Last night, I saw "Wonder Woman," and aside from all the well-deserved praise it's receiving, I can't believe that every comic book nerd on the planet isn't bowing down to Patty Jekins for recapturing the essence of what makes superheroes--especially DC superheroes--so entertaining--
The fact that they want to be superheroes.
By handing over their cinematic universe to tortured, testosterone-driven, emo-men, Warner Bros. and DC transformed their line-up of heroes into a bunch of ego-driven sociopaths with no real purpose other than to stare up at the sky and wonder why they were cursed with burdens like the ability to fly or drive cool cars or throw cars at bad guys.
Then along comes Wonder Woman to remind us--
Oh yeah, that shit's fun!
As I was watching the movie, I wanted to cheer every time some guy told Wonder Woman not to do something and she did it anyway, both because it was a woman defying men, and also because it was a badass looking at non-badasses saying--
"No, I'm a superhero. This is what I'm here for."
--And in the process, inspiring them to be heroes as well.
That's what a superhero movie is supposed to do. It's supposed to inspire people. That's why we have these characters.
I realize that somewhere along the way, unironic heroism stopped being interesting to us as a culture, so we had to reexamine these icons, and yes, good stuff came out of that, but right now, the last thing we need is another #$%-ing movie where somebody in a kickass uniform who can punch through a brick wall and wield a sword sits atop a building wondering whether or not they should jump down and help somebody because their internal monologue is grappling with morality.
If I have to watch one more of those scenes--let alone an entire movie full of those scenes--my internal monologue will be me screaming for a solid two hours wondering how we got to a place where Superman hates being Superman and Batman is the new Hamlet.
I'm begging whatever poor soul is put in charge of the next Superman standalone film to use this movie as a rubric, because Wonder Woman was more of a Superman than Zack Snyder's brooding creation has ever been. The fact that I'm even using the word "brooding" to describe Superman is insane to me.
Ironically, our salvation comes in the form of Wonder Woman, who wonders about lots of stuff, but never about whether she should go be a farmer somewhere and leave all the fighting to somebody else. She wonders whether people are worth saving for exactly five seconds and then goes right back to fighting the bad guys.
That's why every single person who loves superheroes and the people who created them should be heralding this film not just as a great superhero film, but as a film that encapsulates exactly how you're supposed to make these kinds of films.
The fact that they want to be superheroes.
By handing over their cinematic universe to tortured, testosterone-driven, emo-men, Warner Bros. and DC transformed their line-up of heroes into a bunch of ego-driven sociopaths with no real purpose other than to stare up at the sky and wonder why they were cursed with burdens like the ability to fly or drive cool cars or throw cars at bad guys.
Then along comes Wonder Woman to remind us--
Oh yeah, that shit's fun!
As I was watching the movie, I wanted to cheer every time some guy told Wonder Woman not to do something and she did it anyway, both because it was a woman defying men, and also because it was a badass looking at non-badasses saying--
"No, I'm a superhero. This is what I'm here for."
--And in the process, inspiring them to be heroes as well.
That's what a superhero movie is supposed to do. It's supposed to inspire people. That's why we have these characters.
I realize that somewhere along the way, unironic heroism stopped being interesting to us as a culture, so we had to reexamine these icons, and yes, good stuff came out of that, but right now, the last thing we need is another #$%-ing movie where somebody in a kickass uniform who can punch through a brick wall and wield a sword sits atop a building wondering whether or not they should jump down and help somebody because their internal monologue is grappling with morality.
If I have to watch one more of those scenes--let alone an entire movie full of those scenes--my internal monologue will be me screaming for a solid two hours wondering how we got to a place where Superman hates being Superman and Batman is the new Hamlet.
I'm begging whatever poor soul is put in charge of the next Superman standalone film to use this movie as a rubric, because Wonder Woman was more of a Superman than Zack Snyder's brooding creation has ever been. The fact that I'm even using the word "brooding" to describe Superman is insane to me.
Ironically, our salvation comes in the form of Wonder Woman, who wonders about lots of stuff, but never about whether she should go be a farmer somewhere and leave all the fighting to somebody else. She wonders whether people are worth saving for exactly five seconds and then goes right back to fighting the bad guys.
That's why every single person who loves superheroes and the people who created them should be heralding this film not just as a great superhero film, but as a film that encapsulates exactly how you're supposed to make these kinds of films.
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