Wonder Woman

So far, the movies that DC has made haven't been able to deliver a really satisfying experience. The only ones worth noting are Man of Steel (until the neck snap) and this (until final boss battle). But luckily for you, DCEU fans, Wonder Woman has saved your cinematic universe. Let's just hope they can keep the trend going.

W O N D E R   W O M A N

                  I will admit, this was a very cool movie. There were lots of laughs and plenty of action sequences that are sure to make you raise your eyebrows. It was an overall great film.

                  It starts out with Diana's narration of her story: "I used to want to save the world". But that

all changed because, y'know, war. But anyway, we see her being raised from childhood to adulthood. She has this yearning to become a warrior of Themyscira, but her mother won't allow her to learn to fight because "she will never need it." Psych, cause not long after, Themyscira is discovered, and many warriors die.
                  As you can imagine, that pisses the queen off and she wants to kill the first dude that stepped foot onto her hidden island: Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Isn't it interesting that Captain America and this dude are both named Steve and both played by dudes named Chris? Betcha didn't catch that one before. You're welcome.
                  Using the Lasso of Truth, the queen finds out that Steve is an American spy assigned to British intelligence (not that she knows what that is). His job was simply to report back to HQ on the Germans' progress behind their mask of wanting an armistice. Turns out that Germany is really trying to create a new type of gas that will render gas masks ineffective, under the direction of a scientist simply known as "Doctor Poison."

                   Doctor Poison is very close to cracking the code to her new super weapon, but she keeps falling short. And when Diana hears about this doctor, who works for General Ludendorff, she believes that Ludendorff is Ares, the God of War. Because who else would initiate a World War, said to be "the War to end all wars?" That's Ares' ultimate goal: for mankind to destroy themselves.
                   So Diana sets out with Steve to find Ares and kill him. Along the way, unnecessary characters are met, beautiful scenery is shown off, and Diana learns about snow. For a DCEU film, this was by far the best, and honestly saved the dying DCEU. I'd recommend seeing it, but don't expect an Avengers level type film, and you will surely be impressed.

W O N D E R   W O M A N

Ratings:

Family Friendliness - 8/10 Bracelets I was very surprised. Aside from the trench warfare and disturbing gas sequences, Wonder Woman was not as dark as its Man of Steel stand-alone counterpart. It was very much lighthearted, with Diana being oblivious to a great many things, and the characters having to help her along as she sort of stumbles through London. But once she hits the battlefield, that's where she really shines.

Story Action Balance - 8/10 Swords The movie is very story driven, much unlike Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which was just trying to justify its pitting together two titans of the DC Universe and having them basically sissy fight. That was not the case for this film. Story and characters drove this home. The only thing I'd change is the final battle sequence, where Diana faces Ares. That kind of got out of hand, but other than that, Wonder Woman was a very enjoyable movie experience.
Acting - 7/10 Shields Gal Gadot delivers a stellar performance, and so does Chris Pine! I mean, with an all-star cast, what else can you expect? Characters, although they drove the story like I said in the previous rating, were kind of dry. It seems like not a lot of effort was put into them. Diana and Steve were the centerpieces of the film, which is understandable, but I would have liked some more interaction and development of supporting characters. Because let's be honest, we all love a funny comedic relief, right? And it seems like everyone was that besides Ares.
Story line - 7/10 Tiaras Basic, but dependable, Wonder Woman's story was an origin, and one following very closely to the comics. I was real happy about that aspect. What brought this rating down was Diana's consistent urge to be in a battle and just kill Ares, which kind of got annoying.
Overall - 7.5/10 Stars  I stuck to the math on this one because I wholeheartedly agree with it. DC definitely stepped up their game, but they need to keep doing this type of work, and better, if they want to have a successful cinematic universe.


Bibliography:
"Wonder Woman Trailer" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q8fG0TtVAY>
"Wonder Woman Steve Trevor" <http://media.comicbook.com/2017/06/wonder-woman-steve-trevor-1001688-1280x0.png>
"Wonder Woman Fight Scene" <http://www.anenglishmaninsandiego.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WWfight.png>

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Well, here you have the DC Fanboy's greatest anticipated movie of the year that officially kicks off the DC Cinematic Universe (DCCU). And I am here to tell you fanboys and fangirls that this is the perfect DC Film for you. I'm happy for you guys finally getting the Cinematic Universe you deserve. So enjoy it!

B A T M A N   V.   S U P E R M A N

D A W N   O F   J U S T I C E

                  WARNING!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MY RATINGS, THEY ARE AT THE BOTTOM.

                   Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's begin.

                   The film begins at its end, and you'll know what I mean if you've already seen it. If not, read on. But anyway, there is a funeral march. Ben Affleck begins by saying that there were beautiful

things, good things.

                   We re-live his parents' death, which is actually important to the story later on, as it affects Bruce Wayne in a way that defines the rest of the film. Then we fast forward to the time of Man of Steel, when the world was first introduced to Superman. 

                   Superman (Henry Cavill) and General Zod are dishing it out, knocking out a crap ton of buildings and killing a lot of innocent people. One of Wayne's towers in Metropolis is falling apart, and Bruce calls one of his guys, Jack, to get out of there. Most of his employees get out, but Jack doesn't make it. Bruce runs into the smoke and finds Wallace, an important figure later, whose legs have been smashed by a giant steel pole. 

                    Bruce and some other guys pull him out and Bruce saves a young girl who is devastated because her mother died in the Wayne Tower. Fast forward 18 months.

                    Lois Lane (Amy Adams) has gone to the desert to speak to a terrorist because (obviously) she wants the scoop. However, one of her camera guys is caught as a CIA or FBI Agent (can't remember) and is killed in front of Lois. Then there's a big shootout and Lois's reporter book/journal thingy gets shot. She recovers it and is taken inside and held hostage. 

                   Superman smashes down into the building where Lois is and takes out the guy holding her hostage easy-peasy. When Lois gets home, she examines the bullet and puts it into a Ziploc bag. Hey! it's interesting! It is actually not government manufactured, so it is something completely off the US Books, which means the men in the desert were funded by a private company. We'll get to that

later. 

                   Batman is still in business and is interrogating people to try and find out what the "White Portuguese" is. All he knows is that it's connected to Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). He believes it is a person and is looking for this mysterious figure. The guy he brands with a bat symbol is the sixth man he has interrogated about the "White Portuguese." 

                   This makes Daily Planet news, and the Batman is still seen as a threat. Clark doesn't like it at all and wants to do a story on it, but Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) forbids him to do so. He then takes matters into his own hands when Batman is on a high speed chase and rips open the Batmobile. Batman stands and faces him.

                   "The next time they shine your light in the sky, don't go to it. Consider this mercy." 

                   "Tell me, do you bleed?" Superman looks back, and flies away.

                   "You will."

                   Batman heads back to the Batcave. He's gotta make repairs to it, but he's not worried about that right now. He lost the guys that he was chasing, but luckily he threw a tracker on them. He tracks them back to LexCorp. 

                    That means he needs to break into LexCorp and get the information he needs. Instead of having to break in though, he is invited to a LexCorp party/ball or whatever you want to call it. There, Bruce hacks into the mainframe and gets his data, but it'll take 7 minutes to fully download. So he goes and mingles, meeting Clark Kent there. 

                   Clark asks him about the Bat vigilante and they have a little conversation where Lex Luthor drops in. Lex is then called to attention to meet the mayor and when Clark looks to see where Lex was going, Bruce slips away and goes to get his data. But it's been taken by Diana Prince (Gal Gadot). 

                   I've told you quite a lot, but just know that there are some things you should be aware of when you see the movie. A lot of easter eggs are dropped like Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman, opening up the DCCU. Also, Jason Todd's suit is on display, and when Bruce has his nightmare (Knightmare Batman) he also sees the Red Hood (Jason Todd) yelling at him that he was right about Superman. 

                  So really, they crammed in so much trying to set up this new universe, and I think it was a bit too much, but oh well. Prolly do your research if you're not up to speed with all of this. 

                  Who's funeral were the people at? Why do Day and Night, god and bat, Red and Black fight? Well, see the film for yourself. I think that if you're a DC Fan, you'll absolutely love it.

Ratings:

Family Friendliness- 7.5/10 Bat Symbols: There is a lot of violence and death in this film. It's not really the swearing, it's just that there's a lot of shooting, punching and stuff. Not for your youngins. But it definitely makes for a pretty sweet film.

Storyline- 8/10 Metahumans: The story itself was not bad. It's just that there was a lot of jumping around, y'know? It was very choppy. For example, when Bruce is dreaming, you don't know until he wakes up. Then it doesn't really do a good job of jumping back and forth between Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, and Diana Prince. Also it's kind of slow until the giant explosion in D.C. Washington, D.C. that is. 

Rewatch Probability- Medium-High (7/10 Amazons): Personally, when I was in the theatre, the film was not the best view. But once I got out, I couldn't stop thinking about it and everything that transpired. It was well done, but getting out of the theatre is the only thing that prompted me to contemplate the movie. I will say that Ben Affleck actually did a good job of portraying a rageful Bruce Wayne, although in general, he's probably not the Bruce Wayne I would've chosen. He did a good job of showing anger, and it was definitely in the way he fought. I loved his fight scenes. Those were sick, because it reminds me so much of the Arkham games. The fluidity and brutality of his fighting style were beautiful. Thanks Batfleck.

Overall- 7.5

B A T M A N   V.   S U P E R M A N

D A W N   O F   J U S T I C E

Bibliography: "BvS" <http://images-cdn.moviepilot.com/images/c_fill,h_1814,w_1280/t_mp_quality/o6g4robgbo1afs8gzrkt/trailer-wars-civil-war-vs-bvs-dawn-of-justice-batman-v-superman-character-lineup-730306.jpg>

"BvS Gal Gadot" <https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CWXL_lVUwAAtvr8.jpg>

"BvS Knightmare Batman" <http://static3.techinsider.io/image/562aa85cbd86efed5b8b95b7-1912-784/batman-v-superman-desert.png>

"BvS Trailer" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhWg7AQLI_8>