Wonder Woman, 2017

Ever since I was a small boy, I have been a fan of superheroes.  I have read and purchased comics for close to 50 years now and have watched everything from television series, to old movie serials. animation and theatrical releases for as long as I can remember. With all of that as a backdrop, I have to say, I have just seen, what is in my opinion, my favorite superhero movie ever, Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is in many ways a testament to the power and potential of women, from the story to the terrific direction provided by Patty Jenkins, this movie is a tour de force of story, power and beyond that, the potential for all people, be they male or female. It is also a terrific testament to the power of love and the necessity at times of tough decisions that while they may not appear as love, are needed to bring about the potential of love to overcome hate.

Wonder Woman starts in a contemporary time which has Wonder Woman reflecting over an old photo. From that point, the movie goes to the origins of Wonder Woman and her involvement in helping win World War 1.  During this timeframe we see glimpses of Wayne Enterprises, (a part of the Bruce Wayne (AKA Batman) and her own history, origins and so forth. The movie does a terrific job of weaving these time frame issues into the story and we don't return to the present again until the end of the movie when we see her writing an email to Bruce Wayne. It becomes clear, this is a set up for future movies and her introduction into The Justice League which will bring DC characters together to fight crime in much the same way we saw with characters from Marvel in The Avengers.

Gal Gadot plays the lead as Wonder Woman. This Israeli actress has been featured in other movies such as the Fast and the Furious series but for all practical purposes this is her first lead in a major motion picture as the primary actor. This former Ms. Israel is terrific in this role. Not only is she easy to look at, she is a terrific actress who handles all of the difficulties of the role to a tee. Chris Pine, her co-star plays the part of Steve Trevor. Trevor is a character who has a tendency to go rogue at times in order to do what is right. The chemistry between Gadot and Pine is not only entertaining , but at times, comical and romantic. Both actors play their parts wonderfully.

The movies plot is terrific, there is a wonderful score and sound track and as expected the special effects are terrific, but what I wasn't quite expecting was terrific cinematography in the film. The cinematography at times mirrors art you may expect from a museum and is more beautiful than many would expect in a movie like this. After all, movies like this are normally all about action, forget story and imagery except for some of the special effects, yet, on all fronts, Wonder Woman delivers a package that should thrill movie goers of all types, whether they like superhero movies or not.

Among the things I most appreciated about Wonder Woman was the terrific imagery and story   All through the movie there are references that one can see not only social significance, whether it be the role of women and the advancement of women's rights over the years, to even spiritual, where we even see Wonder Woman as a Messiah figure. We see images of her in what are called crucifixion scenes.  This is nothing new though, those crucifixion scenes are prevalent in many superhero stories and comics, including Wonder Woman. We also see terrific examples of sacrifice, sacrifice that involves the giving of one's life. I was reminded of the verse in the Bible that states:  "The greatest way to show love for friends, is to die for them."  John 15:13.  In that message of loving and serving others, comes in many ways what I see as the greatest message of the movie, Wonder Woman.
presented.

In Wonder Woman we see the power of hate, yet, we also see the power of love. It is in the willingness to come together that we see the ability to bring about change. That power comes from the collective of all involved to do what is right, while at the same time, to allow each individual within the collective to use their strengths, or as described in the movie, just as it is in the Bible, their gifts. While we see Wonder Woman struggle with the evils of war, we also see her recognizing that there are times to take action to bring about the change that may be needed. In that ability to bring about change, she understands how to bring people together and to recognize and acknowledge the gifts that each person has. We see a powerful message here that is relevant in today's world, especially with the political hatred that seems to exist.

In Wonder Woman we see that love for the whole includes involving people coming together to accomplish good. This is especially needed when so much evil exists. Of course it is not always easy to look at and determine what one believes to be evil but as is illustrated in this movie, when there are those that seek to destroy anything good, then differences have to be overcome to fight that which is, evil. It is in the coming together that we reverse the concept from evil to live. We can only live when we come together, yet we so often become so preoccupied with the things around us, our individual desires, that we forget about the needs of the collective. When and if self becomes so important that we ignore the need to come together to accomplish good then we only contribute to the evil around us. From a contemporary perspective, I couldn't help but think while watching this, what if the Trump haters, the Hillary haters, the Obama haters, the whatever haters came together to bring about good in what ways they can as opposed to continuing to find reasons to hate.

I will reiterate, Wonder Woman was for me in a surprising way, the best superhero movie I have seen. That isn't to put others down, but it is to say this is one terrific film. One I fully expect to see again, and again over the years to come. 

There are few films I consider virtually perfect but this film accomplishes that purpose for me. For the number of letters there are in the word incredible, I give this incredible film on a scale of 1 - 10 a 10.

To see the trailer for Wonder Woman, just click on the following video, if the video doesn't appear, click on the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSB4wGIdDwo

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The Avengers, In 3D & On The Imax

From the early 1960’s to the early to mid 1970’s my mind was partially molded by comic books. My grandfather was one of the culprits who had his kids and ultimately me reading them. My grandfather was a man with a 3rd grade education but one of the smartest men I ever knew. Later in life he memorized a word a day, but the love of reading all started for me, through him and my uncles, with comic books. Most of them were war and western formats. There were all of the historical television western characters such as; The Rawhide Kid and Ghost Rider. There were soldier characters like Sgt. Rock and Sgt. Fury. They opened doors to other comics, especially at first, the horror genera. Those included at first books like Grimm’s, Eerie and Creepy, but later on others like The Phantom, Spiderman. One of the things I found out was I got more bang for the .12 cents or so I spent with a new book coming out, The Avengers.

The Avengers was a comic by Marvel Comics that incorporated stories of the Marvels Hero cast, all in one book. I could read about my favorites over the years, working together and sometimes against each other, there was especially two of my favorite characters of all time, Captain America and Thor. Later on another favorite, The Black Panther joined the cast and the early work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who created the series would go on to live forever, in fact, so much so that one of the best, if not best super hero movies of all time would come out of the creation.

I had the opportunity to see the new movie The Avengers on opening night. I had heard good things about the movie but fully expected it to have a hard time living up to the hype. The story incorporates heroes from recent movies including Ironman (Robert Downy Jr.,) The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo,) Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans.) Included are new characters in the series including a more extensive role for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson,) The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson,) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner.) With every good comic book story you also need a good villain; we have a returning villain here, the brother of Thor, Loki played by Tom Hiddleston. With so many characters, including some rather important ones not mentioned, one would think it rather difficult to make a movie involving all of them with all of the differing story lines and keep the story cohesive and more importantly, enjoyable without the egos and attitudes shining through. That last point helps bring out the real genius of this movie, which is the direction and writing. In 2 words it is quite simple, The Avengers is Freaking Awesome!

I saw The Avengers in 3-D on the IMAX. Many often ask, and for good reason, if it is worth the extra cost. I would say that for 3-D absolutely, and if not getting motion sickness easily, yes as well to the IMAX experience. If having difficulty with motion sickness though, there is so much action that the IMAX experience could be a little difficult; I found the action constant and very enjoyable though. This brings me to another aspect of this film I want to make sure to mention; the excellence in filmmaking.

I was concerned as to the ability of director Joss Whedon’s ability to keep all of the egos in the film satisfied, while at the same time telling a congruent story that had meaning beyond just action sequences. To be quick to the point, it is likely the direction and scripting of The Avengers was the critical point to making this movie so fantastic. No greater sequences show this better than the non verbal, non action sequences of Chris Evans who plays Captain America. The viewer can see and relate to the inward struggle of his character in the acceptance of things that have transpired over the last 70 or so years his character was asleep and frozen in ice. He has lost love, friends and the world is not the same. While this is seen in verbal communications, it is clear and driven home in his non verbal work. It is the type of work by an actor that earns many award nominations. I won’t be surprised if that is the case here. I must also comment on the totality of the movie, from the action, to the CGI effects, they are there as well and along with story everything about this movie is entertaining and has value beyond entertainment value; there is value such as the importance of friendship and the need of many coming together. There truly is strength in numbers, especially when those numbers have direction and a unity.

There are points and times in The Avengers that we see disunity, self consumption and self seeking attitudes that create difficulty. While there are characters which try to bring everyone together from the start, we also see characters that need a change, a transformation if you will. It is only after the death of a respected and liked character that The Avengers realize their need to come together. Just like in real life, it is often only after the sacrifice or death of another that we take life seriously. This is especially true in the important things of life. It is easy for the characters to be self absorbed, after all they are super heroes of sorts, (some are merely human with unique and special skill traits). It is in the humanization of the characters that we can relate to the characters on screen. It is their ability to overcome and ultimately their willingness to sacrifice their lives for others that we learn to respect them and find an appreciation for them.

One of the primary themes of the film is the concept of Loki seeing himself as a God. Now note here I will also designate my view of a god which will refer to a human or lesser god and God (note capital letter G) which refers to a real and true God. Many religious groups may have issue with the sub story of brothers Thor and Loki seeing themselves or being presented as Gods or demigods. I challenge they are presented as gods with limitations and weaknesses, especially Loki, but I think it is clear Thor also realized this about himself. There is a scene, one of my favorites where Natasha and Captain America are talking and Natasha, speaking of Loki, states; “But he is a God!” Captain America responds, “Ma'am, there's only one God, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't look like that.” There is another great and audience applauding moment when this scene plays itself again with Loki and another character, The Hulk. The audience I was with cheered and applauded. In that moment there is a measure of hope for me. Is it possible that people may be more open to the monotheist concept of God than we sometimes give credit for? If so, and I believe these moments give credit to that, one begs to ask the question; which version of God among the many religions? I challenge, it is in the person of Jesus we see this portrayed and seen to perfection like no other.

In looking at the comment from Captain America, “...there is only one God , and I’m sure he doesn’t look like that.”, and looking at The Hulk’s comment later on of Loki being a ‘puny god,’ one has to ask, what is it that makes Jesus unique and worthwhile? For me the simple answer is not just his mighty power, although that exists, but it his perfect love. Many times, Stan Lee, the creator of The Avengers, has been questioned as to his faith as a result of the moral messages that come about from his stories and characters. There is a video titled; The League of Super Churches which is clearly a Christian piece. There is no doubt that at the very least, Stan Lee has taken a position to show morality themes. Many of those, such as Peter Parker AKA Spiderman and here, Captain America, fall into that category. There are obvious attempts to point toward God and an acceptance and awe inspiring appreciation of God.

I loved The Avengers; it is a perfect movie, with a perfect purpose, and a perfectly positive message. I can only hope that any subsequent follow-up will be as good and this one is so good it will be hard to surpass it or equal it. The only possible draw back is that people should really watch the previous stories of, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. There is so much background in those stories the viewer needs to know, especially from likely the least favorite of the recent movies in the group, Thor. I have mentioned in the past and even coined the term several years ago, you really need to make sure to stay until the end of the movie, meaning wait until the credits are done. This one does something a little different; it has a hepiloguej in the middle of the credits but another at the very end of the credits. Certainly the one in the middle of the credits has more meaning as it keeps the movie close to the original concept presented in the comic book version of The Avengers and opens up the door to the sequel that will follow in some form. While The Avengers can be an enjoyable movie without viewing the previous films and their respective hepiloguejs your viewing experience will be enhanced and you will truly see and appreciate the developed story line.

The Avengers is a movie well worth the cost. I plan on seeing it again, and am even willing to pay the full price if need be. I doubt I will see it in 3-D again as I have had that experience but will certainly see it in Digital format. I expected the film to do good on opening weekend; I didn’t expect it to do as well as it did though. After seeing it, I think it will have some legs that will carry it on with the word of mouth being as good as the hype. The Avengers is a rarity in film and another rarity as to my ratings of theatrical films. On a scale of 1 – 10, for the perfection of story, action, and morality, I give a very rare 10

To see the video posted below, click on the video, if the video doesn’t appear or appears in distorted form, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq2RBj_eMC0

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