Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence.
Now Playing in Theaters and Streaming on HBO Max During the throes of World War I, Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), left her Amazonian home in order to bring peace to the world of man. Alongside expert pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), she managed to defeat the god of war and fulfill her purpose, even if it came at the cost of Trevor’s life. Now it’s 1984, and Diana is living a somewhat normal life as an archeologist working at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. She also patrols the streets of the city in her superhero alter ego, saving people in peril and stopping basic evildoers. Despite living a fairly successful life, she still mourns over Trevor’s death and hasn’t found love since. But everything changes when she and her likable yet overlooked co-worker Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) uncover an ancient stone said to grant one’s greatest desire. Not knowing the truth about its power, they find their wishes granted, with Diana reunited with Trevor’s spirit in the body of another man. Barbara also gets her wish to make herself more powerful and confident, basically getting all of Diana’s powers. As Diana attempts to track down the origin of this power, she and Barbara are faced with a villainous force in struggling businessman Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), who wants the power for his own selfish purposes. While the first Wonder Woman was a massive critical and commercial success, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. My biggest issues with it being a very inconsistent tone and a poorly written script that relied too much on improved lines. Even though it was set during World War I, which was a unique setting for a modern superhero movie, it didn’t really do much to win me over. So you can imagine that my expectations for this one weren’t very high. And with the critical consensus being that this one was inferior to its predecessor, I was fully ready for a film that was even worse. However, against all of my preconceived notions, Wonder Woman 1984 was so much better than what I thought it would be. I went into it thinking pretty much what everyone was saying online. But at the risk of promoting an unpopular opinion, I have to declare that this movie is a major improvement over the first movie in every way. I will admit that, right at the beginning, there was more than enough to prove my expectations right. The opening act is rather clunky, beginning with an overextended flashback sequence with Diana as a child, before heading to 1984 with a montage that feels like an entirely new introduction. This is followed by a goofy and joke-filled look at Diana and Barbara’s lives where most one liners don’t really land. But once Trevor appears and the story begins to gain speed, you start to realize that this isn’t the same kind of movie as the last one. This direction focuses much more on characters over the typical superhero action. Everyone from Diana, to Barbara, to even Maxwell Lord are more three dimensional than the characters in the first one, where they were more like basic war movie clichés. This makes them more compelling to watch as the stakes continue to climb. It’s goofier and more colorful appearance also aids to creating a more balanced tone compared to the first one. It was distracting when several characters in the first movie kept cracking jokes in a very serious environment. Here, right off the bat, the film embraces the underlying comedy of the first and makes it a much more entertaining time. Even if some of the jokes don’t land, they feel well earned. The performances also seem more confident this time around, again aided by the characters not just being one dimensional stereotypes. Gal Gadot continues to show off that she’s perfectly cast as Diana, and even when she stumbles at times, she is able to nail many of the emotional moments during the latter half of the film. Kristen Wiig also continues to show her range as an actress here. She does delve into her typical brand of awkward comedy towards the beginning with Barbara Minerva, and starts off kind of shaky as a result. But when she starts to fully embrace her villain role as Cheeta, her performance is further proof that she has a lot more potential as a dramatic actress rather than a comedic one. I also appreciate the quality of the screenplay this time around. Like I said above, the first film seemed to rely too much on moments of improvised dialogue, especially the scene where Diana and Trevor are sailing away from her home. This film doesn’t have as much improv (at least not as much noticeable improv) and feels like a more cohesive story with better focus on the greater goals of the story. Wonder Woman 1984 plunges our titular heroine into a new era, and focuses much more on who she is as a person rather than the amazing things she can do as a superhero. This makes for a much more satisfying experience in the end, with a more balanced tone and a tighter script that feels better structured and less improved than the first film. This makes me excited to see where Diana’s next adventure will take her.
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Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, thematic material and some language.
Following the Civil War, former Confederate soldier Jefferson Kidd (Tom Hanks) makes a living going from town to town reading the news to people for ten cents. He doesn’t make a lot doing it, but it gives him a sense of purpose. But one day, while on his way to his next stop, he comes across a young girl who was in the process of being transported before her guard was attacked and killed. This is Johanna (newcomer Helena Zengel), a girl who’s family was killed by Indians. She was taken in by them and raised in their ways. But now she has been taken from all that she’s known, and fallen into the hands of Kidd. With no other option, he decides to take her to her only surviving family in a small Texas town. Though they don’t speak the same language, and Johanna has no memory of her real family, they slowly start to bond during the journey in ways that will change their lives forever. News of the World comes to us from director Paul Greengrass. Throughout his career, he has been known for making gritty action films about real world issues (like the Jason Bourn series) and dramas about true incidents like terrorist attacks (United 93 and 22 July). While it can be very difficult to produce a film about such stories without seeming disrespectful, Greengrass has always managed to do it in a way that makes them feel important. So this film is quite different from his previous endeavors. It’s a much more light-hearted adventure story, and while it does have its darker moments, the story isn’t as depressing as some of his other ones. Turns out, this switching up makes for one of his best films, as he crafts a brilliant new spin on the Western genre that feels reminiscent of previous classics while also feeling very timely. It’s honestly quite surprising that this movie stuck to its theatrical release date, since everything around it is either getting delayed or sent to streaming. But it’s really thanks to this that the story feels more relevant than when they shot this last year. The news stories Kidd reads are things that were really going on at that time; told in a way that makes them parallel current events. But somehow, many of the events described feel more like moments that, last year, we could’ve never predicted would ever happen. This actually makes the movie more compelling, as Greengrass is trying to show that between now and then; some things have gotten better, some have gotten worse, and some haven’t changed at all. It’s a kind of hopeful depiction of things that seem utterly hopeless, like rising racial tensions following the war, the out-of-control hunting of buffalos, or an epidemic of meningitis (sound familiar). It’s really lucky that all this makes this movie more important than when it was first conceived. Aside from the script, Greengrass continues to show off his unique directing talents that make his movies so great. He has a documentary style form to his camera work, utilizing handheld shots from the biggest action scenes to the smallest dramatic moments. The way he uses it makes the audience feel like they’re part of the moment; inviting us into the world to feel what the characters do. It’s this style that makes films like United 93 and 22 July compelling without seeming exploitative. And it works here too; allowing us to get into the minds of Kidd and Johanna and understand what makes them who they are. The characters are also brought to life by a talented cast, led by a top tier Tom Hanks. It’s probably no surprise that he gives a fantastic performance, as he is one of the industry’s most talented actors. But there’s something about his performance here that stands out from his others. He doesn’t really feel like he’s just playing himself here, and for the most part I wasn’t thinking, “hey, it’s Tom Hanks in a cowboy hat.” He really feels like he becomes Jefferson Kidd. But I also have to give points to his co-star, Helena Zengel. Her performance as Johanna shows that, even at 12-years-old, she has a lot of potential. She perfectly captures the wide range of emotions in her character; from the bottled up rage towards Kidd for keeping her from the people she knows to the genuine curiosity she develops towards him and his way of life. She and Hanks form a heartwarming bond that makes them an irresistible pair. I also have to commend the film’s impressive, and at the same time subversive, depiction of the old west. I say this because while it’s set during this period, this isn’t a traditional western. There’s no lone gunman or sheriff looking to hunt down a ruthless outlaw, or anything like that. It’s a more accurate portrayal that focuses more on what really happened rather than the fantasy stories we’ve developed from it. And it does so with amazing production design and a musical score that all capture the trials and tribulations of the time. News of the World is a western for people looking for both a callback to a bygone genre, while also something different from what we’re normally given. Paul Greengrass uses his signature talents to bring the world to life, giving us a window to the era headlined by two outstanding leads. It’s awesome that Universal released it despite the risks of distributing a film in this climate, because something like this couldn’t have come at a better time. |