Saturday, January 2, 2021

Wonder Woman and Captain America in: "A Mindwarp From a Monkey!"


This marks the 24th appearance of the WW/Cap team...

Well, I saw Wonder Woman 1984,   

SPOILERS FOLLOW


and like most, I was let down after the first movie was done so well.  I've read reports that Patty Jenkins got rid of her co-writer from the first movie as well as replaced the effects and stunts crews, and it showed.  The opening Amazon scene was fun and promising, but didn't really connect to the rest of the film at all.  The mall fight was not well done, the effects and acting looked like something from an 80's kid's movie, not something just set in the 80's. Still, I should have savored it, since it was the last action scene or scene with WW in costume that there would be for another hour and 10 minutes!  The movie definitely needed better editing, scenes went on too long and the sparse action was spaced too far apart.  Cheetah was wasted, her character didn't need to be there for the plot and we have seen the same origin beats before for Riddler and Electro (not that they worked in those movies either).  By the time (over 2 hours in) that she showed up in Cheetah form (we don't get to see the transformation) It feels like a movie obligation and the effects were dark, murky, and unimpressive.  Diana's golden armor was built up to be amazing and then destroyed and discarded in moments, I guess that was all just to set up the mid credits cameo.  There were parts I liked.  All the acting was fine, I can't blame the performers for the script they were given.  Yes, the learning to fly scene was lifted from Man of Steel, but I still enjoyed it.  The invisible jet visuals were cool, although the scene as a whole was silly considering Steve could somehow fly a modern jet with his WWI skills and Diana made it invisible by rubbing her hands together like Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid.  Finally, why didn't Steve just reappear (Like the wall and other things) instead of hijacking some innocent dude's body and life?  Neither Steve nor Diana seemed overly concerned with this violation, and indeed got intimate using the unwitting "handsome man's" (he didn't even get a name) body.  Diana only undid the wish because she was losing her powers, not out of concern for her and Steve's victim.  Highly unethical to say the least and I can't believe that plot point made it into the movie. As for the wishes, did everyone on Earth really make selfish wishes?  Not one person wished for world peace or something?  All that said, I still liked it better than Birds of Prey!

15 comments:

Davejonz said...

Great to see the Great STF Romance is still on. Not so great to hear the movie is disappointing. Still, a (hopefully) Happier New Year to all.

det_Tobor said...

First, fun cover. How about an actual mindswap? Cap & Diana put in each other's body?

Second, thanks for the memories. Their road trip sounds like the legends of Bob Kane giving it to Bill Finger. She do it or the co told her to reduce overhead? Could they be that stupid? Well, hindsight is .....2020!

Carycomic said...

I haven't seen the movie, yet. So, I'll have to judge for myself.*

As for today's cover-sim? I have to agree with Tobor. A body swap between Diana and one of the Power Puff Girls might've been more in order. Unless, of course, you're slyly building up toward a Part 2 involving those young ladies?

In any case, I like the subtle way you also included a tribute to the late, great artist from MAD Magazine. Well done!



*My parents raved about "Mamma Mia" with Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep. But, to me, "It's Complicated" co-starring Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin was way funnier!

Chuck said...

Ross: Really good point about the hijacking. I hadn't followed it through to the logical conclusion/implication (clearly no one on set did either, or it wouldn't have made it into the movie).

BigMike20X6 said...

Don Martin and Sergio Aragones? Has the world gone MAD?!

Reg Aubry said...

First, good one, BigMike20X6!

Second, Rotten Tomatoes (critics) gives WW84 a 61%, but Birds of Prey a 78%. I agree. I know I'll likely never watch WW84 again in the next ten years, whereas I'll probably see Birds of Prey one more time, despite the crappy editing. At least there's more action.

Edward Keith Johnson said...

It was a bad movie. After jumping in from 1917, Steve Trevor could drive a modern truck and fly a modern airplane. I didn't like the invisible jet scene, they just decided to explain it by giving Wonder Woman the power to turn things invisible, something never shown in the comics, which screams "lazy writing" to me. It was laughable that Steve taught Diana to fly without a plane, not being able to do this himself. it didn't even seem like it was 1984 because all of the professional women were bare legged. Women even wore pantyhose under jeans back then! If you doubt me just watch the first episode of the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman show where she is wearing pantyhose while running across the beach.

Jay Johnson said...

As a super-hero movie, WW84 certainly failed, for the reasons you mentioned. As a chick flick along the lines of Chris Reeves' "Somewhere in Time", it does better. And I think that's the kind of movie Jenkins and Gadot wanted to make this time around, more about Diana than WW.

I'll be interested in seeing what Jenkins does with the Rogue Squadron movie. She's said it's going to be a straight-up fighter plane flick, and she'll have the resources of LucasFilm and Disney behind her, instead of the wimpiness of Warner Bros.

Horsefeathers R Us said...

MONKEY BUSINESS made it to the BIG TIME!!!
Tomorrow doing it from the other side! Let's do the Mindwarp Again!!

If that bust teamed up with Eclipso would it still be 'a head'?
Could Eclipso team up with the evil Dr Spectrum? against Photon?
If all the 'bright' light characters vs all the 'dark' lights would it be by moon light?

Do 2021 up right. Zoom ahead before others catch up.

Anonymous said...

@Horace Feathers: two words. De...caf!

HHHorsefeathers been farmed said...

De ..caf is out of the barn.

Carycomic said...

As in...un-stable?

Nathan Elke said...

I've heard some of the negative comments on WW84, but that certainly wasn't OUR reaction...my wife and I saw it Christmas day, and my daughter and I Boxing Day (in theatre)...my daughter and I enjoyed it a LOT, and my wife was "meh", but because "it was just an action movie and had too much fighting"...the exact OPPOSITE of most of the negative comments...LOL

I thought the Themyscaria (sp?) scene worked into the plot very well: the them of "the truth above all" resonated throughout, as the power of the wishes could only be defeated by facing the truth. i've heard a lot about the hijacked body and really, that was, we thought, the point...Diana was SO lonely and lost without Steve that she was willing to sacrifice many things to keep him...while it wasn't explicitly stated that Handsome Man's body-hijack was another thing she was willing to put up with, it seemed clear. And while her powers being lessened happened, that didn't seem to be the driving force for her renouncing her wish...while Steve had to convince her, it was because it was the right thing to do, and the only way to save everything. I DO agree that having Steve take over someone's body could've been skipped, and he could've been brought back to life in his own body...magic IS magic, and that plot point wouldn't've been there for people to latch on, and it wouldn't've changed the story significantly.

Something I really loved was the continuing of WW not being the typical "smash the bad guys" hero - not that I don't enjoy that, too - it's nice to have a change. That Max wasn't a power-mad dictator but a broken man due to his upbringing and wanting to make his son's life better than the hell he endured was great; had many tears in my eyes at the end. The only thing I wanted to see was a post-credit scene with Barbara...did she renounce her wish? she was out of feline form, but that was a gift from Max, not her original wish...is she still powerful, sexy and inhumane, or did she see the light, too? Are she and Diana still friends, or enemies? The mid-credit scene was cute and brought a smile, but I'd've liked that other scene, too.

Of course, different strokes for different folks! :) :)

Carycomic said...

I hope to see it, this weekend. So, again, I'll refrain from reading any spoilers...if I can help it.

Carycomic said...

I finally got to see this on Pay-Per-View. And, to counterpoint your objections in reverse order?

1) Only Miss America contestants seem to wish for world peace.

2) It's probably a good thing Trevor's original body stayed in the grave. I remember reading "The Monkey's Paw" in high school. The parents made a similar wish regarding their dead son. It literally wasn't pretty!

3) "Handsome Man" might very well have been one of DC's other aviators. Ace Morgan; future Challenger of the Unknown.* King Savage; future jet-jockey for the Secret Six.** Maybe even Janos Prohaska, Junior; long-lost son of Blackhawk and Diana Rockwell-Trevor!*** In any case, Steve might have been unconsciously tapping into their skill set.

4) If so, Kris Polaha's character might come back in the next DC-quel.

5) The opening flashback is supposed to set Diana up for the eventual revelation that Antiope was right. It's better to lose with dignity, after making an honest effort to win, than to come in first by selfish means. *KOFF-Donald Chump-KOFF!*

In short? I give WW'84 four stars.

*If Aquaman can be cinematically portrayed as dark-haired, why not the Challs' resident fly-boy?

**And, possibly, the grandson of Steve "The Balloon Buster" Savage.

***A Depression-era aviatrix, a la Amelia Earhart, who crash-landed on post-COIE Themiscyra and helped the Amazons recapture an escaped demon from Hades at the cost of her own life. So, Hippolyta named her first-born daughter after that brave woman.

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