What a damn waste. Awful story, nothing characters, nonsensical film rules, plot necessary motivations & machinations, uncool nostalgia, unmotivating action, unbelievable plot, and uncared for characters ultimately lead to this film being completely unfulfilling.
They took all the good will, expectation, excitement and hope from the best DCU film to date and gratuitously squandered it. It was shocking that this is the same general group that made that last film, for the skill level in telling a story or making a compelling film was absent. This was a flat nothing; the type of film that would make you angry if you spent money on a ticket.
Gadot is fairly uninteresting here and kind of takes a backseat to the plot driving Lord. Pascal’s Lord has some zip to him and Pascal does what he can with this outrageous but empty role, but it all kind of goes nowhere. Wiig, I have no idea. I don’t think her character works at all, her progression of “power corruption” is lame, she knows plot points that are necessary only because they are in the script, and her “feline façade” is fairly wretched. Pine has a touch of charming, but is a non factor other than a couple joke scenes. There is literally no-one to get into and onboard with in this film.
This is a way too long and underdeveloped mess. It had no reason to be so long, especially since the story was tremendously simplistic. It lacked any character asides or building, and none of the film carried weight, emotional or intellectual. Just because that other company’s franchise had a couple long films to wrap up a 23 movie-long storyline that contained about 30 big characters and spanned time & space doesn’t mean you need to stretch this junk out too.
Would I watch this before BvS? Sure. But I don’t think I have been more disappointed in a DCU film, or any film, in a long time. It felt completely flawed and inadequate in every area. Even the most simplistic things, like if you are putting the year in the title of the film, it should truly feel relevant and appreciable but this didn’t’ even resonate with nostalgia, just wrote décor and barren gestures.
The whole thing is such a disappointing casualty.
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***SPOILER RANTS BELOW***
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So much doesn’t make sense:
The opening “learn a lesson” scene has next to no bearing on the rest of the film. Something about “truth”...idk...who cares? Maybe really try to make it relevant; it might provide some payoff.
the mall heist all together is ridiculous and absurd - the fact of her not being seen/known, a thug holds a child over a ledge for no reason, and all of her movements/actions are overblown nothingburgers
Steve possesses some random guy’s body and they take no action to figure that out and pay no heed to him. Guess he goes down as a worthy sacrifice as long as Diana gets to bone down her ghost bf
All of a sudden, she had invisibility powers “that she learned from her father”. A. Why doesn’t she actually ever use them and B. Her dad was absentee Zeus, with whom she never interacted with.
Plot completely dictates her powers and uses. Her lasso can do anything unless it can’t. She can fly, but doesn’t use it in the “now” movies. Her speed, durability, and strength all wax and wain due only to the needs of whatever film she is in’s story.
This fighter jet can fly from DC to Cairo? Did they refuel this invisible jet? It never makes another appearance (pun on purpose)
The middle eastern vehicles chase is ridiculous at every turn. Her powers are completely fluctuating, a crappy car riddled with bullets in its engine runs fine. Apparently they didn’t shoot at the glass? Steve can do anything he needs to here. And she lassos a ride on an rpg; wouldn’t it fall immediately because it is a tiny projectile and not meant to bear loads for flight?
The ill defined and vaguely used wish rules here. Some people get 2 wishes. All of a sudden, for the plot, he chooses what people give up. He has to be “touching” them for it to work and “space satellite molecule waves” or whatever counts as “touching” because that was the vaguely used lingo in a White House briefing?
1984 computers couldn’t function as tv screens. I buy riding lightning with a magic golden lasso of truth to fight a cheetah woman and a man embodying an ancient wishing rock, but this is too much.
So you are telling me that the whole world has their wishes fulfilled and all of them renounce their wishes? Bs
So everyone in the world knows Max and knows he is responsible for not only almost ending the world but these magic feats; are they not going to take action or inquire about the nigh apocalyptic sorcery?
Why does DC become anarchy when everyone is getting their wishes fulfilled? Oh! For the plot. Gotcha...
Cheetah is electrocuted but... fine?
So the entire world is fundamentally changed by all of this but no one cares or brings it up? This is a pre-Superman and Batman world, not knowing superheroes or aliens or magic, but this is forever glossed over because they need the future story to make sense?