, but particularly when Steve comes back and the ultimatum is either saving the world or keeping him she is definitely torn at one point. Steve is the only thing she has ever wished for herself other than becoming a warrior and protector so why shouldn’t she be rewarded for her decades of servitude?
Also, much like every movie she appears in, Gal Gadot looks stunning throughout this movie. Not just in her Wonder Woman and Golden Armor but also in her Diana persona, she wears what appears to be a boiler suit at one point in this movie and still looks like it could be modelled on a runway. I know Gal is/was a model but she is never defined by that. When she’s acting she’s an actress first and a model second and the clothes never wear her.
My favourite look of hers which I now have in Funko form is her gala dress because not only does it honour her Amazon roots but it just looks stunning.
Her Wonder Woman armour here is made somewhat more cheesecaky than her other versions and it does make Diana look somewhat like Wonder Woman barbie but because of the vibrant 80s setting this movie is in and particularly with who else shows up in the movie offering a great parallel to it, it actually won me over. If this is how Wonder Woman looks as a diplomat I’ll allow it.
I really do enjoy the parallels between the DCEU’s Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne in terms of the detective/vigilante combination. Because there was little fighting here, Diana was allowed to be the detective more, travelling to different places tracking down Max Lord and figuring out that the Dream Stone is the cause of Steve returning from the dead.
However, while they may be pushing Diana and Bruce together in the present day, Diana’s true love is Steve Trevor and the two do have a fantastic blend of a working and romantic partnership on par, for me, with Ant-Man and the Wasp from the comics.
Outside of Steve though, Diana definitely has no love-loss for other men until the end of this movie. She sees right through Max Lord’s childish bravado at the start of the movie, she’s quick to repel any letchy guy throughout this movie, and it isn’t until Steve effectively gives her permission to move on at the end that she does...albeit seemingly with the man whose body Steve took over which seems a little backwards to me but I’ll allow it.
Wonder Woman also gets some fancy new upgrades in this movie. Not only do we have more functions of the Lasso of Truth with showing memories and broadcasting a voice, but also Diana gets her invisible jet through the means of a new power being able to make things invisible which she says is inherited from her father (Zeus) who used the power to hide Themyscira from the world.
The jet is a great precursor to what comes later because while flying in the jet, Diana talks about her longing to be able to fly which we all know as fans that she can do in pretty much every other incarnation yet all we’ve seen her do in the DCEU is leap long distances.
So the payoff when she actually flies after letting go of Steve finally was fantastic, honestly a fist-pumped the air and startled my dog because I got that excited. I do love how she still uses her lasso to propel herself and swing from lightning because it’s kind of like training wheels but seeing her fly at the very end unaided was everything.
I can’t decide how I feel about the ending, I do love how Diana saved the day in terms of using words over weapons, but it’s the fact she is pretty much looking directly at the camera while giving this big hope and love speech implying that she is talking to us as an audience as well as the world within the movie. It just seems very much a #BeKind movement which, again, is an important message particularly in today’s climate. But why does this need to be in a superhero movie?
Gal Gadot continues to be rather funny in the role as well. As with the first movie though, her humour is never really in jokes or in her actions but rather in serious dry whit. This kind of humour is right up my street. From her rejection of Max’s offer to buy her a TV to teaching Steve about the advancements in the 1980s from his time it was all rather well handled.
Diana simply continues to be a very warm and welcoming hero and Gal Gadot radiates these traits effortlessly. You feel bad whenever she feels bad, you want to cry whenever she cries, you get angry whenever she gets angry and you smile whenever she smiles. Gal Gadot continues to be as perfect in the role of Wonder Woman as Johnny Depp is for Jack Sparrow and Rosario Dawson is Ahsoka Tano.
Max Lord:
Okay so this is where things get complex because, to the best of my knowledge, this version of Max Lord is not the same as the one from the comics or any other media I’ve seen...I genuinely actually think they say Lord isn’t even his actual surname in this movie.
Alright, so this is where I’m slightly conflicted on this character. Maxwell Lord from the comics and Smallville where I first became aware of the character is a meta with the ability to control minds.
Becoming the Dream Stone doesn’t really give him the same power as effectively it makes him a genie but the power of the dream stone being equivalent to that of the Monkey’s Paw which grants wishes with consequences I guess is of similar elk.
Also, it’s not stated but shown that Max has some sort of degenerative condition before obtaining the stone but using the power of the stone seemingly sped up the condition because by the third act of the movie he looked like a shell of a man.
Obviously he knew of this which is why he wanted to utilize the stone’s power to a mass audience in order to grant their wishes and in return syphon their health and wealth but this is why I say that neither he nor Barbara were true villains because they were corrupted by the power the stone gave them.
I have a very weird stance of sympathetic villains, Cheetah is supposed to be a sympathetic villain to a degree but I’ve never really seen Max as such. In Smallville he is pretty much a henchman or underling whereas in Supergirl he was somewhat an anti-hero towards the end but mainly a villain.
I get the movie’s message of “Nothing good comes from hate” is in reference to the stone which was made by a trickster god and as such is inherently corrupt which makes its users also corrupt but not evil. But considering I originally didn’t think Max would be the main antagonist of the movie, when it was revealed he was I wanted to see some evil for evil’s sake behaviour rather than power corrupts twice over.
Also, in relation to his wishing power, the scene in which he tries to go through numerous clients to regain his health does play off a lot like Lucifer luring out people’s greatest desires.
Speaking of the wishes, two aspects of this I want to highlight. Firstly, when he reaches out to the world and grants everyone’s wishes, that one wish the diner lady utters about wanting the Irish to go back to where they come from...as someone of Irish heritage this is that wish I mentioned being from the U.K. was a surprising factor in for me...despite my Irish heritage being of Republic blood rather than Northern.
Secondly, I have now seen this movie twice and I do not know the reason for the weird satellite light that Max was in during the climax. I mean everything was basically going to hell and Max receiving the energy of the wishes and granting the wishes was basically giving him this protective funnel which Wonder Woman couldn’t penetrate, but was the light from the satellites and why did he need the satellites other to broadcast himself which he’s clearly already doing so what’s going on? I may not be making much sense but I genuinely don’t know what was going on at that point.
Pedro Pascal was still very good in this role, he comes across a lot better in the actual movie than he does in the trailers because the shots we see of him in the trailers I genuinely thought he was wearing a hairpiece, and he still might be but it looks more natural throughout the movie.
I know Pascal to be a rather funny individual in interviews and behind the scenes of other projects, but I’ve never seen him actually be funny in character...again I’m not sure how I feel about a comedic villain, but between this role and his role as Agent Whisky in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, he has the makings of a great villain actor.
There were times when Pascal played the character like Steve Carrell voice’s Gru in Despicable Me which again plays into the comedic villain angle but overall I felt his motives were clear and the way in which he went about achieving his goals was bold, ballsy and well executed.
I get why they added a son for Max in this movie and I am glad they stuck with the fact Pedro Pascal is Latino despite I don’t believe the character originally is but it added some diversity to the movie along with Gal Gadot’s Israeli accent. But yeah the point of the son was to personify what Max sacrificed in exchange for his wish because all he wants deep down is to be a success in his son’s eyes and feels this is how to go about it, but when it’s the choice between his son’s safety over the completion of his dynastic plan, similarly to Diana choosing to give up what she wants (Steve) for the greater good, he chooses his son.
Also I will say this. When Alastair tells Max that he already loves him because he’s his dad and strokes his face...Had I actually seen this movie when it came out in the U.K. it would have been two days before the finalé of The Mandalorian Season 2. But because I saw that finalé first and the very emotional scene between Din and Grogu...to see that pretty much replicated here felt slightly lacklustre.
Max doesn’t die at the end, no one dies in this entire movie (technically) so there is room for him to return unless they do another time jump. I’m not sure why he would return unless he goes full villain for villainy sake rather than corruption but I am actually happy he survived.
Having said that, one of Wonder Woman’s most famous moments from the comics is snapping the neck of Maxwell Lord. This could have easily been the climax of the movie but I feel thanks to Man of Steel giving this plot point to Superman when he snapped Zod’s neck, despite chronologically this coming first it would lose it’s momentum,
Cheetah:
I will admit I was not as disappointed with Barbara as I thought I would be going into this movie.
Having said that, I’m going to start with the negatives before talking about the positives of the character.
Firstly, both Barbara and later Cheetah are redheads, Kristen Wiig is naturally not but for the role of the character she could have easily worn a wig or died her hair for the role because not only is Barbara being portrayed as the ditzy blonde at the start of the movie a little redundant at this point, when she became Cheetah it did not look right with her as a blonde.
Now let’s talk about the actual Cheetah look. We’ve seen that one shot of her in the DC Fandome trailer but it was so dark and so quick that there was practically nothing to analyse, seeing her appear in the final 30 minutes of this movie...which is how long she actually appears as Cheetah...it’s both a lot to take in but also a lot to be disappointed in.
So Barbara’s turning point to villainy I feel isn’t when she beats up that man who attempted to assault her, but instead when she fears Diana and Steve are talking about killing Max to save the world because he absorbed the stone and the stone needs to be destroyed to save the world from carnage.
At this point she appears at the White House just as Diana has Max captive, dressed in this admittedly trendy Cheetah-print attire, incapacitates or possibly kills the White House security team and gives both Wonder Woman and Steve a whooping.
Firstly, the very fact there was no mention of the fact Barbara could tell Diana Prince and Wonder Woman were the same person just shows how daft the secret identities of some of these DC Heroes is.
But secondly, when Max retreats, Barbara hitches a ride with him and gets another wish for saving his life. Rather than wishing to be like Diana this time, she wishes to become an Apex Predator and is therefore granted the anger and vengeance of all the people Max grants wishes to via satellite.
This combination somehow turns her into a Cheetah as when we next see her she is Cheetah...a very badly CG’d undeveloped version of Cheetah but this is our Cheetah.
My version of Cheetah is from Injustice 2 and I know a bit of her backstory in the comics enough to know she was an archaeologist who was cursed to become the Cheetah and how in the DC Rebirth Wonder Woman, Barbara and Diana were friends but then when she became Cheetah, she felt betrayed by Diana and became her enemy that way.
That’s kind of similar here but it’s not a Cheetah curse that made her Cheetah, it’s a wish and a very literal interpretation of the wish “I want to become an Apex predator”...what’s an apex predator? A cheetah, get it?
Also as Cheetah, she just looks like Barbara styled her hair different and bought a Cheetah onesie. I wish she had gone full cheetah with the face, instead we get some very weird make-up which seems to wash off when they land in the water and some weird contouring or something to give Kristen Wiig a different nose...they could have continued the Cheetah fur on the face, given her cat-eyes, bigger fangs, something!
Again, Barbara’s villainy stems from power corruption, Barbara’s first wish was wanting to be like Diana and because of this got her powers so went a little bit power mad when she discovered she had super strength and speed.
Interestingly though, despite being electrocuted, Barbara does survive and when all the wishes are renounced she reverts back to a human...or does she?
Keep in mind that we never see Barbara take back her wish, in fact she is quite adamant in not doing that which leads Diana to making the hard call. The fact is it was by Max’s hand that Barbara finally became Cheetah so when he took back the wish of becoming the Dream Stone, that wish was rescinded…but Barbara’s original wish of becoming like Diana and thus gaining the powers of an Amazon demigoddess actually might still be in tact.
It’s implied that she is still pissed at Diana even after reverting back to human, so I do see her returning more than I do Max Lord but in her return I hope there’s a Cheetah redemption.
Steve Trevor:
I am really starting to be won around by Chris Pine as an actor. Originally in my list of “Hollywood Chris’” he was at the bottom because he isn’t Marvel, but now I think I actually would put him ahead of Pratt. Not only do I love him in this role here but also Rise of the Guardians which I’ve re-watched over the holidays.
So when it was announced that Pine would return as Steve Trevor in a movie set decades after the first movie which he died in, I like a lot of fans were curious as to how they were going to accomplish this. I mean we’re dealing with the DC variation of Greek Mythology and so I thought maybe Hades could be a factor, but then when the MacGuffin known officially I think as a Dream Stone became a factor with the trailers, the idea of him being resurrected as a wish by Diana was speculated which was kind of true but there was a catch in that he only came back to Diana but taking over another man’s body.
The movie I think beautifully brings Diana’s childhood lesson taught to her by Aunt Antiope about cheating full circle with the wish she makes to see Steve again. In her defence, Diana did not know what she was doing or that she was actually wishing on a wishing stone, but when she realises the impact that this seemingly innocent wish is having on the world, ultimately she has to wake up to the fact that this is a cheat because Steve is dead but Diana has brought him back in another man’s body...without his consent. Again, NOT DIANA’S FAULT, but she is pseudo-responsible and so can’t win because she cheated. This is a plot point I wish they had developed further or highlighted more because, having seen it twice now in the past 24 hours, that is probably my favourite message of the movie. Cheaters never prosper, not even Wonder Woman or Cheetah.
Steve being introduced to the 1980s was a great chance to reverse the fish out of water story Diana had in the first movie but while hers was one of both wonder and humour, Steve’s was mostly wonder and it was so endearing to see.
I loved how we didn’t take too long on Steve exploring the 80s, I liked how organically it was woven into the ongoing story. We did get that great small touring scene of Diana showing Steve the art and the breakdancing, but that he discovered pop tarts and his wonder in wanting to fly that jet rather than simply get on a plane to travel to Cairo, it was all very well done and that’s mostly on Chris Pine.
I did find the body-snatching a little bit creepy at first and at the very end. We didn’t meet the guy that Steve inhabited (for want of a better word) so I don’t feel strongly positively or negatively about him because we don’t know him, but when we meet him at the end when we somehow flashforward from July to Christmas, I did feel weird that not only did it seem that he and Diana were interested in each other but also the fact it wasn’t even mentioned that he couldn’t remember the time that Steve was in his body.
As I said before when talking about Diana, the blend of the romantic/working relationship between Diana and Steve is (sorry) #relationshipgoals for superhero couplings. I am aware that Steve Trevor isn’t a superhero but neither is Lois Lane but both civilian halves of these superhero couples are very potent in the comics and I have never understood this particular relationship until now.
Steve is as strong a part of the duo as Wonder Woman is because while he doesn’t have her Amazon physiology, he has that core inner strength that he had in the last movie which is why he sacrificed himself originally...now yes he pretty much did the exact same thing here but this was after he was pretty much carrying Diana through that D.C. street and seeing all the chaos that these wishes were causing...genuine anarchy....that Steve knew the only way Diana could regain her strength and save the world was for her to let go of him.
It was the most emotional scene of the movie for me and the only scene to almost make me cry. after crying at the Mandalorian finalé I am not crying at another show or film for a while but still, because not only could you tell both of them didn’t want this to happen but also as Diana pulls herself away from Steve not looking at her as the camera pans away from him you just hear his voice saying “I will always love you Diana, no matter where I am”. There’s never been a more potent portrayal of a superhero couple in my opinion in the movies. Tony and Pepper came close in Avengers: Endgame but this tops it for me.
Do I see Steve returning again? Yes, because I feel when you’re dealing with a property about gods and magic there is always potentiality for anything. I mean this movie is the definition of potentiality for anything because I think if it does succeed then they get away with a lot that other properties wouldn’t, but anyway yes I want Chris Pine to return to this role because I love him in it.
Amazons:
This is another scenario where the advertising lets the audience make up what is in store for us with announcements because announcing that Robin Wright is returning as Antiope after dying at the start of the last movie does raise suspicion.
The obvious solutions were resurrection, vision or flashback and for the majority of Amazon scenes save for one it was all flashbacks which I’m not going to grumble at because I enjoyed that opening scene.
I like how Themyscira basically has their own version of Ninja Warrior and that this scene was most likely set chronologically after Antiope agreed to train her. Which begs the question why her mother was so okay with it considering even as an adult Hippolyta has issues with Diana becoming a warrior but her contribution was so short I let that slide.
I’ve already mentioned how Antiope’s lesson of cheater’s never prosper was utilized so well in this movie but, similarly to Chris Pine, I just love any reason to bring back Robin Wright.
Aside from Hippolyta and Antiope though there was a third minor Amazon focused on in a couple of scenes in this movie, that is the ancient Amazon warrior Asteria.
Asteria was mentioned a couple of times, firstly by Hippolyta in reference to her statue as someone to strive to become and then by Diana to Steve when discussing the origins of her Golden Armor. During this discussion we see a flashback of Asteria in a crouched position being whaled on by Neanderthals protecting the Amazons as they retreated to Themyscira. We only see her eyes and at this point in the movie I thought Asteria was a throwaway character and so Connie Nielson was doing double-time as Hippolyta and Asteria.
However, this proves to be untrue as in the only post-credits scene we get we see Asteria walking down seemingly the same street we left Diana on in Washington, though they never clarify where it is. Furthermore we originally only see the back of her and she is dressed a lot like Diana with the same hair and clothing style. She even effortlessly stops a pillar or lamppost from crashing down.
But it isn’t Diana, at least not the one Gal Gadot is portraying...as it is revealed to be Asteria portrayed by Lynda Carter in a fabulous short, sweet and somewhat cheeky sequence where she states “I’ve been doing this for a long time” with a cheeky wink directly to the camera. I mean she basically echoes lines Diana says in the movie, but the fact it’s OG Wonder Woman and knowing we’re also getting Michael Keaton returning as Batman in the upcoming Flashpoint movie, it’s all just brilliant.
Obviously for fans of the Supergirl series, Lynda Carter had a recurring role on that as Earth-38′s President of the United States who was an alien and I have also seen her in Sky High, but looking at her here she just looks flawless.
Does this mean we’re going to see Asteria in Wonder Woman 3? I can’t wait to find out.
DCEU:
Speaking of the larger DCEU, this movie does absolutely nothing to connect itself to any other DC movie or property. We’re in 1984...Bruce Wayne is 12 so at this point has lost his parents, the original Black Canary is potentially crime-fighting, it’s the year Lex Luthor is born, Clark Kent is living in Smallville, Amanda Waller would just be starting out in the career that would see her become director of ARGUS. There are so many possibilities particularly as we haven’t had a movie set in the 80s within the DCEU before.
This is where DC continues to flounder where Marvel succeeds. They do not grab the opportunities for a cinematic universe expansion and instead keep everything contained. I don’t even think the events of Wonder Woman were mentioned outside of Steve’s death.
Particularly as we now have to wait until August for The Suicide Squad as the next DC movie (outside of the Snyder Cut), it would have been nice either if there would have been a tease to lead into that or even if something in this movie links to the Snyder Cut of Justice League.
Overall I rate this movie a 7/10, it’s a very enjoyable movie if you manage to follow all the threads the plot weaves into this movie, because they’re not seamless.
I’ve actually paid attention to the box office, reviews and CinemaScore for these movies since Birds of Prey and I have to say for being a focussed Wonder Woman movie it is underperforming from the first one with a B+ here as opposed to an A there, but considering Diana’s first outing was in Batman v Superman with a B score, I think the fact both Justice League and this have a B+ bodes well as it averages out with middle of the pack superhero movies, and that’s a good way to describe this movie.
It’s not better than the original, and there are many tangles within it, but it’s not a terrible movie. Again I’ve seen it twice in the last 24 hours and neither time got old for me.
So that’s my review of Wonder Woman 1984, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.
#wonder woman#dc#dceu#dc extended universe#wonder woman 1984#ww84#steve trevor#barbara ann minerva#max lord#hippolyta#antiope#asteria#cheetah#gal gadot#chris pine#kristen wiig#pedro pascal#connie nielson#robin wright#dc movies#lynda carter
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A new poster of #GladiatorII is here
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Role Play Review- A Blandly Done Revisioning Of Something Done Better Before
Action films come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they take the shape of a rom-com. That’s the case with the latest film from director Thomas Vincent, written by Seth W Owen, Role Play. Similar in a way to Mr. and Mrs. Smith or True Lives in a sense this movie has a lot of secrets it’s keeping from some of its characters. This is a lesser version of those two films though. A married couple…
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#Amazon Prime#Bill Nighy#Connie Nielson#David Oyelowo#Kaley Cuoco#Role Play#Rudi Dhamalingam#Seth W Owen#Thomas Vincent
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Zack Snyder's JUSTICE LEAGUE Is Now A Global Event
Zack Snyder’s JUSTICE LEAGUE Is Now A Global Event
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is going to go global. The DC Comics superhero team-up will be available worldwide in all markets day and date with the film when it makes its US debut on HBO Max on Thursday 18 March 2021. Snyder’s long awaited vision for the film will be available by way of one of the following distribution options: PVOD, PEST, EST, SVOD, TVOD, HBO linear and on HBO Go (in HBO…
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#amy adams#aquaman#batman#ben affleck#comic book movies#comic books#connie nielson#cyborg#dc comics#diane lane#ezra miller#gal-gadot#hbo#hbo max#henry cavill#j.k. simmons#jared leto#jason momoa#jeremy irons#jesse eisenberg#joker#justice league#ray fisher#superman#the flash#warner bros#willem dafoe#wonder woman
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Zack Snyder's Justice League is a triumph of character work
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a triumph of character work
Well, it’s finally here. The most anticipated movie since Avengers: Endgame and somehow I was both excited and nervous as I wondered if this director’s cut of what has been dubbed the Josstice League would be a better film or all that different from the original. The truth is that it WAS different. Extremely different. At the end of the day, Zack Snyder finally got to show the world what he had…
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#apokolips#Aquaman#arthur curry#barry allen#Batman#ben affleck#bruce wayne#connie nielson#cyborg#darkseid#DC#dc comics#dc films#dceu#desaad#diana prince#elinore stone#ezra miller#gal gadot#granny goodness#green lantern#green lantern corps#henry allen#hippolyta#iris west#Jason momoa#joe morton#joker#jonathan kent#jor-el
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