Monday, November 7, 2016

Let's talk about that Wonder Woman trailer that dropped last week.

I absolutely loved the new trailer for Wonder Woman that dropped last week. It is filled with incredibly beautiful shots, however, none grab me so much as this one, where Diana dives into the sea just off the shore of the Amazonian island of Themyscyra to save Steve Trevor. It rightly illustrates just how outside the realm of human athleticism and ability Diana actually is.
Because of press releases, we already know that the movie is set during the first World War. Even Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) correctly calls it "The War To End All Wars," which I believe is how it was referred to back then. It makes me curious if the German troops will be the villains in the film. The Germany of World War I is a lot different from the Germany in World War II. There's a lot more "moral gray area" than the second. The clash of empires slaughtering the flower of youth of an entire continent isn't as good a story as the defeat of an Evil Nazi Empire. However, the distance back in time is difficult for contemporary writers to empathize with, i.e., it's difficult for us to depict class, gender, or race at all accurately for that time and to still feel like we have heroes to for whom to root.

That being said, this adventure that Diana undertakes is supposed to disillusion Wonder Woman for decades to come and make her unwilling to interfere in the world of men. Another thing that occurred to me from watching the trailer is that Diana must have some kind of precognition. She doesn't appear to be moving fast enough to block the bullets by sight (like the Flash). So something about her abilities allows her to see projectiles in time before they actually occur so she knows where to be in order to block them.

Here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet.

9 comments:

  1. I was excited to see the new trailer.
    So many films are set during WWII, and it's nice they set this one during the first war instead.
    Wonder Woman is as powerful if not more so than Superman, so no surprise if she can sense the bullets coming.

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  2. WWI is less offensive for foreign audiences. I'm skeptical based on DC's previous 2 movies.

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  3. I'm not sold, and my daughter, who loves Wonder Woman, turned up her nose at the trailer and seems completely uninterested in the movie now.
    On the other hand, my wife liked the trailer and she's generally indifferent.

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  4. same with my kids, they didnt find it interesting

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  5. I really liked this trailer. I think the reason is similar to yours - the cinematography is simply amazing and much brighter than the other recent DC offerings. Chris Pine also seems to have a Chris Pratt comedic vibe that I loved in Guardians of the Galaxy. Gal Gadot looked amazing though I am curious how they are going to explain a costumed superhero in the trenches (The original Captain America did a decent job with this in WW2 but even that felt a little corny).

    FWIW, most people called WW1 the 'Great War' before WW2. The phrase, the 'War to End All Wars' was coined in 1917 by Woodrow Wilson to help drum up American popular support after the United States entered the war.

    Sometime during 1941 the term 'Great War' slowly replaced 'World War One' as the Soviet Union and United States entered the new war which got the name 'World War Two'.

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  6. I really liked this trailer. I think the reason is similar to yours - the cinematography is simply amazing and much brighter than the other recent DC offerings. Chris Pine also seems to have a Chris Pratt comedic vibe that I loved in Guardians of the Galaxy. Gal Gadot looked amazing though I am curious how they are going to explain a costumed superhero in the trenches (The original Captain America did a decent job with this in WW2 but even that felt a little corny).

    FWIW, most people called WW1 the 'Great War' before WW2. The phrase, the 'War to End All Wars' was coined in 1917 by Woodrow Wilson to help drum up American popular support after the United States entered the war.

    Sometime during 1941 the term 'Great War' slowly replaced 'World War One' as the Soviet Union and United States entered the new war which got the name 'World War Two'.

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  7. Both trailers were really nice. Looking forward to find out how it all works come June 2017.

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  8. Looks far more compelling than the old TV series.

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  9. Ah, the lead up to another comic book movie. They're really getting good and generating interest in these things.

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