Want the good news or the bad news? Lots that's wrong & right. Who better to pioneer the Herculean shift to simultaneous releases than she? Is the insufficient diversity in casting self-evident? Diana demonstrates sacrifice, vulnerability, and suffering as only she can. The anti-gun message in the second scene was rubbish. The Hans Zimmer soundtrack is spectacular. Pedro Pascal's lines are either so spot-on, if not excessive, at one point it's difficult to avoid obvious political parallels w/ today. It's fantastic seeing Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright again and do I ever "...wish we had more time". At just over 2.5 hours, it may be too long for some audiences. The foreshadowing in the opening scene is bittersweet. The Amazon athletes in the opening scene are out of this world. @angelicabastien says it well in this review, "In the end, the actors can't save the story." It's worth pointing out there are significant truths & messages, including from Antiope to Young Diana, "No true hero is born from lies," (that scene w/Robin Wright & Lilly Aspell is excellent). Aspects of the film border excessively heteronormative, which was touched upon by Kristen Wiig in this NYT interview. Tragically, the franchise has been similarly poisoned, (Diana's parents are Hyppolita and Aphrodite). Hats off to cast & crew for an excellent effort which will be fileted by critics. She has endured worse by better.
Based on a book I didn't read, this movie adaptation brings some star power with Felicity Jones and George Clooney. Without spoiling, the movie screamed "this is not what it seems" from the beginning so the ending was not as impactful as it could have been. Earth on fire and nearly uninhabitable? Sure! A two (?!) year voyage to the nearest habitable planet outside the solar system? OK! Man losing supplies then falling into arctic water and surviving? Prepare to suspend disbelief in the worst way. Overall, I suspect this is a case where the movie just didn't do the book justice and fell short.
[Update: @_pronto_ pointed out they traveled to a moon of Jupiter, not outside the solar system. But still, a new moon of Jupiter that we didn't know about is a viable alternative to Earth and Mars apparently isn't?]
We've established this has been a shyte year & escapism is needed. Matthew Quick wrote a 300-page novel in 2008 which shares the title of this film. One Oscar win (Lawrence - best leading actress) and seven more nominations, including David O'Russell - nominated for directing and screenwriting. The casting is superb. The soundtrack is moving and dovetails beautifully. The chemistry between Lawrence & Cooper is palpable. (This is not the only outing where O'Russell, Lawrence & Cooper team up). It might be too touchy/feely, (or too close to home, with so many issues touched upon), for some, even with Robert De Niro, football references, and some decent comedy. Their loss.
Bruce Willis, Christopher Meloni, and Dave Bautista in a cops and robbers movie and somehow I completely missed this movie existed until I saw it on a Netflix scroll?! As a fan of the genre and generally not too critical of such movies, this one was surprisingly good. None of the acting stood out particularly but none of it was bad. A couple extra decent actors and the movie came together pretty well. Until halfway through I was wondering which way it would go as far as the "who done it" goes. The ending? Not how I would have played it out. If you like the genre, it's worth a watch.
John Cusack plays an assassin in this movie co-starring Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd ... no, he does in this movie too. According to Wikipedia, Joan Cusack said, ".. in a way, it was a Grosse Pointe Blank 2" while John Cusack said it was a "spiritual cousin to Grosse Pointe Blank". Sure, I can see that but it isn't nearly as amusing. Intended to be political comedy & commentary (comedary?) it comes across as a cliche to other cliche films while borrowing from characters from the prior film. Rather than go with more subdued humor around a military presence in a fictional Middle Eastern country, they opted to go over-the-top and it really detracted from the potential. Skip this, (re)watch GPB instead.
