Wonder Woman - Official Origin Trailer
Mar. 22nd, 2017 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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So, the latest Wonder Woman trailer is out and I have watched it approximately twenty times.
Just look at it.
Here are just five things I love about this new trailer for one of my most anticipated cinema events of 2017. Wonder Woman is going to be in a movie, everyone!
Themyscira - a feminist island paradise

So, Themyscira is beautiful. It has bluer than blue seas, tall white cliffs and lush greenery. Plus it has gorgeous stone buildings overrun with green, green nature. It looks like the feminist utopia of my dreams. This is the kind of cinematic attention I hope the landscapes of Wakanda gets when Marvel's Black Panther film releases. And then the Amazons ride past a classical frieze on their white horses of justice. Be still my heart.
There are some hints in this trailer that young Diana isn't the ideal Amazon (her mother's comments when they see the sword together, the amped up training regime) so you might expect her origins trailer to present a more conflicted picture of her childhood home. However, this trailer seems to be in love with the Amazon's home. It presents Themyscira as a paradise rather than simply as a world where Diana doesn't quite fit in, and I think this bodes well for the way the film is going to handle her desire to leave the island. I'm hoping that Diana's story works in a similar way to Moana's. I would be great to see DC's Wonder Woman film complicate the traditional princess narrative of a royal woman not fitting into the role she's been assigned and make its story richer with that complication.
Tiny Diana!
Official opinion: Anyone who isn't immediately won over by the determined look on tiny Diana's face when her mother says 'Only the fiercest among us could. And that is not you Diana.' has a heart of stone. Heart. Of. Stone. Tiny Diana believes she is gonna wield that sword, rule that island and be the fiercest Amazon ever.

I am so glad they decided to make an origin trailer for Wonder Woman, and that this trailer makes it clear that the origin of Diana's story is not meeting Steve Trevor. She has a life and a developing story before he crashes down in their seas. It's great that they included all the stages of her growth in the trailer: tiny Diana; teenage Diana; grown Diana; Wonder Woman. I can't wait to see her story in full.
Ladies teaching ladies

I am so ready for the relationship, and the training fights, between Diana and her Aunt Antiope. I love stories about physical trainers who are deliberately hard on their subjects to encourage their own development. I love the idea of seeing a woman physically train another woman. I love that it seems General Antiope's attitude towards Diana is enforced by the commands of her sister, Hippolyta, and so their relationship may be an interesting, messy mix. I'm also excited to see how Antiope's message that she expects 'the battle to be fair' will impact on Diana's attitudes when she goes out to fight in the human world. Will she win a battle because she remembers to expect underhand behaviour? Will she decide to fight fair when she could win by destroying a weakened enemy? I don't know but I feel like this line has some sort of part to play in her future.
A brief Steve Trevor moment

Although I still haven't really come around to the idea that Chris Pine will be playing Wonder Woman's love interest (really?) I do have a soft spot for a Steve Trevor moment in this trailer. Diana says 'It is our sacred duty to defend the world.. Woah, right? In the face of that overwhelmingly regal and heroic sentence Steve Trevor looks sceptical, wary and says 'Right.' You can see Steve Trevor, who has just come from a warzone, baffled as to how this woman can say the Amazons are sworn to protect the world when everywhere outside of Themyscira is going up in smoke.
This also leads me onto how stoked I am that Diana's story is about stepping outside of her safe home environment, where she is a warrior princess apparently without a war to fight, to help humanity win World War I. I see a lot of parallels between her story and that of Marvel's current Black Panther (which makes me pretty sad that they can never meet) who also left his kingdom to go off and help the human world. In Ta Nehisi Coates' stories T'Challa is criticised for his involvement in the world of humans, and I look forward to seeing what impact of Diana's decision to leave Themyscira makes on the other Amazons. Apparently, Chris Pine is signed up for a multi-film deal which I hope means there are more Wonder Woman films in the tank, and that we'll get to see the ramifications of Diana's actions.
Fight! Fight! Fight!

Before I finish, I've got to mention that it is incredibly cool to see Wonder Woman's physical powers on display so often in this trailer. We get to see fighting montages, flying jumps over spears, stag jumps out of windows, Diana throwing twisted metal above her head, Diana pushing bullets back with her shield… It's all pretty glorious. Diana is shown as a physically powerful and an adaptable fighter. Happily, the trailer isn't shy about giving her the kind of solo action spots you'd expect to find in a trailer for a male led superhero film. The marketing effort for this film has been spectacular, and the creative team behind it have really sold the epic nature of Wonder Woman.
I mean, have you seen the new poster?

And it's not just her physical presence or her superpowers that make her such a force to be reckoned with. As you'd expect from a classical heroine, she has a real way with oratory. The final speech she makes before the Wonder Woman theme music plays is absolutely boss, and exactly the kind of smart, vengeful battle cry I wanted to hear. Wonder Woman is an imposing figure, and a seemingly unstoppable legend - the kind of superwoman to make the enemy think seriously about just running away. Which is kind of the goal of using presence in war; to frighten your enemies into leaving before you get hurt. She's so smart.
Can you believe Wonder Woman is going to be in a movie all of her own? And that this will be a thing you can genuinely watch in a cinema? Until then, please throw all of your thoughts about the new trailer into the comments below.
Just look at it.
Here are just five things I love about this new trailer for one of my most anticipated cinema events of 2017. Wonder Woman is going to be in a movie, everyone!
Themyscira - a feminist island paradise

So, Themyscira is beautiful. It has bluer than blue seas, tall white cliffs and lush greenery. Plus it has gorgeous stone buildings overrun with green, green nature. It looks like the feminist utopia of my dreams. This is the kind of cinematic attention I hope the landscapes of Wakanda gets when Marvel's Black Panther film releases. And then the Amazons ride past a classical frieze on their white horses of justice. Be still my heart.
There are some hints in this trailer that young Diana isn't the ideal Amazon (her mother's comments when they see the sword together, the amped up training regime) so you might expect her origins trailer to present a more conflicted picture of her childhood home. However, this trailer seems to be in love with the Amazon's home. It presents Themyscira as a paradise rather than simply as a world where Diana doesn't quite fit in, and I think this bodes well for the way the film is going to handle her desire to leave the island. I'm hoping that Diana's story works in a similar way to Moana's. I would be great to see DC's Wonder Woman film complicate the traditional princess narrative of a royal woman not fitting into the role she's been assigned and make its story richer with that complication.
Tiny Diana!
Official opinion: Anyone who isn't immediately won over by the determined look on tiny Diana's face when her mother says 'Only the fiercest among us could. And that is not you Diana.' has a heart of stone. Heart. Of. Stone. Tiny Diana believes she is gonna wield that sword, rule that island and be the fiercest Amazon ever.

I am so glad they decided to make an origin trailer for Wonder Woman, and that this trailer makes it clear that the origin of Diana's story is not meeting Steve Trevor. She has a life and a developing story before he crashes down in their seas. It's great that they included all the stages of her growth in the trailer: tiny Diana; teenage Diana; grown Diana; Wonder Woman. I can't wait to see her story in full.
Ladies teaching ladies

I am so ready for the relationship, and the training fights, between Diana and her Aunt Antiope. I love stories about physical trainers who are deliberately hard on their subjects to encourage their own development. I love the idea of seeing a woman physically train another woman. I love that it seems General Antiope's attitude towards Diana is enforced by the commands of her sister, Hippolyta, and so their relationship may be an interesting, messy mix. I'm also excited to see how Antiope's message that she expects 'the battle to be fair' will impact on Diana's attitudes when she goes out to fight in the human world. Will she win a battle because she remembers to expect underhand behaviour? Will she decide to fight fair when she could win by destroying a weakened enemy? I don't know but I feel like this line has some sort of part to play in her future.
A brief Steve Trevor moment

Although I still haven't really come around to the idea that Chris Pine will be playing Wonder Woman's love interest (really?) I do have a soft spot for a Steve Trevor moment in this trailer. Diana says 'It is our sacred duty to defend the world.. Woah, right? In the face of that overwhelmingly regal and heroic sentence Steve Trevor looks sceptical, wary and says 'Right.' You can see Steve Trevor, who has just come from a warzone, baffled as to how this woman can say the Amazons are sworn to protect the world when everywhere outside of Themyscira is going up in smoke.
This also leads me onto how stoked I am that Diana's story is about stepping outside of her safe home environment, where she is a warrior princess apparently without a war to fight, to help humanity win World War I. I see a lot of parallels between her story and that of Marvel's current Black Panther (which makes me pretty sad that they can never meet) who also left his kingdom to go off and help the human world. In Ta Nehisi Coates' stories T'Challa is criticised for his involvement in the world of humans, and I look forward to seeing what impact of Diana's decision to leave Themyscira makes on the other Amazons. Apparently, Chris Pine is signed up for a multi-film deal which I hope means there are more Wonder Woman films in the tank, and that we'll get to see the ramifications of Diana's actions.
Fight! Fight! Fight!


Before I finish, I've got to mention that it is incredibly cool to see Wonder Woman's physical powers on display so often in this trailer. We get to see fighting montages, flying jumps over spears, stag jumps out of windows, Diana throwing twisted metal above her head, Diana pushing bullets back with her shield… It's all pretty glorious. Diana is shown as a physically powerful and an adaptable fighter. Happily, the trailer isn't shy about giving her the kind of solo action spots you'd expect to find in a trailer for a male led superhero film. The marketing effort for this film has been spectacular, and the creative team behind it have really sold the epic nature of Wonder Woman.
I mean, have you seen the new poster?

And it's not just her physical presence or her superpowers that make her such a force to be reckoned with. As you'd expect from a classical heroine, she has a real way with oratory. The final speech she makes before the Wonder Woman theme music plays is absolutely boss, and exactly the kind of smart, vengeful battle cry I wanted to hear. Wonder Woman is an imposing figure, and a seemingly unstoppable legend - the kind of superwoman to make the enemy think seriously about just running away. Which is kind of the goal of using presence in war; to frighten your enemies into leaving before you get hurt. She's so smart.
Can you believe Wonder Woman is going to be in a movie all of her own? And that this will be a thing you can genuinely watch in a cinema? Until then, please throw all of your thoughts about the new trailer into the comments below.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-22 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-23 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-03-25 03:25 am (UTC)Tiny Diana is the tiniest and most fierce and the best, and I cannot wait. So far, I'm really pleased that they seem to be striking the right balance, telling an origin story that's at least partially about her learning many things she didn't know without infantalizing her or needing Steve to, like, teach her About the World or whatever. I'm hopeful anyway! And I didn't even hate Steve! This is 10000 steps up from how I usually feel about Steve Trevor. In the bits we've gotten, he seems to be striking the right disbelieving tone, like it's snark but it's not ONLY snark, again it's not condescending snark. I hope!
Mostly though my brain is just EXPLODING, LOOK AT HER AND HER BADASS MOM AND AUNTS ahhhhhhhhhh ladies training ladies in swordplay and warfare. And she's just the brightest thing onscreen all the time, which is just exactly how Wonder Woman should be, terrifying her enemies and mesmerizing everyone and making me verklempt.
DIANA IN A MOOOOOOOOOOVIE she's gonna be in almost every scene, HOW WILL I SURVIVE.
Ahem.
:D
no subject
Date: 2017-03-30 05:38 am (UTC)...still a little sceptical about Chris Pine, though.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 10:27 am (UTC)