Peppermint Friday Review #39: Wonder Woman

This review has been a long time coming, as I have been looking forward to watching this film and talking about it because oh wow. 

First of all I was abit nervous not gonna lie as DC in terms of films haven't done aswell as there TV side, and the fact that its the first time a woman led a superhero film since Catwoman which went down like a cup of cold sick, and I think after that people just went 'well noone like female superheroes' which is not the case at all. Its just that Catwoman was done so badly and people just assumed superhero films can only be successful by men which is totally ludicrous. Also the fact that its not only a superhero film being led by a woman but also, an action film being directed by a woman, for me its amazing and I'm so happy it been made. 

I love this film so so so much, oh god I fangirled pretty hard while watching this. The costumes are amazingly done its so beautiful and with such detail I love the fact that the costumes aren't ridiculously revealing but also not looking like a nun. It got Themyscira down to a T it looks so beautiful, I loved all of Diana's family aswell. Watching the film I never got a sense of it being rushed, or overdone it was just wonderful. I think fans of the character of Diana/Wonder Woman will be very impressed at what they've done to the film and the character. Gal Gadot was just amazing as Wonder Woman she gave the character a boost into the modern age at the same time remaining true to the character and what she represents.

Other characters of the film who I loved were Ares who is played by David Thewlis, and Antiope who was played by Robin Wright and they were just brilliant. One amazing thing about this film is that its the first of a big budget mainstream Wonder Woman film, so in terms of characters they can kinda reinvent a whole new character and not have the pressure of a big actor/actress towering over them, apart from Wonder Woman of course. The way they did Doctor Poison/Isabel Maru who is played by Elena Anaya was just brilliant her mouth was just weird and scary I loved it because again never really heard of her as a Villain before.

Steve Trevor who is played by Chris Pine was just fantastic, I loved the bit when he's on the boat back to England with Diana and explains what life is like on Earth and in England and the war, the whole dialogue between them is just brilliant to watch its just so funny and adorable the fact that she's this woman who doesn't know anything about men because Themyscira doesn't have any men so she's abit of an alien. The soundtrack to this is amazing aswell, particularly the song that Sia did for it, its amazing and speaks volume as to what Wonder Woman represents and is about. 

Rumour has it that they are making a sequel to this which I am excited about but also scared because I don't want it to turn into a cash cow, and make them for the sake of it and it being not very good. As a female and someone who loves film and more in particular superheros its so important and wonderful that females are represented not only in film but the behind the scenes aswell. Its such an amazing film with amazing characters that everyone should watch, I hope you all have a wonderful day/weekend and I'll see you next Friday. 

Review: Bandidas

So we're gonna be talking about a film that I briefly mentioned on my last post this was the most recent film I watched and we're gonna talk about it today, because I really liked it.

One thing I will say about the plot of the film, its kinda like a Ping Pong Match just very sporadic and everyone just happens at once particularly at the beginning of the film, but the way it deals with it is really good. We start with two girls from different backgrounds Sara Sandoval and Maria Alvarez played by Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. Sara is from a very wealthy privileged background, very intelligent and Maria is total polar opposite to Sara, poor, very street wise. Their fathers Maria's being very kind and caring and Sara's very arrogant and money hungry, Maria's father is being forced off the land by a land Baron called Tyler Jackson played by Dwight Yoakam, both Sara and Maria's father come under attack from the Baron and Maria's father is killed but Sara's survives, and as an act of revenge they team up and become robbers and give back to poor Mexicans.

I like at the beginning they bicker and squabble like girls do and especially if they come from two different backgrounds. They soon meet Bill Buck who is an infamous robber and he helps them trust each other, the whole film is very funny and entertaining to watch. I even like the storyline, I do find it just bonkers its like the explaining the story scene from Moulin Rouge where its very OTT. But I'm not sure if some people will find that rhythm of storytelling in film annoying because I know some people do, but if you like Baz Lurhman then you'll love this as the style of film and his style are very similar. Its interesting because the joint Directors of the film are Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, there films are not OTT and Happy Clappy, well I mean they've only done two major films this one and Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man Tells No Tales which is out now eek!

Bit of a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, so expect a review of that coming soon. I loved with the dynamic duo of the film, Sara whenever she held a gun her instant nervous

reaction towards it was to just have hiccups, and whereas with Maria is fantastic at guns but can't swim, but Sara can and is incredible at knife throwing. One scene however that not necessarily confused me, but I just didn't get why it was there. It was the scene when they recently met Quentin Cooke and they were trying to seduce him and they bickered about who's sexier and about how they kissed him wrong and such. I just didn't get what that scene bought out of the characters, was it meant to show their friendship and how they can bitch and moan about each other? was it meant to show Quentin being slightly intimidated by these girls? either way I just didn't get it at all.  

The costumes of the film were just brilliant, I already love that Spanish/Mexican part of it as it plays a huge role in the film. Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek are always amazing and actresses that don't often get talked about for the roles they've done, as they usually especially Penelope only get talked about because of how beautiful they are as if that's more important than them being a good actress or how well they played the role, not to say they aren't of course. A part of me wishes they made this film into a franchise but another part of me liked that they didn't as I would've loved to see the characters develop, change and grow older, but also it might probably will be just a remake but slightly different from the last one. Also it might have made it seem abit cheaper, so in some ways this film is like a golden nugget. 

                                                                        
I love this film, if you want a bit of a laugh and to entertain yourself then give it a go, but if you want something serious and hardcore then don't watch it. I have a feeling the whole two females taking on the world kinda thing will come back again, so I think maybe you'll see something along the lines of this again soon. Give this film ago even if you aren't a fan of Penelope Cruz or Salma Hayek as its very funny and quick to watch. I will see you all later and have a good day/evening wherever you are!

Review: Carrie

I'm aware on this blog each week, its sort of related to the last Film I did a review on, but you all know how varied I am with my Film taste and that I like to shake it up, and I haven't done a review on a Stephen King film on this blog I don't think, so why not. I'm gonna be talking about the 2013 version of the film, as its totally new to me and I've championed alot of the originals of films, so I thought why not.

 I have watched the 1976 version of the story, but have not yet read the book, its about a teenager called Carrie (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) who is very shy, reclusive and has telekinesis powers her mother (played by Julianne Moore) is very religious and really disturbed. Carrie has her period for the for first time, she doesn't what it is, and is bullied and made fun for it. Then the bullies at her school are banned from attending the prom.

I've heard some pretty bad stuff about this version of the film, that it was crap and it wasn't as good as the original film, or that it didn't go by the book word for word or whatever. But I liked it, and I maybe it didn't go by the book, but I don't think I've seen a film that has actually done that, used the book as a script rather drawing inspiration from it and using it as an obvious for the story and characters. Chloe Grace Moretz was just amazing, I already love her but she completely reinvented Carrie but still keeping the original character of who she was alive.

Julianne Moore was again just fantastic, she was so psychotic and in a Stephen King antagonist thats a very important and notable quality to have. Characters of the high school bullies and students are all brilliant, Tommy played by Ansel Elgort was charming and a really sweet guy. His girlfriend Sue Snell played Gabriella Wilde is again brilliant, but the character was a little too nice, as it was prom she could've been a little more selfish about it. She gave up her boyfriend so he can take Carrie to prom instead which is nice, as she felt guilty about it also she was banned as she did pick on Carrie but I don't know any teenager who was willing to do that.

The character of Chris was allow me to put it bluntly was a bitch. Then again she was the ringleader of bullying Carrie which you need in a teen film. So she did the part fantastically, and as Carrie is a nice girl just with a crazy mum and telekinetic powers, which noone knows about in the school, pouring pigs blood on her because she didn't know it was her period was a horrific way to go about it, again she missed her prom which is the most important time for a teenager but thats good character as it made me feel something.

One thing that I loved about this film and it sets it apart from the original is the technology development, with its time. Like the video the bullies made of Carrie crying over her period that was posted over the internet, as something like that would happen in the modern world. It also made the bullies even meaner and gave more of a reason for the teachers to punish them. The effects of the film were unbelievable, the killings in the film all happen in a matter of 5 minutes or so. For me I love that as it even the balance out instead of some horrors where its just 'blood, killing, and death' everywhere. 

I mean I loved this film, did I like it more than the original? For the reasons of the actors, the effects and the modern age of technology I'd say yes, and I had much more stronger feelings for the characters. Whereas in the original film I related to them and liked them, but I guess I just hated the bullies in this one for some reason. Definitely give this film a go as, I loved it and its not as scary as some people think the real villain is the teenage girls, as Carrie's mother is so broken she snap. Even if you didn't watch the original or read the book like I did you will still like it.