WONDER WOMAN Review

Wonder Woman is quality popcorn entertainment with ambition. It is not the exception to the rule and it certainly has its issues, namely with pacing and its generic and derivative climactic battle, but much of this is easy to forgive due to that ambition; due to the fact it is earnestly trying to be more than it has to be. It has been a rather long time coming, but the day is finally here that we have a big screen, feature-length version of Diana Prince’s origin story. Director Patty Jenkins (Monster) has crafted a magnificently mounted piece of filmmaking that feels as grand and majestic as a Wonder Woman movie should. It also doesn’t hurt that the casting of our titular heroine couldn’t feel more right and kudos to Zack Snyder for trusting his instincts on such a decision despite the initial backlash the casting and costume of Gal Gadot received. As Prince, Gadot is endearing from the moment we see her desire to uphold the legacy of her people. This initial gracing comes as she trains for an ever-impending battle that threatens to destroy her hidden island of Themyscira and the fellow Amazons that live there with her. Though unfamiliar with the comic books or even the seventies TV show starring Lynda Carter I’ve always assigned Wonder Woman to be this kind of beacon of purity in the super hero universe. Besides this though, I wasn’t sure what, as a hero, she stood for or what her motivations were or what her history entailed that might have made her so driven to defend the world from the bad guys. Turns out, Wonder Woman is more or less a God the same way Hercules was. Maybe even more so; is Hippolyta (played here by Connie Nielsen) more God-like than Alcmene? I have to imagine so. While Jenkins’ Wonder Woman provides enough of the backstory and origin details to answer many questions that might pop up throughout what is most impressive about this latest DC Extended Universe film is that it keeps to the virtues of that character throughout in the way people fondly remember. Jenkins and scribe Allan Heinberg have actively kept Wonder Woman’s optimism and slight naivety intact while placing her in a world and time that is tangible and rather terrible, not to mention under-represented on film. Such is a testament to how well Wonder Woman finds the right avenues to take in order to balance the many ambitions it hopes to accomplish. Even if some of these aspirations don’t quite reach the heights as successfully as was hoped for it is that balance that is key as there is so much to admire and enjoy about Wonder Woman that it not only remains memorable, but affecting.

Full Trailer for WONDER WOMAN Starring Gal Gadot

And the trailers for the summer movie season keep on coming as Warner Bros. has released a new trailer for director Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman AKA the last great hope for the DC Extended Universe. The first trailer for the film premiered last summer at Comic-Con and couldn't even be overshadowed by the release of the first Justice League footage. That first look showed off Matthew Jensen's gorgeous cinematography, some exhilarating and intense action sequences, as well as some seemingly solid chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine who looks to provide an opportunity for smaller moments and humor that will take advantage of the out of her element Amazonian princess. This latest trailer combines those best elements of that initial trailer as well as the more informative, but just as gorgeous full trailer that debuted in November. Wonder Woman sees Gal Gadot reprising her role as the titular warrior that first debuted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While that film wasn't a unanimous winner most agreed that Gadot's Wonder Woman was one of the highlights. With this being Wonder Woman's first solo feature film a lot of pressure has no doubt been applied to Jenkins (who directed Charlize Theron in her Oscar-winning role in Monster) and screenwriters Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg, both of whom have either worked with Zack Snyder on previous DCEU films or, in Johns case, will be overseeing the DCEU from this point on. Wonder Woman, which is set before the events of BvS, tells the origin story of Diana Prince. Set in the midst of World War I, Prince’s sheltered island paradise life is upended when Pine's Steve Trevor crash lands and tells of the conflict happening in the outside world, spurning Diana into action. Wonder Woman also stars Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner, Saïd Taghmaoui, and opens on June 2nd, 2017.

New Trailer for WONDER WOMAN Starring Gal Gadot

Given this week has been something of downer for the DC Extended Universe with the announcement that Flash director Rick Famuyiwa would be leaving the project due to 'creative differences' and Marvel having their latest, sure to be blockbuster opening DC and Warner Bros. are still trying to look on the bright side of things by releasing a new trailer for Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman AKA the last great hope for the DCEU. The first trailer for the film that premiered at Comic-Con this past summer couldn't even be overshadowed by the release of Justice League footage as that first look showed off Matthew Jensen's gorgeous cinematography, some exhilarating and intense action sequences, as well as some seemingly solid chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine who looks to provide an opportunity for smaller moments and humor that will take advantage of the out of her element Amazonian princess. This new trailer is essentially more of the same, but when your first one was as good as Wonder Woman's you don't have to do much more to sell your movie. Wonder Woman sees Gal Gadot reprising her role as the titular warrior that first debuted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While that film wasn't a unanimous winner most agreed that Gadot's Wonder Woman was one of the highlights. With this being Wonder Woman's first solo feature film a lot of pressure has no doubt been applied to Jenkins (who directed Charlize Theron in her Oscar-winning role in Monster) and screenwriters Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg, both of whom have either worked with Zack Snyder on previous DCEU films or, in Johns case, will be overseeing the DCEU from this point on. Wonder Woman, which is set before the events of BvS, tells the origin story of Diana Prince. Set in the midst of World War I, Prince’s sheltered island paradise life is upended when Pine's Steve Trevor crash lands and tells of the conflict happening in the outside world, spurning Diana into action. Wonder Woman also stars Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner, Saïd Taghmaoui, and opens on June 2nd, 2017.

First Trailer for WONDER WOMAN Starring Gal Gadot

At its panel today Warner Bros. not only gathered its directors for all future DC films that are currently in development (including Ben Affleck, James Wan, and Rick Famuyiwa), but it also unveiled the very first trailer for Wonder Woman during at Comic-Con 2016. Directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster), the film sees Gal Gadot reprising her role as the titular warrior that first debuted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While that aforementioned film wasn't a unanimous winner most agreed that Gadot's Wonder Woman was one of the highlights. In her first solo feature ever Jenkins has been paired with writers Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg, with a story by Heinberg and Zack Snyder, and to be completely honest this first look at the film is gorgeous and looks to balance the tone of darkness inherent to the DC universe with plenty of fun asides and fun characters-including American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). This film, which is set before the events of BvS, tells the origin story of Diana Prince. Set in the midst of World War I, Prince’s sheltered island paradise life is upended when Pine's Trevor crash lands and tells of the conflict happening in the outside world, spurning Diana into action. With what we see in the trailer it is easy to take away that the film will look gorgeous thanks to Matthew Jensen's cinematography while the actions scenes look exhilerating and intense while the chemistry between Gadot and Pine seems to be on point with Pine providing a fine and funny foil for the out of her element Wonder Woman. It's a tall order for both Jenkis and Gadot to fill in that this is the characters first solo feature on the big screen, but if what we've seen today is any indication there seems no reason to worry. Wonder Woman also stars Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner, Saïd Taghmaoui, and opens on June 2nd, 2017.

THE INFILTRATOR Review

The Infiltrator opens with a nice little tracking shot through a 1985 bowling alley as Rush plays on the soundtrack and arcade games make up the lighting. We're informed we're in Tampa yet we're following a man with hair so black it can't be natural and who is wearing a jacket in what is no doubt an insanely hot summer. Something feels off. When the camera finally pans around from the back of the figures head to reveal Bryan Cranston's face and all the stories it tells with its many cracks and crevices, but still ruggedly handsome and definitive features most will know the set-up we've been dropped into. Given the context clues provided not only by the title of the film, but by what we see in the opening seconds it is clear Cranston is undercover and is preparing for a moment of some sort. He's effortless in his adaptation of the customs and dialect in which the men he's now keeping company with do business. From here we are given a brief and subtle glimpse of how adept Cranston's character, who we come to learn is U.S. Customs and Drug Enforcement Agent Robert Mazur, actually is at modifying his persona and adjusting to whatever the situation might call for which will naturally inform moments later in the film to be filled with even more tension once we become invested in the characters. In all honesty, you've seen this movie before. It is easy to pick up on the beats of the story and understand where things are headed even if the real life events this film depicts are likely much more complicated than we're led to believe. By containing this story to what are more or less genre trappings though, director Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) doesn't limit the power of the story or the tension that unfolds from these moments, but rather gives what is undoubtedly a sprawling epic guidelines by which the highlights and necessary information of Mazur's story can be communicated to a mass audience in a clear and effective way. The Infiltrator may feel somewhat familiar in its execution, but the exceptional cast led by Cranston and by virtue of the unique details that make up the familiar plot there is much to be taken from the film if one is looking for a white-knuckle crime drama worthy of that descriptor.