Since I had the Fourth of July off, I checked movie times at Stars Cinema in El Dorado. We don’t often take Miss Lo to a movie, and I thought she might like to see one if there was something playing that was of interest to her.
For those who don’t know, fandango.com is a website to check to find out what movies are playing in any given location, what the run times are, etc. Fandango has other helpful information, such as movies opening in the near future, and you can view movie trailers. You can purchase gift cards and buy tickets in advance so you don’t have to stand in line when you get to the theatre.
Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3 were playing that day. I thought surely Her Highness would opt for one of those animated choices since she is usually averse to TV shows and movies involving real people. Just in case, I did a little research on the new Wonder Woman movie.
One of the reviews said something along the lines of “female superhero and female director show the boys how it’s done.” The movie has a 92 percent on rottentomatoes.com and an 8.0 on imdb.com (apparently down from an 8.3 due to Angry Man Syndrome), which is pretty positive. Being rated PG-13, I wasn’t worried about foul language or nudity, but what about violence? Set partly during World War I, there was bound to be violence.
Oh, and there are gods involved. Something ugly always happens in mythology.
After Miss Lo turned down the two animated features without so much as a blink, she leaped excitedly at the opportunity to see a female superhero (superheroine?). She fancies herself a bit of a feminist, even though she doesn’t know that word yet.
I had to emphasize that this movie had only real people in it, even though the story is fiction. “You still want to see it?” I asked. She did. I explained that there would be loud, sometimes violent conflicts, and that some characters might be killed with guns or knives. “You still want to see it?” She did.
Oh, sure.
Since Wonder Woman was released a month earlier, we figured correctly — especially because of the holiday — that the crowd would be light. There were four cars in the parking lot when we arrived. At least we knew we wouldn’t have to worry about tall people with big hair sitting in front of us.
Lo and I went straight to the restroom. There’s no point in starting a movie with her unless this detour is taken first, but even that doesn’t ensure seeing the whole thing without another trip. Scott got popcorn and drinks … which pretty much cinched the deal on another trip.
Why the previews for upcoming movies have to be so infernally loud is beyond me, but they are without fail. When our feature started I was hoping for better sound quality, but I wasn’t to be completely satisfied.
I’ve written about Miss Lo’s extreme tenderheartedness before — did I also mention that she hates loud noises unless she’s making them? — and I’m here to report that nothing has changed. She spent half the moving hiding behind the seat in front of her. There was indeed a great deal of violence — and it was loud — but some was of a heroic nature, with Wonder Woman accomplishing unbelievable feats, so I didn’t mind too much. Lo did.
As with other movies we’ve been to that didn’t involve animated, talking critters, Lo started begging to leave. I kept whispering to her that she would enjoy seeing Wonder Woman triumph in the end and that she should just cover her ears. So, when she wasn’t hiding behind the seat in front of her with her hands over her ears, she was in my lap with her hands over her ears and her eyes closed. But she peeked every now and then.
About two-thirds of the way through the movie, Lo was interested enough in the action to sit in her seat and pay closer attention. The volume level ramped up even more, with Wonder Woman locked in a seemingly hopeless battle, but Lo was hooked.
Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman/Diana) and Chris Pine (Captain Steve Trevor) were great, in my opinion. There were parts of the movie that were touching, parts that were fish-out-of-water funny, and only a few anachronistic things that bugged me. Movies that hop around in time tend to exasperate me, but this one came together and made sense, especially when Diana’s back story was revealed.
What bugged me most about the movie was the sound editing, for which I think someone should be flogged. No problem hearing all the loud goings-on, but some of the dialogue was unintelligible. And I can usually hear a gnat cough from a hundred yards away.
Even though there were some slow spots, the cinematography and special effects were good, and I liked the complexity of the story. Wonder Woman was compelling enough that I’m looking forward to seeing it again on Netflix or some other service. With subtitles.