Michael's Movie Grade: C
As much as this movie has been getting panned I fully admit I actually enjoyed it. Don't get me wrong, I by no means think this is a highpoint of superhero cinema but I still had fun watching it.
One of the main components to me that makes this film work is Diana herself. She is just as likable and real as she was in the first movie. She is still a character who is all heart. To see the compassion and care she gives to Barbra endears her to me completely. Though a major part of the story has Barbra feeling inferior to Diana, Diana doesn't only not treat her this way, but doesn't even see her that way. This kind of compassion is just what I love to see in my superheroes and I loved seeing it here. Yet at the same time (without giving spoilers) she is not a perfect person and like many of us can struggle when it comes to putting others in front of herself, this is also handled quite well by this movie and makes her feel real and human to us. Though (the mysteriously alive) Steve can be somewhat underused, the chemistry between the two is still perfect. Also even with the obvious foreshadowing I love the introductory scene with Diana as a little girl.
This is not to say I did not see the beyond obvious faults in this movie. For me the worst (though thankful one of the briefest) fault was the flirting scenes between Max and Barbra. These were poorly written (does she or anybody for that matter think his jokes were funny), incredibly forced, awkward and just plain painful to watch. A problem which showed itself throughout the majority of the movie was using two villains. I am always amazed by with how rarely this device works, so many superhero movies keep doing it. The problem is that one villain will have to unfortunately take a back seat to the other. I honestly felt that Max Lord was a less interesting villain than the Cheetah, yet he is made the main villain and she is forced to the background. While some of the humor with this character early on is not very good I actually found myself enjoying the Cheetah, and therefore found it disappointing that her story was often quite rushed and underdeveloped. Max Lord on the other hand was kind of a boring villain. Also (no spoilers) the ending didn't quite work for me.
I completely understand why so many people hated this movie and don't blame them at all for that. Yet I honestly enjoyed it.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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