What a weird time for two movies about a superhero to come out this year but surprisingly, they are different and good. Many people including myself enjoyed Wonder Woman as it is a rousing and fun origin story that inspires heroism and bravery out of its characters along with introducing an empowering female superhero in the forefront. Now, we have a movie coming out as to how the comics of Wonder Woman was introduced into our presence and I was surprised that I have never heard of its story. This is a movie that showcases the importance of exploring such serious and risky themes in a conservative world that overall, it is an intelligent, absorbing and sensuous story about the human condition that started an origin story for many people to read and watch.
As William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) is giving out his testimony in 1947, the movie is told in flashbacks in 1928 where he and his wife, Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) are teaching in Harvard and Radcliffe colleges. William hires Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcoate) as his teaching assistant. William is interested in having sex with Olive which Elizabeth notices but she bluntly tells him that that activity is for business and not for pleasure of having an affair. Olive aides William in finishing his invention of a lie detector and after he tests it on Olive for his research on human interaction, Olive reveals that she is falling in love with both William and Elizabeth. She goes live with the Marston as William and Elizabeth are fired from their colleges.
The Marstons and Olive settle in New York where Elizabeth gets a job as a secretary and Olive has to tell a lie that she is a widow. Both of them bear children from William, though. William stops by a shop run by Charles Guyette (JJ Feild), which he is introduced to fetish art that captures his imagination and inspires him to create an art for an Amazonian superhero. Olive has an idea by introducing sadomasochism which creates an initial hostile environment between her and Elizabeth. But, also, it inspires William to create an outfit for Olive that would be the prototype for Wonder Woman's costume.
This movie had my attention throughout the movie because of how it approaches the creation of Wonder Woman. Of course, its execution is surrounded by controversy regarding how feminism and sexuality was viewed in the 1920s because there was rarely any negative word-of-mouth spreading after the comic was being introduced. It was conservative and a perfect suburban life for many people. I was afraid that this movie was going to be a safe concoction of an Oscar campaign but no, this movie takes some chances on its material and does not sugarcoat how this material is presented on-screen. This movie is courageous as how their experiment works and how it is introduced in its testimony because sometimes fetish art can come from some strange fantasies maybe realities. It is also can be argued as an adult love triangle but I highly doubt it since it is an experiment.
Luke Evans is a good actor, however, I thought he was mis-cast as he looks like a stand-in or a person pretending to be a professor instead of embodying a professor. They should have casted someone with more ruggedness and maybe can embody a character with such darkness. Bella Heathcoate is mesmerizing as she has chemistry with both Evans and Rebecca Hall. Hall is the standout as she is not shy and she has a voice from both a verbal perspective and with body language. She should be considered for nominations for Best Supporting Actress.
Director Angela Robinson does a good job of bringing a good depth of intellect and experimental sexuality in both the human condition and human interaction with some poise and also maybe some humor. However, I felt like she was chasing the same holy grail with its structure of The Social Network and I thought that derailed the movie from being something special. Why couldn't it be more straight forward than going back and forth with the testimony? It is a good effort of that structure. Plus, it could have tackled more with the controversial issues of sadomasochism and lesbian imagery mixed with its testimony because it is already approached with such ambition that it could have reached a more deeper level of that issue in the 1920s. Still, this is a different companion piece to this year's blockbuster hit that there could be some interesting background that could educate you about the making of the comic book. It lassoed me in and I can say that this is a good movie with an excellent performance by Hall.
***
Comments
Post a Comment