Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) co-written and directed by Patty Jenkins

Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) tries to keep a low profile as a employee of the Smithsonian Institution in 1980s Washington, D. C. She still pines for her lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). When people are in trouble, she has a hard time resisting suiting up and fighting them as Wonder Woman. In the opening sequence (after a flashback to the island Themyscria where the theme of devotion to truth is set up), Wonder Woman foils a stolen antiquities heist at a local mall. One of the items recovered is an ancient wishing stone that winds up at the Smithsonian for assessment. Diana's mousy co-worker Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) takes the stone and wishes to be less mousy, specifically to have Diana's amazing powers. Barbara doesn't know she's Wonder Woman, just that she's popular and cool at work. The wishing stone actually works and Barbara starts transforming. Diana has also made a wish and the spirit of Steve Trevor inhabits the body of some random Washingtonian. She's happy to be reunited and only sees Steve when she sees the guy.

Meanwhile, Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) is a con man trying to build a big, successful company speculating on crude oil drilling. Things aren't working out, so he was going to purchase the wishing stone from the antique dealer. He steals the stone from Barbara's office. His wishes start coming true and, in an attempt to keep the good times rolling, we wishes for the power of the stone. But the stone's wishes come at a price, forcing him to grant other people's wishes, causing more and more damage to society. People just aren't good at wishing for practical, simple things. Wishes for more money, more territory, and more nukes all cause catastrophic problems. Good thing Wonder Woman is here to save the day.

The set-up of the story was a little slow and the initial theme was lost along the way until the end of the movie. The special effects are amazing and the action sequences are fun and exciting. I was worried about re-introducing Steve Trevor in a credible way but the filmmakers handled it well. Gadot and Pine have good chemistry and their characters have a good mix of comedy, romance, and action together. Wiig does a good job transforming from the sympathetic nobody Barbara to the overly ambitious Cheetah. Again, the filmmakers dodged a fail by leaving Wiig in her human form until the end where she gets the cat ears, fur, and tail at the final showdown. The story was weak and rambling, as was Max Lord's abilities and motivation. The movie goes on too long and would probably would have benefited from a rewrite and a tighter edit.

Mildly recommended--it looks great but doesn't make a lot of sense.

Book Review: Wonder Woman: Warbringer The Graphic Novel by L. Simonson et al.

Wonder Woman: Warbringer The Graphic Novel adapted by Louise Simonson from the novel by Leigh Bardugo and illustrated by Kit Seaton

Diana struggles to prove her worthiness to be on the Island of Themyscira. All the other Amazons there have fallen bravely in battle and called on the warrior goddess in their last moments. The warriors' post-mortem reward was to come back to life on Themyscira. Diana was made from clay on the island and has never been in a battle. The most she can hope for is to win competitions against the other Themysciraians. She joins a foot race and uses a secret route to guarantee victory. Along the way, she sees a ship just off the island that explodes. Rather than finish the race, Diana jumps into the sea and saves one of the passengers, Alia. Mortals are forbidden on the island, so Diana has not only lost the race but also will probably be exiled. Going to the local oracle for help, she discovers that Alia is haptandra or a Warbringer. Warbringers are descendants of Helen of Troy and their presence in the world is the cause of wars. Alia is about to cause the ultimate war. The only way to stop her is to take her to Helen's spring in Greece where the haptandra curse can be ended forever. Along the way Diana and Alia face a lot of enemies, both mortal and immortal, who want the Warbringer for their own purposes or just for the fun of another big war.

The story has a promising start even if the premise is awfully similar to Hellboy (another person fated to bring cataclysmic disaster but who resists that fate). The two heroines pick up some allies on their travels who provide some comic relief. The story has a lot of YA girl-power tropes--too many to make it feel original or special. The ending has some out-of-left-field twists that force the story to the expected happy ending. I had a hard time enjoying the plot as I read along.

The art has a lot of neutral blues/greys/greens in it, giving the book an almost black and white feel. Occasional bits have red and orange (action scenes or supernatural visions). The book is more visually distinctive than narratively distinctive.

Not recommended.

Wonder Woman Cake

Having discovered a cake pan from my wife's distant past, my daughter wanted to try out making a Wonder Woman cake. The cake pan is in the shape of DC Comics's number one superheroine. Naturally, the start was making cake mix.

Wonder Woman was made out of clay, not cake mix

Pouring into a powdered pan

One of the tricks in making a shaped cake is to ensure no air holes between the pan and the cake batter. If air holes persist, the shape won't come out right. Extra care and effort were called for.

Smoothing

The other big trick is removing the cake gently so as to preserve the shape. Flouring the pan before cooking helps, as does careful separating at the edges.

Freeing Wonder Woman from her prison

Initial frosting

Not sure what this is

Filling in detail with colors is a fun part, with slightly lighter hair than usual for the Amazonian Princess.

Fixing her hair

Despite the best efforts, details of Dianna's face were lost on the cake. We melted some white chocolate and put it in the pan, resulting in a fabulous face mask.

Face of a hero

The best thing about the cake was the eating afterwards. Yum! Unfortunately, we ate it too quickly and didn't take a picture of the fully-decorated glory of the cake. We'll just have to make another one!

Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2017)

Wonder Woman (2017) directed by Patty Jenkins

A young girl named Diana grows up on the island of Themyscira inhabited only by women. But not any ordinary women, they are the Amazons of Greek legend. They've been granted a sanctuary by Zeus and a solemn mission to prevent Ares, the god of war, from corrupting and slaughtering mankind. The island is protected from the outside world by a mystical barrier that keeps it hidden from the sight of men.

Diana is the only child on the whole island and is beloved by all. Diana wants to learn to fight but her mother, the queen, is reluctant. Even so, all Diana sees is women training for battle with spears and swords and arrows and shields. She trains in secret, which becomes quite helpful when a World War I pilot crash lands just off the island. The pilot is Steve Trevor, an American spy who had infiltrated a German base where they were crafting a new nerve gas weapon. His escape from the base was not subtle and a horde of German boats come to the island right behind him. The Germans sail through the mystical barrier and a big battle ensues.

Once the Germans are dispatched, the Amazons find out about the war from Steve, who is definitely a fish out of water in their society. Diana wants to escort Steve back so she can help fight what is clearly Ares's work. Her mother is again reluctant but Diana goes. The world of men is a very different place from the paradise of the Amazons.

The movie then shifts gears as Diana becomes the fish out of water in Steve's world. She doesn't quite fit in to a world where women are secondary, but Diana stands up for herself and her beliefs. She and Steve work together to plan an attack on a German munitions base where the gas is being manufactured. Steve wants to stop the gas; Diana wants to stop Ares.

The movie works well as a popcorn action film with plenty of comedy relief to keep it popcorny rather than pretentious. It does flirt with pretentiousness. Weirdly, it both promotes and undercuts Wonder Woman's mythological origins. She's told the story about how she was formed of clay by her mom then Zeus gave the clay doll life. Her mother eventually undercuts that story. There's no film sequence showing Diana's creation, so it's left ambiguous. Given that other mythological elements turn out to be false, there's little reason to accept the story of her birth. Diana is shown to be naive in her understanding of the world, an idealism that she grows out of by the end of the story. I found that part disappointing.

On the other hand, the action is exciting and fun if a bit over the top at times (the final battle, as in most modern superhero movies, is a bit nonsensical and mostly a CGI light show). The tension between Diana's Themysciran sensibility and the "modern" 1917 sensibility adds some comedy, something sorely lacking in recent DC comic book movies, and inoffensive social commentary. Having the movie set in 1917 also gives it a nice "period drama" feel. Diana is her own woman and her ideals of love and compassion are inspiring even more than her fisticuffs and sword play.

Recommended.

Book Review: Wonder Woman Vol. 2 Year One by G. Rucka et al.

Wonder Woman Volume 2: Year One written by Greg Rucka, art by Nicola Scott, and colorist Romulo Fajardo Jr.

The DC comic book universe recently underwent a "rebirth" and relaunched a bunch of titles, including Wonder Woman. So naturally they had to retell her origin story with a contemporary setting. The overall arc follows the standard Wonder Woman mythology--Steve Trevor crash-lands on Themyscira, home of the Amazons. The Amazons have a contest to determine who will take him back to the outside world. Diana, daughter of the queen, wins the contest and enters the larger world and becomes Wonder Woman.

The updates are many. Steve is part of an elite military force that is hunting down a terrorist group called "Sear." His small squad is flying to a secret Sear base when they crash on the island. Everyone dies except for Steve. He is nursed back to health but has no understanding of their language, so he doesn't quite know what's going on. The islanders somehow repair his plane and put special plating on it to make it invisible. On returning to America, they report to a military base where the army gathers some experts to try and figure out who and what Diana is and how to communicate with her. One expert is Barbara Ann Minerva, an archeologist who coincidentally has been looking for the home of the Amazons and thus has some knowledge of their language. Diana's powers slowly manifest themselves (and yes, she does have the magic lasso with her) as they all discover the true leader behind the Sear terrorists--the Greek god Ares! Because "Sear" is an anagram of "Ares," right?

The story is interesting if not as compelling as the other origin story I read a while back. Some of the modernizing is fine--the terrorists feel like a real threat (though they have no character depth) and the language and cultural barriers are dealt with well. The three or four references to lesbianism read more like kowtowing to political correctness rather than part of the storyline and felt out of place. Nothing graphic ever happens on that front.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. It's worth a read.

Book Review: Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Battles by G. Ruka et al.

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Battles written by Greg Ruka, George Perez, John Byrne, Gail Simone, Geoff Johns, and Brian Azzarello with art by many talented artists

Ares, Medusa, Cheeta, Power Girl, Superman, and a host of others (including the vengeful children of Ares!) face off against Diana of Themyscira, better known as Wonder Woman. This book takes seven single issues from the past thirty years and gives readers almost literally Wonder Woman's greatest hits. The stories are epic and entertaining, showcasing not only her amazing strength and agility but also her intelligence and integrity. She is a powerful fighter and often makes tough sacrifices in order to save the mortals of Earth.

The art ranges from good to great and the writing is very well done. Highly recommended!

Book Review: Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson

Wonder Woman: The True Amazon writing and art by Jill Thompson

After a war with Herakles, Queen Hippolyta and her Amazon warriors flee to the island of Themyscira. They set up an all-female paradise where peace and harmony reign. The only sadness for Hippolyta is that she wants a child. The Greek gods have compassion on her grief and send her a child, Diana. Diana is the darling of the Amazons. She has too much free reign and becomes spoiled and selfish as she grows into womanhood. She is the top star among the Amazons. Diana explores the strange and dark parts of the island and conquers the dangerous creatures she finds. Her ego leads her to compete in the annual contests of endurance and skill. She makes interesting discoveries and one bad decision that changes the course of her life forever.

The main enemy for Diana in the story is her own ego, which gives her a believable character arc and a reason to go out into the world as a hero at the end. I enjoyed the story even though it was predictable in parts. The water color art style is not my favorite but sometimes it worked perfectly with the story (the dreamy or fantastical parts--Poseidon looks amazing and unlike other depictions).

Well worth reading!