#steve trevor main v modern

[thatdamnmutt-exe]

My Master List

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• SFW & NSFW Rules & Story Warnings •

SFW Rules

I will write underage characters / people as long as they are not creepy or weird.

I will write ships from any of the things listed in my list linked below. If they’re underage, please keep it fluffy.

NSFW Rules

I will not write underage people or kpop idols. That is disgusting and I refuse to write stuff like that.

I will only write underage characters from shows as long as you request that they are 18 and older. For obvious reasons.

I will write monsters and things like that as long as they are not feral. That’s an animal and that’s disgusting.

I will write more dark themes if that is what you want. Just also be respectful about it and don’t try to romanticize any of it.

I will write ships for any fandom I have listed below. As long as both parties are consenting adults.

I wont write anything NSFW for the animatronics in FNAF that are possessed by kids. That’s self explanatory.

Story Warnings

As I listed up top, I write darker themes that are not suitable for everyone. That is okay and if you are one of them, please leave my page or the story and find a different one. Don’t sit there and leave a comment about it.

Fanfiction are fictional and are not meant to be taken seriously. Also not all fanfics are meant to be romanticized or normalized. I would never want either of those things to happen to the dark things I write about. If you think that I would want that, please leave. You don’t understand the difference between reality and fiction.

Whether you want to believe it or not, a shit ton of main stream shows and stories hold topics like those but you will notice that they’re fictional and not meant to be taken seriously. My stories are meant to be like that as well.

I am not your parents or your guardian. You’re not my responsibility and your comforts are not my concern. I write what I want to write and if you do not like it, please leave. I do not really care if you are uncomfy with my story. It wasn’t made for you. Thank you <3

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• Here’s a list of what fandoms I write for •

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Kpop:

Ateez:

Song Mingi

Bambi

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BlackPink

Jennie Kim

Often

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Korean Hip Hop:

Bloo

1.) Fill the Void

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TV Shows:

The Walking Dead

Carl Grimes

Teen Romance

Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby

All Mine

I’ll Be Here In The Morning

Crave

Daryl Dixon

All Mine

Me, You, & Hennessy

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True Blood

Eric Northman

Nasty

Here

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The Boy

Brahms

The Walls

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington

Right Here

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Video Games:

Ghost Of Tsushima

Jin Sakai

Meddle About

I’m Yours

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COD: Modern Warfare

John Price

Post Here

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Fallout

Charon - Fallout 3

Too Sweet

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Five Nights At Freddy’s

Moondrop

What You Need

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Grand Theft Auto V

Trevor Philips

Stitches

My Kind of Love

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Anime:

Attack on Titan

Levi Ackerman

Let the World Burn

[tragedyloved]

“You look exhausted.” (//Steve or Terry because when aren't they tired)

@flashgotthis

Steve glanced at the interior of his travel mug, surprised to find it empty despite having drained the coffee himself. His eyes ached with the need for more sleep. A low-grade headache pulsed at his temples. He needed more coffee, or a nap. That would work, too.

Flash's voice drifted to him as if far away and Steve looked up fron the mug as if coming out of a daze.

"You didn't hear? Eye bags are the new look." Steve leaned into his palm, slouching into his desk. A pile of half-finished paper work and a piece of some debris from the last excursion sat on the surface. He toyed with the metal thing, wires wiggling like worms. "I've had a couple bad nights sleep. It's nothing."

He shrugged it off, looking up again.

"But, uh, what brings you down to bureaucratic hell?"

[bearholdingashark]

Dear Chocolate Box Creator Letter 2020

Hi! Thank you for creating something for me! I’m excited to see what you create! :D

General info

I adore tropes, the more ridiculous the better, and really what I love about ridiculous tropes is how it gives the creator an opportunity to explore the characters and their dynamics and motivations. Fun plots are great, but the characters and what the plot reveals about them is what I really love.

I also really love AUs (especially modern/historical AUs) or crossover fusions, and love how much changes and how much doesn’t. But straight up canon stuff is really good too. Really, character focused stuff is what I love most. I do also think canon divergence AUs can be really great, so feel free to play around with canon as well.

Please no smut. Romance is great, but nothing more than kissing/fade to black for the physical stuff.

While I’m a big fan of romantic ships, I also love relationships in general, romantic or not. Just characters being there for each other is great. I love fluff, but more serious/angsty/dramatic stuff is just as good too. :D And unless specifically stated otherwise, I have no problem with characters other than I requested in the story, but I want the requested characters to be a main focus.

None of the relationships I requested in any particular fandom are ones that I wouldn’t want combined with any other in that fandom, so feel free to use or not use any of the relationships requested.

Aside from the no smut request, my other DNWs (also listed on my sign up) are:  

explicit gore

violence and injury are fine, but nothing super graphic, generally I would say canon typical violence/gore or less is a good way to go

permanent character death of requested characters

angst without a happy (or at least hopeful) ending

I do tend to like fluffier stuff, but angst is great too, as long as there’s some hope or happiness there by the end.

I hope this helps! I’m including my general prompts below, but feel free to go where the inspiration takes you. Happy writing! :D (Length of prompts is not an indication of my feelings for a fandom. I steal prompts from my previous letters because I’m lazy and those tend to be shorter than newer prompts as I get better at these letters. :D)

Request 1

Fandom: DC Extended Universe

Relationships: Diana Prince/Steve Trevor, Lois Lane & The Justice League, Clark Kent/Lois Lane

Prompts: I’ve split these up by relationship, since they feel a little more separate than the relationships in the other fandoms, but feel free to combine as you want. :)

Diana/Steve Trevor: 

I love them so much, and I love how much Steve treats her as an equal. I am here for a full on AU, whether set within the canonverse or something totally different, just so they can have their happy ending. I have seen WW84, and while I had some problems with the ramifications of some of the writing choices (I’m looking at you, mechanic of Steve’s return), I did really like their scenes together. If sticking with a more canonverse setting, I’d be happy with a story set during the first movie, or even 1984, or even bring him forward to the current day movies. (I would love seeing Steve meet Lois and Clark and the League.)

Lois Lane & The Justice League

I would love to see Lois working with the Justice League and using her skills as a reporter to help with their missions. I’d also love to see her dynamic with Alfred, as well as the other members of the League. I think this would be especially interesting set between BvS and Justice League, but also after Clark comes back. 

Clark Kent/Lois Lane

I love this ship so much, and especially this version of them. I love how much trust and respect they have for each other from the word go. This version of them is a little quieter and more serious than other iterations and I’m happy with keeping a similar tone to Man of Steel/Batman V Superman, but lighter fare would be great too. We see Clark and Lois investigating stories separately as reporters, but not really together as a team, whether for the Planet or the League or both, and I’d love to see that. I would also love to see them dealing with the aftermath of Justice League and how they come back together after being apart for so long. I have seen all the current movies (although I’m less familiar with Justice League as it wasn’t my favorite, but I remember the big stuff), and am happy to see other characters show up as well if you would like. 

Request 2

Fandom: Austenland (2013)

Relationships: Henry Nobley/Jane Hayes

Prompts: I love how this movie is both this beautiful (and hilarious) homage to Jane Austen and those period stories, while being a modern romcom in it’s own right. I love the ways that both Henry and Jane fit the Austen “archetypes”, while also being their own people in our modern world. I absolutely love their chemistry, and would be happy with something set during the movie, such as a missing scene or more character reflection (perhaps on catching feelings for each other?), or something set after the movie. (Like what was her friend’s reaction to walking in and finding them kissing? :D)

Request 3

Fandom: Enola Holmes (2020)

Relationships: Enola Holmes/Viscount “Tewky” Tewksbury, Enola Holmes & Sherlock Holmes

Prompts: I absolutely loved this movie and thought it was so much fun. I don’t typically read first person fanfics, but loved the fourth wall breaking in the movie and would love to see how that translated to a fic. I also really like 3rd person if you don’t want to take on the fourth wall breaking element. I would love to see more of what you think happens after the movie ends, with Enola finding her way, and exploring her friendship and blossoming romance with the Viscount. I would also love to see her interacting more with Sherlock and how their relationship grows  and I loved their take on Sherlock. But I’m also just excited to see what you create!

Request 4

Fandom: Knives Out

Relationships: Benoit Blanc/Marta Cabrera, Harlan Thrombey & Marta Cabrera

Prompts: If you look at my posted stories, you know I’m a fan of Marta/Benoit. It kind of snuck up on me, and I was obsessed earlier this year. There’s just something about them that works so well. I love AUs where Harlan lives or the murder attempt never happened and the three of them met some other way. I also like anything post movie where they work through the aftermath of the movie together. I love Marta and Harlan’s dynamic and would love something exploring their friendship. I love Marta/Benoit being partners, romantically, but also professionally if you want to go that direction. I don’t mind having the Thrombey’s involved, but don’t want them to be the focus. (This goes especially for Ransom. I really don’t want any hint of Marta/Ransom.) I do love both Lieutenant Elliott and Trooper Wagner if you go the more case fic route. I have no problem with vomiting if you want to include Marta’s “condition”, although I would request avoiding any really graphic description of vomit/vomiting.

Request 5

Fandom: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Relationships: Gaby Teller/Illya Kuryakin, Gaby Teller & Illya Kuryakin & Napoleon Solo

Prompts: Team shenanigans is my favorite. They’re all such interesting characters and I love their dynamic together. I would love something set in the future where they’ve settled more into a routine, or something where they’re still figuring out how to work together as a permanent team.  I also love modern AUs, or anytime Napoleon plays matchmaker. I also love how tender Illya is with Gaby and would love to see them finally get to kiss if you want to include that. I would also love to see something post movie where Gaby and Illya are getting to know each other once it’s known that Gaby is also an agent. 

Request 6

Fandom: The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Relationships: Marguerite Blakeney/Percy Blakeney

Prompts: I would love anything where Marguerite is helping Percy and the League with their stuff and being all around awesome, but domestic, peaceful fluff is good too. I just love them being partners, whether in their marriage or in other aspects. I haven’t read many full on AUs (not just canon divergence) for this ship, but that could be really interesting too.  I have read the book, if you want to include details from that, but of course, that is not necessary. 

Request 7

Fandom: The Librarians

Relationships: Eve Baird/Flynn Carson, Cassandra Cillian & Eve Baird & Ezekiel & Jake Stone & Jenkins

Prompts: I absolutely love Eve/Flynn and how they both started having feelings for each other from the word go. While some of their issues were frustrating (and some of them certainly brought on by Noah Wyle’s schedule), I do like when they work and talk through their problems. I love how they balance each other out, and are both 100% in this ridiculous world of theirs in their own way. With the main show team, I love how they all become a family, and ultimately support and better each other. I also love how they’re all brilliant, but in completely different ways, and how they fill the gaps in each other’s knowledge bases. I also love Jenkins being the Grumpy OneTM, but having a great dynamic with each character. Something case related would be fun, or discovering something cool about the library together, or even just something more low key and domestic in the library after a case or during down time.  I would also love to see more after Eve and Flynn are tethered. 

Request 8

Fandom: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane

Prompts: I love anything where Lois and Clark are working together as a team at the Planet or elsewhere, especially with the great banter they can get going, or anything adorable or fluffy. I also love them fighting Tempus, because he’s such a ham. My favorite version of their relationship is post reveal/marriage, but earlier versions of their relationship are great too. I’m just excited to see what you create. :D

Request 9

Fandom: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

Relationships: Jack Robinson/Phryne Fisher, Elizabeth MacMillan & Phyrne Fisher, Hugh Collins/Dot Williams, Phryne Fisher & Dot Williams, Elizabeth MacMillan & Jack Robinson

Prompts: One of my favorite things about this show is the found family aspect, so whichever relationship you focus on, or end up using, that support and love (romantic, platonic, familial) is what I love about this show and these characters. My favorite ship on the show is Phryne/Jack, which is probably no surprise and I love their chemistry and how they are partners and support each other, even when seemingly at odds. Hugh and Dot are just so adorable, and I love how Dot grows throughout the show and forces Hugh to do his own growing. Phryne’s relationship with Dot is one of my favorites as well, for how she pushes Dot to grow and become so strong and very much her own person. Phryne and Mac is such a great friendship and I love how strong their love for each other is and what they will do to help the other. And Jack and Mac is such a fun friendship as well and I think a really interesting dynamic to explore.

I realize these aren’t really prompts and are just me gushing about the characters, but hopefully that helps with what I like about them. As for something more prompt like, I would love something to do with a case, or Phryne being her glorious self and dragging (but really, they’d all follow her anywhere) someone along with her schemes. 

Request 10

Fandom: Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Relationships: Charles Bingley/Jane Bennet & Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Charles Bingley, Jane Bennet

Prompts: I love both of these ships, and would love to see something exploring their dynamic. I am also very happy with the idea of just Charles and Jane being the focus. I  would love to see more of the time between the successful proposals and the wedding, them learning more about each other and strengthening the feelings they already have. Post movie is great too! How are they adapting to being married and all the changes that brings? My love for modern (and other) AUs applies here, although I am also very happy with straight up canon. I have read the book as well if you want to include any details from there, although that’s of course not necessary.

[hunterguyveriv]

My issues on Wonder Woman 1984 after my first viewing of it.

I saw Wonder Woman 1984 a few days ago and now that I have had time to collect my thoughts on my initial viewing I do have some issues with the movie. It was an okay movie, I will admit it is not a perfect movie. NO MOVIE - regardless if it is a DC/Marvel/Star Trek/Star Wars/ or even a Kaiju movie is perfect. For me, this movie I will give it a generous 5.8 out of 10.

It had its good spots, loved the dynamic between Steve and Diana again. He like in the first movie seemed to ground her and make her realize the hard truths of the world. I even loved how she helped him through his sensory overload of being a World War-I soldier brought into the modern age for the movie.

I loved that even Hans Zimmer even returned for the movie when he had retired from doing scores. I guess Warner-Brothers & DC were desperate after the Joss Whedon debacle of hiring Danny Elfman for Justice League.

I even liked the post credit scene in which it literally canonized Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman by making her character an Amazon in the DCEU. But now that they made them Amazons in the same universe, they need to capitalize on this before it becomes too late. Diana and Asteria need to interact with each other now! That way we can have an official Lynda Carter passing the torch on to Gal Gadot. But DCEU hasn’t been known to capitalize on things. This is still the DCEU right? 

I understand with the uncertainty of Henry Cavill returning as Superman and Ben Affleck not wanting to return as Batman, the urgency to have a face of the DCEU. But this movie felt nothing like Gal Gadot becoming the face of the DCEU, and thus my MAIN issue with the movie.

For it t be an effective sequel for the DCEU it needs to mesh with all the other movies prior to Aquaman - Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad(?... never seen it), and Justice League. This move which is a sequel to Wonder Woman does nothing to congeal the movies together leading up to the current version of Justice League. This movie ignores 2 key scenes from 2 different movies. 

Think back to when the Trinity first gathered in Batman v Superman. Diana says aloud to both Superman & Batman:

"I've killed things from other worlds before." 

and most of all this line from Joss Whedon's Justice League where they argue about bringing Superman back:

"I never heard of you until Luthor lured you out by stealing a picture of your dead boyfriend. You shut yourself down for a century, so lets not talk about me moving on." 

This movie ignores both lines and doesn't add to the lore. I understand Ares was a God so is considered another worldly being, but she said "THINGS" implying multiples. This movie did not add to that line. It also blatantly IGNORED Bruce's statement. 

Think of it, if she "Shut herself down" as stated, then she wouldn't be as active in saving people in WW84. To the contrary every single person she saved in the movie would be dead. 

When heroes typically "shut down" they either turn down the path Bruce did for BvS or just don't get involved with the affairs of as suggested by her body language prior to getting off the plane in BvS.

Hell even in Justice League, when she pops Bruce's shoulder back in to place she even admits what? She hasn't been doing her job in being a protector because of the death Steve Trevor nearly a century prior. Go watch the movies people, the evidence for this issue is there. I understand this may be a ret-con, but it is a poorly done ret-con. And with such escalation, how is it there was no mention of such escalation in BvS or Justice League? Or was it magically erased from nearly EVERYONE’s minds?

My second issue is Kristen Wiig as Cheetah. I loved her as Barbara Minerva for the first part of the movie. Where she was the pathetic loser that no one even fathomed giving attention to who envied the first person to give her attention. She played that part of the character phenomenally. 

But her decent into Cheetah however I didn't believe it. Especially with how fast she mastered her speed and strength. It took Diana years to master her prowess, hell it even took Clark years to master all he was capable of and he is still doing so apparently albeit behind the scenes Post-Justice League because of what Jor-El told him " to keep testing your limits."

I will admit her not wanting to "renounce her wish" is on par to the Minerva of Injustice 2 who would rather embrace her curse. So I can definitely see Kristen Wiig returning in future movies, but she needs to get better at being a villainess in my opinion. I will say I can't blame Barbara for not wanting to renounce her wish, if I were in the same situation of wanting to be like someone I envied or become something like my favorite Superhero (look to my handle) I would do so and embrace it.

My other issue with Minerva is the design of Cheetah. 

I did NOT like design. It looked and felt flat, incomplete, lazily done and completely CGI. Why did they feel they had do her completely CGI? I mean they could have done prosthetic make up for most of Cheetah's scenes and used CGI for the more extravagant parts of the final fight scene. And before ANYONE says prosthetic makeup isn't capable of such feats. Take a look at these Humanoid Cat-People from both Star Trek IV and V 

The Caitians in Starfleet Uniforms were from Star Trek IV which came out in 1986 and the Cat-Lady from Star Trek V which came out in 1989. We could have easily gotten a believable Cheetah that looked like her Injustice 2 

 and comic book counterparts but instead we got what we got. And don’t get me started on Minerva being blonde and not a ginger LIKE her comic book counterpart and Injustice 2 counterparts.

Well these are my issues on the movie from my first viewing of the movie that stuck out the most. I am sure there are more, but I have to sit down and watch it again. But I don't see myself doing so any time soon due to work priorities.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 13 November 2017

Quick Bits:

Babyteeth #6 opens the floodgates of story after getting through the initial hurdle of getting Sadie and Clark out of imminent danger. Donny Cates gives us more depth as to what’s going on broader picture of the world and introduces us to the cult geared to protecting and raising Clark.

| Published by AfterShock

Black Science #33 has the shit hit the fan as the confrontation between Grant and Kadir reaches its peak and then reality breaks. The mix of mad science and philosophy from Rick Remender on display here is wonderful, seeing a representation of Platonic ideals mapped onto quantum realities in a kind of unfurling of Gnostic cosmology is impressive. So too is Matteo Scalera’s art. He and Moreno Diniso really get to cut loose this issue and it looks wonderful.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Bloodshot Salvation #3 gives a revelation to the “soon” timeline of what’s happened to Ray, while in the “now” we get a confrontation between Ray and Daddy, Colin King helping out Magic, and Project Omen causing complications. I probably sound like a broken record, but Jeff Lemire, Lewis LaRosa, and Mico Suayan are doing some great things with this series.

| Published by Valiant

Brilliant Trash #1 is an interesting take on superheroes. It’s a mix of government conspiracy and potentially mad science, told from the perspective of a journalist looking for a story in the appearance of a V-like figure, Lady Lastword’s, final speech and death. Tim Seely’s got something interesting here. Priscilla Petraites’ art is also quite nice, kind of a mix between Jamie McKelvie and Phil Hester.

| Published by AfterShock

Dark Fang #1 continues the trend of not naming the protagonist in the body of the first issue. The solicitation copy and end piece are what’s needed to piece together the full premise of the series and name of the protagonist. That said, Miles Gunter does have a decent story here. It’s environmentalism through the lens of a centenarian vampire, Valla, who was friends with a fish until modern industry destroyed her ecosystem. But first, earning money as a cam girl and getting caught up in society’s obsession with cell phones and the internet. The art from Kelsey Shannon is a definite plus.

| Published by Image

Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #2 is every bit as fun, humorous, and action-packed as the first issue. Declan Shalvey has a great feel for both Wade and Logan and Mike Henderson’s art is truly wonderful. Only two issues in and this is just a fun, must-have wild ride.

| Published by Marvel

Evolution #1 is a very strong debut issue with multiple voices brought together by the singular visuals of Joe Infurnari. Infurnari has a style that is a bit Tom Mandrake and a bit Bill Sienkiewicz and it is absolutely perfect. If you like David Cronenberg’s early horror films, even just a little bit, you owe it to yourself to at least check this out.

| Published by Image / Skybound

The Family Trade #2 continues Jessa’s investigations into Berghardt and Mikkaelsen despite the protestation and outright prohibition by her Family. Her technique of getting close by blending in as a simple cleaning woman is a nice touch. The end, though, suffers a bit in who exactly Jessa is speaking to. I think it’s supposed to be her uncle, but I’m not sure.

| Published by Image

Fence #1 gives me the impression that everyone, even the protagonist, involved in competitive fencing is an asshole. That’s not necessarily a good impression of the sport, and gives a poor outlook on who to “cheer” for in the endeavour, but it may be an accurate depiction. Especially since many sports seem to be populated by jerks.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

Generation Gone #5 is a suitably insane conclusion to the first arc of this series. It’s violent, angry, and explosive - kind of like how you’d expect kids to react when they find out that the world is designed to see them fail. André Lima Araújo’s art has just been fantastic on this series.

| Published by Image

Hawkeye #12 is a team-up issue between Kate and Laura (All-New Wolverine) with Gabby and Jonathan in tow as well, illustrated by guest artist Michael Walsh who is easily proving he’s a force to contend with. This issue looks great and is fun as hell.

| Published by Marvel

Jenny Finn #1 now in colour. If you haven’t read this masterpiece of Lovecraftian lit from Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey before, now’s a good time to do so. If you have, especially since this has been reprinted and repackaged a few times before, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want Dave Stewart’s colour. There was something to be said for the original black and white, although the colour version’s not bad.

| Published by Dark Horse

Kill the Minotaur #6 is both an expected and unexpected conclusion to the series. Ariadne and Theseus’ confrontation of the Minotaur is suitably epic. I can’t say much more than that because they’d be massive spoilers, so enjoy this amazing artwork from Lukas Ketner.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Killer Instinct #2 does what I was afraid the first issue was going to do and dumps a lot of characters with intricate backstories from the game on us in one go. Where the first issue mainly focused on one character to ease us into the world, this issue gives us more of the Coven, a bunch of characters fighting over the Killer Instinct Tournament, and Jago. While the Jago and Tsar bits are fairly well executed, the central bit over Ultratech is a bit of sludge. As I said in response to the first issue, I’ve never played the game and know little about the world, so this felt a bit like being dropped right in the deep end. The art from Cam Adams is still nice, though.

| Published by Dynamite

Maestros #2 quickly installs Will as the new Maestro and he begins making sweeping changes to the multiverse’s society, trying to bring concepts like equality and freedom to a world that only seems to know subjugation under magical will. It’s an interesting exploration of sociopolitical ideas from Steve Skroce and naturally it brings about severe pushback from those previously in charge. And betrayal.

| Published by Image

Mech Cadet Yu #4 features the cadets first full on confrontation with the Sharg and it’s about as exciting as you would expect. Takeshi Miyazawa’s art is just wonderful and it’s really nice to see Yu thinking on his feet during the battle to ensure the continued survival of the entire team.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini #1 is interesting. The relationship between Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has certainly been in the zeitgeist lately, this one doing something different and focusing on the end of Houdini’s career, long since the two had their falling out. Cynthia von Buhler sets up Minky looking into Houdini debunking spiritualists at the request of Doyle fairly well, but the main enticement is von Buhler’s art. She has a style that reminds me a bit of Melinda Gebbie and it works incredibly well for the smoky, pulpy atmosphere of the story.

| Published by Titan / Hard Case Crime

Misfit City #7 lines up the dominoes in this penultimate issue. Overall this has been a great series and I’m excited to see how it ends. That being said, I wish there were more. The world needs more girl adventurer books and this one has been excellent.

| Published by BOOM! Entertainment / Boom! Box

Ninja-K #1 is a damn fine new direction for Colin King, looking deep into the past of the Programme, dealing with the history of Ninjas A through L, and putting forth a mystery as to who killed Ninja-D and appears to be targeting the other remaining operatives. Christos Gage gives us a compelling mix of mystery and spy thriller that’s only topped by Tomás Giorello’s incredible artwork. Damn fine work.

| Published by Valiant

Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon #1 begins another pre-Hellboy, pre-BPRD series tying numerous disparate threads together and giving more backstory on the world. This first issue focuses more on Trevor Bruttenholm tracking down a decrypted Nazi message, but it could be about a talking head describing how to prepare an avocado because Christopher Mitten makes everything look amazing. Thankfully, though, the story isn’t bad either.

| Published by Dark Horse

The Realm #3 reveals some chinks in the baddies’ armour as strong personalities clash. The artwork from Jeremy Haun is again one of the main drawing factors. This series just looks great.

| Published by Image

Retcon #3 finally gets around to the premise that Matt Nixon and Toby Cypress were on about in the interview in the first issue. I’m thinking maybe for a storytelling point, they should have led with this, but it does give the series a better cohesion and purpose. This was the make or break issue for me and Crowley ripped from time to tattoo a baby won me over.

| Published by Image

Star Wars: Darth Vader #8 continues Jocasta Nu’s infiltration of the Jedi Archive to retrieve an artifact from under the nose of the Grand Inquisitor. This issue gets a little...explosive.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #14 is Emilio Laiso’s debut on the comic and the artwork looks gorgeous. He did a great job on the Rogue One adaptation and it’s nice to see him back on a Star Wars title. Even if I’m going to miss the hell out of Kev Walker’s art.

| Published by Marvel

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #76 allows no rest for the turtles as they return home from Dimension X, also after the brief excursion with the Ghostbusters. Damian Courciero looks like he’s handling the art chores for this arc and it’s a welcome addition. He has a darker, somewhat more realistic style and it suits the chaos and destruction going on with the Earth Protection Force’s first contact with the Triceratons.

| Published by IDW

Unholy Grail #4 continues this dark and twisted retelling of the Arthurian legend. Part of what really works about this series, though, is that it really isn’t that far removed from the other stories of glorious knights and magic, just given a different context,

| Published by AfterShock

Other Highlights: Adrift, Alien Bounty Hunter #2, Amazing Spider-Man #791, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #10, Bolivar, Champions #14, Curse Words #10, Defenders #7, Descender #26, Doctor Strange #381, Dreadful Beauty: The Art of Providence, East of West #33, Guardians of the Galaxy #147, Horizon #16, Incidentals #4, Incredible Hulk #710, James Bond: Kill Chain #5, Mage: The Hero Denied #4, Mighty Thor #701, Not Brand Echh #14, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #297, Postal #24, Punisher #218, Ringside #13, Secret Warriors #8, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #3, TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #3, The Wicked & The Divine #33, X-Men Blue #15, Zojaqan #2

Recommended Collections: Ab Irato, Goldie Vance - Volume 3, James Bond - Volume 1: Vargr, Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Star Wars: Captain Phasma, Luke Cage - Volume 1: Sins of the Father, Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie, Regression - Volume 1: Way Down Deep, Rough Riders - Volume 2: Riders on the Storm, Star Wars: Poe Dameron - Volume 3: Legends Lost, World Reader - Volume 1

d. emerson eddy knows that evolution is a mystery, full of change that no one sees. He sees the line in the sand.

[survivorspy]

V ARC: TO BE UNTOUCHED BY TRUE DEATH 

Steven Howard Trevor has lived several life times--plenty from before he met Diana of Themyscira, and several after. But ever since his meeting with the demigoddess, his subsequent lives have been haunted by the previous ones. It’s the modern day, and yet he has constant nightmares of things he shouldn’t remember. 

After reuniting once again with Diana, Steve finds himself not only experiencing nightmares, but actually gaining back memories. It doesn’t take long for it to interfere with just about every aspect of his life: from personal to work. How can he be relied to do tasks when he can’t even keep his own head straight? And the side effects may well be killing him anyway. But what’s the point in remembering his life if he’s going to die and restart all over again? He needs to end the cycle: either by dying for real this time, or being granted actual immortality.

anyone interested and who i plot with would be added to my mains, though i don’t necessarily ask for the same (though it would be appreciated!).

CHARACTERS NEEDED:

Diana Prince 

Zeus maybe??

Greek Gods maybe??

CHARACTERS WANTED:

Any and all Justice League/DC characters, particularly Bruce Wayne.

Any and all Marvel characters.

This is MEANT TO BE A SLOW BUILD ARC starting with Steve’s slow regaining of memories, not to be moved quickly. Any and all other plot points you’d like to discuss should you be interested in joining the arc is more than welcome, as I don’t only want this to be about Steve, but obviously a collaborative story!! 

like the post or send me a message if interested. i won’t be taking more than one of each characters. there doesn’t need to be any romantic interests between 

[thearabkhaleesi]

WONDER WOMAN REVIEW

Wonder Woman tells the story of Diana, an immortal Amazon princess and demigoddess, who lives on the island of Themiscyra, which is ruled by her mother Queen Hippolyta and protects the Amazons from the outside world…

I genuinely love everything about Wonder Woman. From the hero we know and love from the comics, to the way her story was told on screen and the way she was portrayed, everything was utterly phenomenal and perfect.

I love how they showed Wonder Woman to be such a strong, courageous, and independent superhero that not only stood up for herself but stood up for others, those that needed help and fought for them with all her heart and soul. There’s truly no female superhero/comic book character like her in any modern movie.

Even though the movie is set in the early 20th century, Diana was portrayed in such a modern way and I absolutely loved that; we see her rise up and be this strong, fierce, brave, determined, hero that didn’t take no for an answer and didn’t let anyone or anything get in her way in the face of injustice, but she also has flaws and develops over time. She was a character that fought, but she fought with love, and shows us that she is the hero they needed in the movie, and the hero we ourselves need right now.

I also really appreciate that we got to see some character development in Diana as well, since most superhero movies nowadays don’t even consider that. In the beginning she was naive, and sort of saw the world in a black and white vision, saying people are either good or bad (but mostly good), but by the end of the movie time has passed and she is a changed woman; she has seen the horrors of war, understands that there can be a grey area between good and evil, and she sees and understands the reality of us humans our world and loves humanity for everything that is, flaws and all.

At the end of the day, Wonder Woman is without a doubt the strongest female superhero ever portrayed on screen, and her movie is a new and refreshing take on the classic (and overused) superhero formula.  The movie doesn’t take up an overwhelmingly long time to explain the mythology or history behind it, but instead shows it to you directly and embraces it. Her sword, gauntlets, tiara, and of curse, her lasso of truth, aren’t explained in a boring way, but rather they present themselves and their value as the movie goes on and the story unfolds.

I know this is controversial but I actually think Gal Gadot was great in the role. Diana and her story have a lot of heart to it, and she brought even more heart to the role, which flowed flawlessly through the screen. She was an overall wonder in the movie. Chris Pine was also great and very charming (as usual) as Steve Trevor, and made the character much more lovable than he already is. I love how he appreciates Diana for the woman she is and overall kinda knows and loves that she’s tougher and better than him. Side characters or even love interests in superhero movies can often be one-dimensional but that definitely wasn’t the case with Steve Trevor; I loved that he had a deep backstory, and not only that but he’s very realistic and grounds Diana and they sort of balance each other out in the way that he helps her view the world in a realistic way and see it’s flaws, and she helps him see the love, good, and hope in the world in the midst of war.

The Amazons slayed me and my entire existence. I loved every single thing about them, they were all such tough, independent badasses. Queen Hippolyta and Antiope are actual queens and godesses. Even though we don’t see them for very long, we get a lot out of them, see a lot of their badassery, and they’re unforgettable. I’m so happy to finally see women represented this way on screen!

I don’t want to talk too much about the villain, because I’m trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I just want to say that everything about the villain(s) in the movie was great from the character all the way down to the people portraying them.

The score was incredible, every single song in the movie was in the perfect scene for it, and all the songs in the movie gave me chills. I’m literally listening to the soundtrack as I type this review. As with the best DC films, the movie has amazing cinematography. Some shots were truly works of art.

The movie didn’t feel like “a somewhat coherent compilation of awesome action sequences” like a lot of superhero movies out there; instead each scene has a special quality that makes it unique and heartwarming, whether it was a really cool action sequence or just a chat amongst the characters. It almost felt like the movie was a seamless flow with the events playing out naturally and smoothly; not a single scene, plot element, or line of dialogue felt forced or out of place and to top it all off, the movie has just the right amount of genuine comedy that felt so natural and was perfectly delivered. I also appreciated that the movie doesn’t take up an overwhelmingly long time to explain the mythology or history behind it, but instead shows it to you directly & embraces it.

Her fight scenes are incredible. From sneak attacks to leaping high in the air using shields, and the amazing slow-mo shots! WOW. I loved Batman v Superman, and all of it’s fight scenes felt more cinematic and artistic, whereas Wonder Woman’s action sequences were quicker and more dynamic (but both were equally as badass). I loved how Wonder Woman constantly changing between weapons, attacking and defending, and from using her weapons to hand to hand combat; I really loved and appreciated that she did various stunts, not just doing a few cool tricks and  sticking to those few throughout the whole movie.

I can’t get over the brilliance and awesomeness that is the no-man’s land sequence in the movie; it shows Diana in full costume fearlessly and directly fighting and going against the enemies, as well as everyone that doubted her, proving herself and that she truly doesn’t have to listen to any man that tells her what to do.

Diana’s story was told perfectly, and it all comes down to Patty Jenkins’ vision and direction of the movie, which highlights the importance of having a female story being told through the eyes of a female.

Not a single female character was sexualized, objectified, had a reduced role, or portrayed as inferior to anyone; every single main female character in the movie stood out and had a strong, dominant personality.

Through the Amazons, women were represent as they truly are, with a diverse cast including women of all races, sizes, and ages. Women have truly never been represented like this on screen!

I truly believe and know that if the movie was directed by a man it wouldn’t have been told in such a genuine way, women wouldn’t be portrayed as independent as they were, and it wouldn’t have had this much heart into it. As I said, I loved everything about the movie and it was perfect, and it all comes down to Queen Patty Jenkins.

I hope and can’t wait to see more female-led stories directed by women in Hollywood since Wonder Woman definitely opened the doors (and hopefully minds) and paved the way for this to happen and it’s just so amazing and remarkable that the movie will hopefully have that big of an impact.

Overall, Wonder Woman is such a phenomenal, empowering and important movie and character. There is no female superhero as strong or as good as/ like her in any comic book movie, and she’s one of my fictional role models and an inspiration and hero to us all.

9.8/10

[rate-out-of-10]

WONDER WOMAN REVIEW

Superhero films just keep getting bigger and bigger; Marvel seems to always make a smash hit every single year, and DC seems to have been trying to catch up. With Wonder Woman, the first female-lead superhero film since 2005’s (flop) Elektra, hitting theaters this weekend, DC has gained some major ground. Director Patty Jenkins expertly crafts a believable world for Wonder Woman to dwell in and made Wonder Woman the all-around best film that the DC Cinematic Universe has put out thus far, and very well may be the most important superhero film that’s ever come out.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The character of Wonder Woman is a huge undertaking for any actress, I’d say it was even harder for Gal Gadot, someone who was relatively unknown in the States until now, to convince people she was right for the role. She’s previously done some work in the Fast & Furious movies, but once she was announced as the chosen one to play the role of the Amazonian princess, Diana, aka Wonder Woman, she was met with some criticism. But her smaller performance in Batman v Superman seemed to have raised some eyebrows, mine included, and here in her feature length debut in the role, she’s engulfed Diana in the best of ways. Gal Gadot pierces through the screen with intensity, purity, strength, and innocence. Her Wonder Woman is powerful, virtuous, noble, and forthright, she is just wonderful. She has a smile that just makes you proud. Gal almost effortlessly molds the innocence and naivety of Diana in the world of man with her confidence and independence. Other than herself, Gal had some prominent back up in the film as well, specifically Chris Pine in the role of Diana’s human love, Steve Trevor. I can’t think of a movie where Chris Pine wasn’t good. He has an infectious personality on screen, he’s always enjoyable to watch. His approach to Steve’s awkwardness around Diana was great; he’s continually surprised by Diana and it always confuses him how she can always do that. Chris and Gal have natural chemistry on screen, when they joke, when they fight, when they connect, through the whole film their relationship always felt genuine. Their romantic subplot wasn’t ever in your face either, it felt natural and was done so delicately and with grace, I respect it a lot. I wish I could have seen more of the Amazonians of Themyscira, but what we got was definitely enough. To see all these strong women training and fighting, moving so fluidly and gracefully was invigorating to watch. I could only imagine how a little girl felt watching these powerful women command the screen. My only complaint when it comes to the characters of the film is essentially everyone else besides the Amazonians, Diana, and Steve Trevor. They assemble a rag-tag group of guys to show Wonder Woman the different facets of humanity, however I wish they felt maybe more important, maybe a group of strong ladies would’ve taken it further. They didn’t seem to do anything of importance except just be there. They all had some nice moments individually but not enough to convince me that they’re worth watching. Next, there were three villainous figures: Ludendorff (Danny Huston), Dr. Poison (Elena Anaya), and Ares (David Thewlis). Ludendorff and Poison were the ones who commanded most of the evil appearances, however they were excessively generic. I think when you bring a movie into WWI or II, you can just use Germans as evil doers without much depth added to them. Poison had some intrigue, but we never really learn much of her, all she really spent time doing was marveling as gas clouds and being melodramatic. Then there’s Ares, and he wasn’t much at all exciting. His best moment was the reveal that he’s been around the entire time as Sir Patrick, but after that his intrigue faded away with excessive CGI and just an awkward appearance. He kept that mustache for thousands of years? Really? It might have had something to do with the casting choice that made it a bit ridiculous to see. When Ares formed his armor with the weapons and plating scattered around the airfield at the end, that was a cool moment, but David Thewlis just wasn’t Ares. A change in form or appearance might have gone a long way. Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and the Amazonian women really steal the show for me, the rest were just bearable in a sense to keep the film moving forward.

Wonder Woman starts out incredibly strong, giving the warriors of Themyscira, and a young Diana, time to shine. The concentration on the world building of Wonder Woman was fantastic. It didn’t feel mashed up or rushed, like the other three DC films that have come out thus far. The movie paced generally well, even when the action was at a low point in favor of exposition, there were still bits to draw you in. Sure it can feel a little slow at times, I definitely wanted to see more of Wonder Woman kicking ass, but the slower bits did serve some nice character building, specifically for Diana. Gal was always great to watch whether she was clearly a fish out of water, or standing strong and noble against sexist men, or just smiling. You’re always rooting for her, but you’re also waiting for her to be enlightened. In parts, she’s very naive when it came to the conflict of Ares and mankind, and at the end when she has that realization of who humans really were, after Steve’s sacrifice, a feeling of relief and excitement washes over you. The action sequences were glorious too, Zach Snyder’s trademark slow-mo shots were all over the place, but I was happy with them because I liked watching Wonder Woman kick some serious ass. The final battle between her and Ares may have been very CGI’d and perhaps a bit underwhelming, but the showcase of Diana’s maximum power was great to watch. Beating overwhelming odds in superhero movies will never get old, perhaps that’s because superheroes were built off that premise. I also marveled at the set-pieces; Themyscira, London, the trenches, they all were wonderfully designed, Themyscira being the most colorful of all the landscapes. One thing I did want to bring up was the choice of the WWI setting. It was a bold choice to introduce Wonder Woman in this war-torn time, some people wanted to see her introduced in the modern day, and where I can see that being perhaps a bit cooler, it wouldn’t make much sense to the DC timeline for this universe. In the modern day, Superman and Batman specifically are prominent figures already, Batman already having a long history. If there wasn’t much of a record of Wonder Woman before Bruce discovered her picture and secret file, why would the modern day make sense? It serves her well to be in a time where technology wasn’t all over the place, so the only real evidence of her existence is the one photograph taken of her, that’s what makes it significant. If she emerged closer to the modern day, her ambiguity would be lost. Question that remain from this time, though, is how does she really age in this canon? Is Themyscira somehow suspended in time? How did she age there? Is ten years to an Amazonian in Themyscira, 50 years, or a hundered years, in the world of man? How did she seemingly not age through the rest of human history up until BvS? Did she not interfere in WWII? Vietnam? The Civil Rights era? There are a lot of questions about Wonder Woman and her history that come from this movie, however they don’t really pertain to this film specifically. These are just things that should maybe be fleshed out through the rest of the DC films.

After a film like this, what’s next really comes into question for the DC cinematic universe. Wonder Woman blew all the past films (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, & Suicide Squad) out of the water. Will Justice League have a monumental payoff like this one did? Or will the rest of the DC universe be just as flat as where we left off with it prior to Wonder Woman? There are plenty of DC movies slated for the near future, but the rocky start it’s gotten off to may hurt the success of their first team-up film. Especially since DC seems to just want the team up to happen more quickly than Marvel’s. We don’t get an Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, or even a solo-Batman film until after this first Justice League movie, set to release this November. It’s a questionable timeline to have. I would’ve appreciated their creative choices a lot more if we got the films in this order: Man of Steel, The Batman, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman, and then Justice League. With the multitude of cameos in BvS of the other “meta-humans”, plus Batman and Wonder Woman’s solo films would have already introduced them, the team-up would have more of a payoff. But then again, Justice League isn’t out yet, these are just my feelings as of now and they could change. Wonder Woman is the shining example of what DC has needed and it captures Wonder Woman so epically that my excitement for DC has been revitalized to a good degree. My final rating for Wonder Woman is:

8.75/10. In a word: wonderful.

Wonder Woman does a plethora of things right, and when the movie is going great, it’s going great. Gal Gadot does an amazing job with the character, Patty Jenkins directs with fierce integrity and puts on a show that is tremendously impressive. Wonder Woman may be the most important superhero film to have ever come out, and it earns that praise. The flaws with supporting characterization, a decent lack of villainous intrigue, and a not-too-impressive main villain finale doesn’t take away too much from Wonder Woman herself. She’s a shining light in this grim world that DC has built up and I’m excited to see where she will lead the universe to in the future.

[naughtygirl286]

Wonder Woman

I’m going to start posting some Movie thoughts on here as well starting with this one.  it is basically just a Copy/Paste of what I posted on Facebook

So we went to see History! we went to see Wonder Woman Tuesday night!! first I was kinda disappointed that there was no promotional items no cups or collectables or anything for it :( secondly I love the new DC Films logo that features the Justice League I thought it was really cool. but anyway yeah we ended up having to go to the early 6:30pm show and when we got there the place was packed! and when we left ppl were lined up for the 9:30 and they were showing it on 2 separate the screens. anyway what did I thought of it is probably the big question and well I can say that I absolutely loved it!! it was awesome, it was amazing, it is the greatest thing!! it is everything they said it is and more!! personally I don't think it could have been better? it was everything I wanted it to be it was just so perfect..?  now yes of course they changed the origin a bit one main thing that I noticed was they removed the whole Amazonian tournament thing but I felt that was a good choice you don't want to be on the Island for most of the movie you want her to be out into the world and being Wonder Woman so removing that kept the movie moving along and I felt how they did it in this was simple and kept the story going. also I know some ppl who complained that they didn't incorporate the "Invisible Jet" which I didn't think was needed in this and felt that it would be out of place considering when the movie takes place. but as for that "when" it is done in a kinda interesting and familiar way in that it is similar to how the first Captain America (Captain America: The First Avenger) was done where it starts in modern times and then goes back in time and tells the story and ends back in the present.   Wonder Woman does the same thing it starts sometime shortly after Batman v. Superman were Batman/Bruce Wayne returns the original photo (which was featured in BvS) to her and from that we slip back in time to her origin like she is remembering all the stuff that happened and were the photo came from and everything and in the end it jumps back to the present much like how Cap did.   so yeah the movie takes place during World War 1 and everything is of course explained the Amazons, the Island, the Gods and so on. You see her as a kid and growing up and training and meeting Steve Trevor (played by Chris Pine who is awesome in this role) and leaving and going to "Man's World" and fighting in the War :) and the fighting is so cool! she is like tearing guys apart and throwing tanks and it is just so much fun :D and that is what it is it is fun and yes it is funny there are some great moments through out the movie and of course Gal Gadot is amazing and truly is Wonder Woman. So I highly recommend going to see it and we might be going to see it again at some point because it was like going to see the recent Star Wars movies were you're overly excited and have that feeling of of being a kid again, so the second time you can sit and enjoy it more deeply with out the wash of excitement drowning you lol :P  but yeah I love it.   Now if only the new Tomb Raider movie is just as awesome I'll be all set :D oh also there is nothing during or after the credits we stayed for the whole thing.

[justiceleague]

‘Wonder Woman’: Over 50 Things to Know about the Iconic Superhero’s New Movie

The Story

- The story is framed by the modern day with Diana Prince/Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) flashing back to her origin story.

– The film will show Diana as a child growing up on the island of Themiscyra.

– Within this flashback, there will be a story told to young Diana about the creation of the Amazons, their relationship to Zeus and Ares, and why they’ve decided to remain hidden from mankind.

– Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), originally doesn’t want Diana to be a warrior, but Diana trains in secret with her aunt, General Antiope (Robin Wright), and Hippolyta eventually accepts her daughter’s goals.

– When American intelligence officer Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands on Themiscyra, Wonder Woman rescues him, but the first big battle scene comes with German soldiers, who have followed Trevor to the island, square off against the Amazons.

– After the battle, Trevor tells of the Great War, and that he has recovered secret plans that intend to ruin the armistice. When he goes to sail to London, Diana decides to go with him because she believes that Ares is behind World War I.

– She grabs her armor, bracelets, sword, and shield from Themiscyra before leaving with Trevor.

– Once in London, the film becomes a bit of a fish out of water story as Diana, who is naïve and hopeful, is fascinated by the “modern” world (the film takes place in 1918).

– The main human villains are the rogue German general Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and the scarred scientist Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya), who devises various poisons. There’s also the specter of the god of war Ares’ involvement in the larger scheme of things.

– David Thewlis plays Assemblyman Sir Patrick Morton, a British politician advocating for peace.

– Overall, the film looks like a bit of a combination between Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. The stuff in Themiscyra is Thor (a god who has never known the human world) and the stuff in World War I is Captain America (a superhero in the middle of a worldwide, mechanized war), and audiences, having accepted both those movies, should have no trouble investing in the tone Jenkins’ is going for.

The Filming

- The film is being shot in 35mm, not IMAX

– On the day we visited, we saw Gadot running on a treadmill in front of a green screen and “deflecting” bullets with her magical gauntlets.

– Even from afar, the costume looks badass.

– Jenkins is shouting out, “Bang! Block!” as Gadot deflects the non-existent bullets headed her way.

– There’s more of Gadot on the treadmill, we go to lunch, come back, there’s more treadmill but from a different camera angle. Then we get to talk to Gadot.

Gal Gadot

- The best thing about playing Wonder Woman is this is exactly the kind of role she wanted to play when she started acting eight years ago—a strong, independent woman.

– She loves everything about Diana. “She has a heart of a human being, powers of goddess and a very wise brain,” says Gadot.

– Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor balance each other out. He understands the dark side of human nature, and she’s an idealist, so he helps inform her worldview, and she brings hope back into his life.

– While the Wonder Woman we see in Batman v Superman is a more mature woman, the one we see in this origin story is a bit more naïve and positive.

– Wonder Woman doesn’t really see a difference between men and women in terms of social mores or abilities.

– She’s glad this movie is being made because it will give young girls like her daughter a figure to look up to like boys have had with Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man.

– When she was first cast as Wonder Woman, she went back and watched some reruns of the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman from the 70s.

– Wonder Woman’s fighting style is a mix of martial arts that Gadot calls, “WonderFu”.

Costumes

- Costume Designer Lindy Hemming (The Dark Knight) walked us through some of the designs and oufits.

– She says that the Wonder Woman armor for Wonder Woman only has some minor changes from what we saw in Batman v Superman.

– Unsurprisingly, she looked to Greek influences when designing the armor for the Amazons.

– This is one of the most design-heavy jobs she’s had to do because of the different eras and settings.

– It was important for Jenkins that the Amazons not be just one race or body type.

– There are 8 different versions of the Wonder Woman costume, and they’ll probably have to make around 20 to 30 for the various stunt people and stand-ins.

– The challenge has been to merge the unreality of Wonder Woman’s world with the reality of World War I, and then trying to get those realistic costumes right.

– When it came to the armor, Hemming also had to deal with the challenge of creating armor that was both sturdy enough to look like it could take a beating, but also allowed the actors to move and do their stunts.

– Gadot’s main input was trying to look for comfort where possible given the stuntwork and external elements like weather, but Hemming unfortunately “couldn’t help her very much.”

Second Unit Filming

- We then moved on to a World War I set and the details are amazing. Production Designer Aline Bonetto has put together some really impressive production design for the bombed out city of Veld. Everything from the storefronts to the advertisements looks absolutely on point.

– In this scene, Diana, Trevor, and their fellow fighters Charlie (Ewen Bremner), Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui), and Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) are making their way to the front.

– They’re shooting with the Phantom Red, which has the advantage of being able to really speed up the number of frames per second thus allowing for highly-detailed slow-motion.

– In the scene, Trevor (what we saw on the day was being handled by Chris Pine’s stunt double) is laying down some shotgun action as he takes down some German soldiers.

– The only sunny days they’ve had were in Veld when they didn’t need the sun.

– We then moved on to some trenches, which were appropriately grim. It’s a bit jarring to be on the set of a superhero film and then go to a recreation of a gruesome war zone that’s meant to evoke where countless men suffered and died in battle.

– We then moved on to the Throne Room set, which wasn’t being used at that time. While there was a bit of whiplash for me personally having just walked through World War I trenches, I doubt there will be for an audience that has seen a variety of superhero movies. Also, it’s not like the trench scene precedes the throne room scene in the film.

Director Patty Jenkins

- Our set visit in London ended after checking out the trenches and the throne room, but we weren’t done yet. We didn’t get a chance to interview Jenkins while on set because she was so busy, but thankfully, Warner Bros. brought us back to London a year later to do an edit bay visit with Jenkins. We saw some scenes and then spoke to Jenkins about the film.

– While she’s aware of the politics of the moment, she hopes that people will see Wonder Woman as a universal character; while there are comments on sexism, it’s not a “woman” movie. It’s a Wonder Woman movie intended to be on par with any other superhero origin film.

– Richard Donner’s Superman had a huge effect on her when she was a kid, even more than Star Wars.

– She thinks that Wonder Woman stands apart from heroes like Batman and Superman because she’s guided by an almost religious-like belief system that demands she behave in a certain way. “She believes in love, and she believes in truth.” Jenkins goes on to describe Wonder Woman’s worldview as, “I believe in the betterment of you, and I believe in you, and I believe in truth. And I believe that you all can be better, and I will fight to protect you. But I also believe in better than that.”

– She also believes that Wonder Woman fights not because she wants to, but because she has to for the betterment of mankind.

– The film won’t delve too much into Dr. Maru’s backstory, but her driving motivation is that she’s someone who has suffered a lot of pain, and now delights in seeing that kind of pain inflicted on others to prove that they’re not as strong as her.

– While at first she was a bit bummed that she didn’t get to cast Wonder Woman, once she met Gadot, all her fears were put to rest.

– What made her want to do the movie was being on the same page as the studio in wanting to tell Wonder Woman’s origin story.

– She didn’t even see Batman v Superman until she was halfway done making Wonder Woman.

– The studio always supported her vision (while this may sound like director-speak, I will say that they walked us through the plot on set and then again in the edit bay for people who weren’t on the set visit; the two plots match up, so there haven’t been any major changes).

– There was never any pressure to try and tie the story to the present day, and while Jenkins did hint that the ending will probably connect in some way to Justice League, this is first and foremost an origin story for Wonder Woman.

– Jenkins doesn’t believe Wonder Woman’s origin story is more complicated than any other superhero’s; it’s just that those superheroes have gotten movies to popularize those origin stories. She notes that most people probably didn’t know Superman’s history until Richard Donner’s film. That’s what they’re hoping to do with Wonder Woman.

– It was important to nail the tone and make sure that they could hit that “small pocket” of not making the World War I stuff look too much like a BBC documentary, but also not being campy by having a person in a superhero costume walking through a battlefield.

– There are “hundreds of things” Jenkins would like to do with Wonder Woman beyond the character’s origin story.

– Jenkins wanted to make sure that humor was a part of the story because she felt that was honest to life.

– There was no mandate on the tone of her movie.

[source]

[burnouts3s3]

Wonder Woman Final Thoughts Before Movie

Wonder Woman Final Thoughts Before Movie

What do you want most?

Namely, a good movie. I want a good movie with a female lead, a good superhero movie, a good Wonder Woman movie and a movie that makes money so Hollywood eventually wakes up, smells the coffee and starts making more films with female leads, if only for superheroes.

What is the Origin Story you would like to see?

The Amazons are a group of warrior women who were tricked by Hercules or Ares and enslaved. They broke their bonds and Hera found them a new island to call home, in which they created an advanced civilization without war or death or ills of men. Steve Trevor, an air force pilot, crash lands on Paradise Island/ Themyscira only to be found by a group of Amazons. Princess Diana meets and falls in love with Steve only for her mother, Hippolyta, to forbid her from going to man’s world and holding a competition to see who is most qualified to be an emissary. Princess Diana competes as a masked fighter and reveals herself to be the most successful and thus becomes the Wonder Woman. She returns Steve home and adopts the secret identity of Diana Prince, Steve’s secretary, and helps him during missions in World War 1/2.

Who should be Diana’s nemesis in the movie?

My money’s on Baroness von Gunther, if only to tie it into the whole ‘capable women in their field that are overshadowed by historical sexism’; it would make a good foil and give them a chance to bounce off one another as ideological opposites.

But, if we’re heading into ‘Thor like’ territory, you have to have her battling greek mythological creates or Gods such as Ares, Hades, Circe or even Hercules.

I know there might be some enthusiasts who’d like to see the Cheetah or Giganta in the movie, but I’m not entirely sure how you’d make those villains work, especially since DC seems to be leaning on the New 52 style versions.

What about Diana’s Birth?

Okay, this is a weird one. While the many adaptations of Wonder Woman tend not to mess around with the origin story too much, DC comics has been trying to over explain Wonder Woman’s birth, in so much that they changed the canonical story for decades of Wonder Woman being shaped from clay and willed into existence by both Hippolyta and the Gods above and given elements of each of them.

In recent versions, mainly the Brian Azzarello run, they’ve changed it so that Zeus had an affair and slept with Hippolyta, thus making Diana another illegitimate child of Zeus. (To be fair, Azzarello addressed the whole clay birth issue saying that Hippolyta lied so that Hera wouldn’t find out and kill all the Amazons). Even the new DC Rebirth is changing it so that Diana is Hercules’ child now.

Personally, I’ve always been more favorable of the original origin (I guess you could call me a… ‘clay birther’), mainly because it adds to the mysticism of the work and giving Diana a jerk father seems more like a cheap writer’s trick.

But again, context. If you can make it so that Diana’s father works within said context of the film, I will forgive these slights.

What about Steve Trevor?

Steve’s always been Diana’s partner, both career wise and romantically. I fully expect the movie to explore that partnership in detail.

I know 2009’s version gets a lot of flak for portraying Steve as this misogynist pig when in the comics he’s actually one of the more forward thinking officers in the Air Force, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the movie does go that route, if only because Chris Pine (who I like) tends to be able to play jerks and pigs more than gentlemen.

What about Etta Candy?

Etta’s always been that weird element in the Wonder Woman mythology that writers past the Golden Age never really knew what to do with her. She’s was, literally, the fat friend of Wonder Woman who loved candy and would occasionally lead Calvary charges of the Holliday Girls, a sorority of young women, to run in and help Wonder Woman when she needed the help.

I know the modern versions of the comic books keep Etta on hand as an homage or tribute to the canonical roots , but she’s always been all over the place. Sometimes she’s the comedic relief as in the Wonder Woman TV show with Lynda Carter. Sometimes she’s a side character and lieutenant like in Perez’s run on Wonder Woman. And sometimes she’s in one scene and flirts with Steve Trevor like in 2009’s Wonder Woman.  One aspect I liked in New 52 is making Etta a black woman; that’s pretty cool.

And all the modern iterations tend to show Etta rather… slim. (To be fair George Perez originally had Etta be a little chubby only for her to lose weight later on as issues progressed).

I’m honestly not sure how to make her work but I’m curious on which route they go towards.

Would you be okay with Wonder Woman killing?

Ehh… Unless we’re talking about hardcore vigilantes with a history for being psychopathic murderers like The Punisher or Blade or Deadpool or occasionally Wolverine, I tend to fall back on the ‘no kill’ rule and the fact that we would have to accept one of comic book’s oldest heroines killing someone just strikes me as DC pandering to their fanbase.

I know there are ‘exceptions’ to the no kill rule, (for example, someone pointed out that Batman kills someone in every film of his), but I think there should be a difference between “Batman literally shoots someone to death” and “Batman stages events so that the villain causes his own demise”. God is in the details.

Then again, this ‘is’ the same studio that’s okay with Superman snapping a man’s neck while destroying a city and okay with Batman using a gun to kill his enemies. If DC were to go with a version of Wonder Woman that snaps someone’s neck (which fans will defend was part of the character but more likely a recent development), I wouldn’t be surprised. I know DC is propping up this narrative that they’re a ‘auteur friendly’ company as opposed to the ‘factory line assembly’ Marvel Studios is, and it’ll mostly be up to the director, Patty Jenkins, to decide what Diana does (though I wouldn’t be surprised if executives were giving Jenkins notes on making the aesthetic more in line with the rest of the DC Cinematic Universe).  

Again, it’s all about context. I won’t mind killing if you actually explain it within the context. That’s the main problem with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman; none of the supposed dramatic events made sense within its own established logic and they just ‘assumed’ the audience would go along with it.

Do you think Feminists will like it?

I think some will and some won’t. I hate to invoke the ‘No True Scotsman’ fallacy, but it is what it is. Feminist, now, has become such a loaded word that it tends to lose all meaning when used nowadays. It’s going to be Mad Max: Fury Road all over again: some people who identify themselves as feminist will like it and some people who identify themselves as feminist will hate it and some might feel indifferent to it altogether.

I fully expect those who think or believe that violence as a progression of events is bad (such as Anita Sarkeesian or Jonathan McIntosh) probably won’t like it but others like Carolyn Petit might look on it more favorably. (Don’t worry; they even nitpicked Jessica Jones, probably the most ‘feminist friendly’ of the superhero works. Just keep that in mind). And there might be some discussion of having Persons of Color or Women of Color in the cast.

In the end of the day, just make a good movie.

[moviemagistrate]

“Wonder Woman” review

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in being not-particularly-excited for “Wonder Woman”, the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe; after all, I did see the other films in the DCEU. There was the two-and-a-half-hour long trailer “Man of Steel”, the ambitious but notably flawed “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, and “Suicide Squad”, a film that if I were forced to choose between seeing again and taking my own life, I would spend far too long considering. With skepticism in hand, I saw “Wonder Woman”, and I cannot remember the last time I was so happy to be so wrong about a film. This isn’t to say that the movie doesn’t have its own fair share of flaws (it does), but in at least one significant area, which is to inspire hope for the DCEU, it works wonders.

After a brief framing-device setup, the movie tells the origin story of Diana, princess of an isolated island of muscular, Amazonian warrior-babes. In a slow-but-alright prologue, she grows from an eager young girl who is sheltered from combat by her Queen mother to a formidable fighter when suddenly, dashing American soldier Steve Trevor crash lands in their waters. From him, she discovers the ongoing conflict of World War I and sets out alongside him to Europe to help save humanity from what she believes to be the machinations of Ares, the wrathful god of war. Writing it now, this sounds like silly, comic book-y stuff (and it is), but it works within the context of the movie, and the plot isn’t really the reason the movie works as well as it does, anyway.

Let’s talk about Gal Gadot. I was among those who were skeptical when Zack Snyder first cast her as Wonder Woman in BvS, despite his usual excellent penchant for casting his films. A model with acting experience that mainly consisted of “Fast & Furious” movies (not exactly acting showcases) being put in the shoes of the most famous female hero in comic book history has a lot to live up to, and while her limited role in BvS was decent, it didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Such is not the case here in her solo film. Finally given a character with outward personality and depth, she is absolutely phenomenal in what is legitimately one of the best portrayals of a comic book character in any movie. Diana is an idealist, a good-hearted and eager young woman (despite being centuries-old) with no small amount of naiveté and innocence but also someone who is also fiercely strong-willed and independent, and Gadot nails every aspect of her character and every bit of her development throughout the course of the movie, as well as being surprisingly funny. Sure, you could argue that there are probably some actresses out there who could offer some better line-deliveries, but in terms of sheer charisma and how she carries herself and how she makes you believe that she is Wonder Woman, I’d say that Snyder’s mostly-superlative casting record continues. By the end of the film you’ll be convinced that Gal Gadot is a fucking megastar.

The main reason the movie works so well for me is Diana’s relationship with Trevor, played by Chris Pine. A likable, cynical rogue who isn’t too much of a stretch for Pine considering he plays Kirk similarly in the new “Star Trek” films, but a character who is still given enough dimension and gravitas to make him memorable, which the naturally charismatic Pine plays to a tee. Their lack of familiarity with each other’s worlds and their clashes in communication leads to some nice fish-out-of-water humor (see Trevor’s bemusement at the glowing water on the island or Diana’s reaction to her first ice cream), but it’s their chemistry that is the beating heart of this film. The characters’ opposing worldviews supplies the needed character drama, but also helps creates a bond that feels as natural and fresh as any pairing in recent history. Just try watching the boat scene about 30 minutes into the movie without smiling, laughing, or feeling the fireworks these two create. This leads to a bond atypical of most movies, where their deepening relationship is based not on superiority of one over the other, but one of equality and respect, where you actually feel these two grow both individually and together. I might be harping too much on this matter, but this is easily the best romance in any comic book movie (yes, even better than Cap and Bucky). Other film couples have chemistry; these two are cooking Heisenberg-quality meth together and making it look effortless.

The rest of the cast is solid, as well. Of note are Steve’s three buddies who tag along with him and Diana on their mission. They initially seem like the typical diverse comic-relief sidekicks, but are surprisingly well-written and are even given their own moments that flesh out and humanize them more than you’d expect in this kind of film (and I’m always happy to see Scotsman Ewen Bremner onscreen). Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright are alright as Diana’s Amazon queen mother and warrior aunt, but they’re only in the opening third of the movie and spend much of it speaking in stilted “Game of Thrones” dialogue. While the actors who play the villains are good, their actual characters are one of the film’s main weaknesses, somewhat lacking in terms of depth and being interesting. We never really understand why Doctor Poison stoops to creating her devastating weapons of war, and [SPOILERS] the “surprise” late-reveal of Ares can be seen coming a mile away. [END SPOILERS] It’s somewhat ballsy to take a historical figure such as German general Erich Ludendorff and make him the cackling bad guy in your movie (with some unusually accurate attention to detail like his view of war and his pagan Norse worship), and while entertaining, he too suffers from a lack of depth and motivation beyond conquering the world (which again should be noted, is not entirely historically inaccurate).

Patty Jenkins is the first time a woman has directed a major superhero film (not counting Lexi Alexander’s low-budgeted but face-explodingly awesome “Punisher: War Zone”), and she brings a uniquely feminine perspective to Diana’s story, from her upbringing in an all-female society to her learning of the frustrating world of mankind to her loving and compassionate nature. Jenkins has only directed one movie 14 years ago and has only done a handful of TV stuff since then, so her ground as an action director is understandably a bit shaky. The action itself is pretty good, but between the slight over-reliance on Snyder-esque slo-mo and over-editing, you can kind of tell this is Jenkins’ first time doing this sort of thing (not helped by some shockingly crappy CGI). However, she makes up for this by spacing out the action well over the course of the movie, and giving each fight weight, story meaning, and character development for Diana. Along with Rupert Gregson-Williams’ pounding soundtrack, this comes together best in an outstanding mid-movie charge across no man’s land to liberate a Belgian village. 

Putting aside the action stuff, Jenkins’ strength lies in the character scenes. The boat scene and others like it feel so natural and well-done because Jenkins knows the importance of slowing a movie down to let us take in the characters and making us care for them. In these scenes, she shows moments of such humanity and personal growth that it really catches you off-guard how moving this film can be. Later in the film, there’s a scene where a character sacrifices themselves and the camera holds on their face for a while, and seeing this person come to terms with their death will both break your heart and take your breath away. Moments like this involve you in a story more than any giant CGI clusterfuck or ironic Marvelquip. Speaking of which, the film itself has a refreshingly good sense of humor, that in deference to modern superhero tradition never feels forced and feels like it’s coming naturally from the characters and their quirks instead of soulless hack writers making pop-culture references.

Despite all that the film does right, it’s not without its flaws. Along with the aforementioned dodgy special effects and the so-so villains, the film also tends to get bogged down in exposition. It has not only the early backstory narration (which at least has context since it’s a story being read to Diana by her mother) and the third-act “villain explains their motivations” monologue, but also fairly frequent occurrences of “newly-introduced character tells us who they are and what the situation is”. It’s still done relatively well, and I prefer it to a movie rushing through just to get to the next studio-mandated action beat, but they could have been more economic with these parts. Also, the third act is a bit of a letdown. Without spoiling much, it disappointingly becomes another huge CG-battle after the baddie monologue, the kind we’ve all seen dozens of times. Maybe some producer or studio exec is hoping that these types of climaxes will one day go full-circle and become exciting again. Finally, the very last shot of the movie is kind of silly; it has no real purpose and is only there because someone out there mistakenly thought it’d look cool.

Nevertheless, I’m writing this review a few days after seeing it, and I’m honestly still shocked at how much I was thrilled, entertained, and even moved by “Wonder Woman”. It’s just so rare for me to find a movie that actually clicks with me on an emotional level that I can easily recommend it despite its relatively-minor foibles. I’m not convinced the DCEU has its shit together as this film could just as likely be an anomaly, but “Wonder Woman” is miraculous solely by giving one the slightest bit of hope that “Justice League” will be good. As long as Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins make another one of these, I might just become optimistic about this franchise. You go, girls.

[spryfilm]

“Wonder Woman” (2017)

Thriller/Action

Running Time: 141 minutes

Written by: Allan Heinberg

Directed by: Patty Jenkins,

Featuring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen and Elena Anaya

Diana Prince: “The gods made the Amazons to restore peace to the world, and it’s what I’m going to do.”

Possibly one of the most anticipated super hero movies in recent history has arrived in the form of the Patty Jenkins directed, Gal Gadot starring “Wonder Woman” (2017), about an Amazonian warrior who after years of training as well as shunning the world of ‘man’ is drawn into World War I by her sometime beau Steve Trevor. If you have been following Wonder Woman’s journey to the big screen you will know that she first appeared in the terrible Zack Snyder directed “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) where she stole the show with her kick ass attitude as well as the fact she didn’t defer or wait for the boys – she got on with showing off almost all of her tools, the shield, the sword, the lasso, those bracelet’s and of course her battle hardiness. Now as every good super hero as well as possible new franchise needs is an origin story, not just any story but a great one – something Warner Bros./DC has finally learnt from Marvel. As with any good origin story this one is built around a solid character, with some moral unrest as well as a few friends to help out where needed. What also helps is a director that can handle a huge budget as well as the expectations from the studio and audience alike. What we get is a very mixed bag with a film that starts strong then plot contrivances combined a with a very weak as well as confusing third act lets this film down but is still a great ride.

Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.

For me the first question that had to be answered was all to do with the director, that is, the hiring of a relative newcomer to direct what is potentially the blockbuster of the year as well the re-launching after a much publicized failure (thanks Zack Snyder) in 2016. I am happy to say that Patty Jenkins has done an outstanding job given all the inherent limitations as well as having a huge studio hovering in the background. It has been pretty obvious in the press as well as the marketing that Jenkins and star Gal Gadot have been on the same page right from the jump. Seeing a hero that is based in Greek mythology brought to life in three dimensions as well as it being done so competently is a real gift for audiences, one I hope they embrace with open arms. This film was always going to be directed by a woman, Warner Bros. had to beat Marvel at something and if they are unable to do so with the product or success, they at least could be first at something – having the first female led superhero movie as well as having a woman direct what is probably one of the largest budgeted superhero movie’s is a start. I think it is unfortunate that we do live in an age where this is seen as a step forward but women have been systemically cut out of this process.

The next step to get right was the casting and when Gal Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman for her debut many people had no clue who she was. However with a super strong marketing campaign as well as a few “Fast and Furious” films under her belt the public quickly became aware who was playing the Amazonian Princess – in fact this is a role if handled correctly could be the answer for Warner Bros. to have a face for the DC Universe that is 100% unique as well as being one of the three pillars of the DC Universe – giving those tired old warhorses Batman and Superman a well deserved break – is it me or are those two so last century. Gadot has embraced this character so well that she shines onscreen and even though the story may seem a little rehearsed, overblown and at times just like any other superhero origin, particularly a DC one – how can they still not get their endings right? Have you seen “Guardian’s of the Galaxy: Volume 2” (2017)? She seems above it all and able to handle anything.

The other two standouts for me are Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) and Lucy Davis (Etta Candy) – I was not sure how I would feel about seeing these two characters brought to life but like all great actors Pine and Davis are fully invested. I was invigorated to see Chris Pine take this role, as was it a sidekick role that has the job of showing Diana the ropes, so to speak. But Pine with his own franchise and after his own turn in last years excellent “Hell or High Water” (2016) it is obvious that this role required something special and real, so Pine is your man. After years of playing characters such as Dawn in the original “The Office” (2001 – 2003), Dianne in “Shaun of the Dead” (2004) and Emily in “Maron” (2015 – 2016) it is deserving she play Wonder Woman’s number 2 in the amazing Etta Candy – straight from the comics, she plays her wonderfully and threatens to steal the movie.

It was with some relief when I found the story shifting from Paradise Island to the ‘modern’ world that this was going to be set during World War I. The relief came from the fact that we were not going to be subjected to World War II and all the tropes that go along with it. In my mind it always seems to be a lazy way to move the plot as well as establishing a narrative as almost any fantasy or comic book film will use the Nazis as the ‘bad guys’ thereby negating the need to build three dimensional antagonists. With “Wonder Woman” however there was a need to establish a villain, the standout being Elena Anaya as Dr. Poison who I found to be extremely compelling and original, for a comic book villain that is. Unfortuabltey the same cannot be said of Danny Hustons whose idea of seeming evil is ywllng, a lot, as well as having no clue about what his motivations are, expet he is bad and just has to kill everyone else – really? That’s a villain in 2017, all he was missing was a moustache to twirl. However and no spoilers give it was about to get worse.

Once again we see with these high priced and still overblown superhero movies a massive reliance on CGI, which of course is the case with “Wonder Woman”, the difference with the better films is that this use of special effects is combined with great characters as well as interesting action moments that serve as one scene or moment. It could be with Jenkins background in independent movies, she directed Charlize Theron to a best actress Oscar for her only previous movie the serial killer biography “Monster” (2003), that she is able to take character first building around that to give a complete moment. Of course there are still third act issues with the big showdown that we have come to expect, but it is saved by the Gadot doing what she does best in with the character that is to stand up and not look back.

Unfortunately it has to be said the entire movie is ultimately let down by the ending as well as a final battle which I thought had ended with something akin to previous Marvel film. I also thought it was going to be a smarter ending which was hinted at in regard to the war, our place as humans in conflict and the fact that there is no easy answer. Boy was I ever wrong, it the film took a left turn, and suddenly I felt I was back at the end of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” – what a nightmare, please get me out. It was such a shame to see a film let me down this much.

I will not go into any real plot details as this movie is better left as a surprise even though the trailers have given away a few of the key points which is par for the course these days but this is a movie definitely worth seeing on the big screen and for my mind without a second watch is still in the top 15 comic book films produced to date. It is a true relasation of a property (again with a painful third act) that has gone through some turmoil over the past ten years with issues from medium, to directors, to writers to who would play the main part. But “Wonder Woman” is a fantastic watch for all ages and both genders, you should go and see. We should be thankful to have a Wonder Woman finally come to life.

“Wonder Woman” is out now only in cinemas.

Film review: “Wonder Woman” (2017) “Wonder Woman” (2017) Thriller/Action Running Time: 141 minutes Written by: Allan Heinberg Directed by: Patty Jenkins,

[comiconverse]

Film Review: Wonder Woman

After the disappointing DCEU offerings, 2017 brings Wonder Woman the most anticipated superhero film in a decade. And film critic Jordan Samuel brings us the official ComiConverse review.

Film Review: Wonder Woman

Before she was Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), she was Diana, Princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, Diana meets an American pilot (Chris Pine) who tells her about the massive conflict that’s raging in the outside world. Convinced that she can stop the threat, Diana leaves her home for the first time. Fighting alongside men in a war to end all wars, she finally discovers her full powers and true destiny.

Credit: Warner Bros.

Warner Brothers first venture into their own superhero cinematic universe, the DCEU, opened to an uneven start, dividing both critics and fans with its emphasis on darker elements. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad all lacked the positive response needed to go forward with a blemish-free expanded universe. Needless to say, the DC community’s ongoing support wasn’t enough to bring in global box-office success.

Batman and Superman have both headlined recent iterations, giving us more DC adventures, but fans have been waiting a long time for the Amazonian princess Wonder Woman to get a shot at the big screen.

These dreams cam true in 2016, with the lukewarm Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as Gal Gadot gave us a universality praised performance. Due to the character’s popularity, Warner Bros. green lit an origin movie based on the Wonder Woman’s origin story.

Patty Jenkins (Monster) was chosen to direct the long-awaited adaptation of Wonder Woman, which excited filmgoers due to her previous film being an Oscar-winner. Patty Jenkins is known for giving smaller lesser-known actresses career-defining roles, and having the keys to the first female-led superhero movie felt like the right thing, as her work is always character driven.

But apart from being the first female led superhero flick, does Wonder Woman stack up against the competition? Find out, as we delve into the next big DCEU movie.

Credit: Warner Bros.

Wonder Woman (2017) is a triumph for the 75-year-old DC Comics princess, concentrating on the character’s golden fundamentals and quirks, but also reinventing her origin for a new audience. Wonder Woman is one fun ride; giving fans a superhero that goes back to the cool mix that Superman (1978) brought to cinema.

The movie has personality, and is not frightened to go in another direction completely; dropping the complex and interconnected storytelling seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Gone is the forced world-building, as those efforts are swapped out for a more developed character, driven adventure, filled with laughter and hope – something that has been lost in this genre.

Patty Jenkins enters the superhero genre feet first with Wonder Woman (2017), making a terrifically fun adventure film, with one serious message. It’s the perfect balance.

Jenkins makes her audience root for good, instead of the indefinite desperadoes in Suicide Squad. Comedy is an important factor here, as the fish-out-of-water theme carries through the run-time. Wonder Woman (2017) understands how to respect the character; developing Diana Prince thoroughly.

Credit: Warner Bros.

  Wonder Woman’s story revolves around American pilot Steve Trevor, who crashes on Themyscira, who then explains to Diana Prince about the War to End All Wars. Diana leaves her home for the first time, to try to stop the terrible war, and becomes a superhero in the process. This might sound like Captain America: The First Avenger, but Patty Jenkins doesn’t focus on the war as the main initiative. Instead, Wonder Woman is a character driven adventure that develops a female icon, one who fears for mankind in this dire situation.

The plot is a simple affair, and doesn’t have any connections to previous DCEU outings; creating a more streamlined picture.

Gal Gadot (Fast and Furious) returns as Diana Prince the immortal Amazon princess and daughter of Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), who has lived on the island of Themyscira all her life. Gadot gives us a contemporary take on the beloved character, expanding upon her cameo in Batman v Superman; this time being less mysterious but curious about man’s world.

Gadot may not have the charisma and wittiness seen in recent superhero outings, but she delivers a powerful performance, embodying Wonder Woman at every step. The connection with her co-star Chris Pine is something to write home about, as their playful comradery plays out perfectly on-screen.

Patty Jenkins uses all of Gal Gadot’s talents, with a focus on the actress’s physicality and charming personality – making Wonder Woman come alive on the big screen. Jenkins has expanded on the mythos, providing a solid origin story, which doesn’t shy away from modernizing the 40-year-old roots.

Credit: Warner Bros.

Chris Pine (Star Trek) plays Steve Trevor, the first outsider to ever set foot on Themyscira. He is also the first man Diana has ever seen. Pine’s signature charisma is a stark comparison to the serious Wonder Woman. Pen gives us the best on-screen performance in his career, as the lovable army Commander.

Screenwriter Jason Fuchs (Ice Age) gives us a reason to care about Steve Trevor, as the connection between he and Diana Prince feels real, while they get to understand each other’s background. Chris Pine deserves awards for bringing the relatively unknown Steve Trevor into live-action, with a needed personality change from the comics.

David Thewlis is Ares, the treacherous son of Zeus and Greek god of war, who pretends to be Sir Patrick Morgan, a member of the German General Staff.  David Thewlis does his best in giving fans, an intimidating villain, but ends up falling short, in a boring third act that reduces the role to painfully bad CGI and limits his dark mysterious tone.

Its disappointing that this part of the story did not live up to its potential, even though I loved his interaction with Wonder Woman. Perhaps using more of his onscreen presence would have lessened the CGI issues. Patty Jenkins does try to make it work,  but the CGI in the script is the main issue.

Credit: Warner Bros.

In terms of cinematography, Wonder Woman is one beautifully shot movie, feeling authentic to the time period, with costume and set design to match.  Color has been added to divert away from the moody tone seen in previous DC outings. The action is also immense ,and focuses on the strength of Wonder Woman. Patty Jenkins does use many slow-mo effects which do feel forced, limiting impact on-screen. This should have been toned-down in this final release.

Wonder Woman a celebration of the 75-year-old creation, reinventing the origin for modern audiences but not forgetting the character’s roots and values.

Patty Jenkins continues to create character-driven movies, this time within a beloved superheroine, proving that females deserve their own hero movies as well.  In an era of confusing complex storytelling, this film gets down to a grounded level, while developing a superhero many will love.

Wonder Woman is not a masterpiece but respectfully brings an iconic superheroine to big screens across the world. Being a smaller project than the latest DCEU counterparts, Wonder Woman (2017) remembers to give a world-renowned hero a focused and solid picture.

I would recommend to go and see this one in IMAX! Patty Jenkins has finally made a great female superhero movie!

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