Truly Awful

Rating: 1/10 (28 January 2018)

Probably the worst movie I have ever seen and I have sat through some rubbish. In fact I don't mind watching shlock when it's super low budget and that's the expectation but WW was a multi-million dollar 'blockbuster' and on that basis it should be trounced.
WW epitomises the worst aspects of modern film-making: paper-thin plots designed around set-pieces and action sequences with the laziest effort to make things hang together even for five minutes. There is 'suspending your disbelief' and then there's insulting the audiences intelligence. It might have worked well as a plot for a music video.
It's so bad its hard to know where to start. It's not that the direction or cast are spectacularly bad though I bet they are all thanking the stars that WW didn't make it through to any serious film-awards as this will be one they will want to forget. David Thewlis particularly feels a sad waste for such a film. Pine was built for these kind of roles as one can never take him seriously anyway (I think he's perfect as Shatner's Kirk).
Gadot is bearable but I'd only give her hammy over-acting a pass as she is trying to demonstrate the naivety of the character. This could have been handled much more subtley to better effect. If anything the praise should go to her stunt doubles and the editors for making her appear the slightest bit athletic.
Whilst Snyder is the writer it feels like he proxy-directed the whole thing as it has all his hallmarks. Its not that he doesn't have his moments it's just he comes across as a one-trick pony rather than a seasoned director capable of delivering what the story needs. On that basis I'm not sure what Patty Jenkins achieved herself with this. Definitely a huge step backwards from Monster (but then not much else in the last 14 years?).
The setting as world war one was a terrible mistake and contradiction. I could understand a really simple-stupid movie aimed at kids but it clearly isn't. Mixing candy-floss nonsense with the dark ravages of war just to make a protracted point (men are evil). Deaths are frequent and all too easy which often feels like poor taste.
The characters are all stereotypes, paperthin and cliched - nothing original at all which adds to the boredom as you genuinely feel you have seen everything before.
The pacing is poor and again this is poor storytelling and scripting. There have been very many successful films which have told a back story interweaved through the experiences of the main character as an alternative to dragging through an hour just to reach the main acts of the film. You can wander off and make a cup of tea several times and you won't really miss anything of subtance either.
Even the action is awful.. typically over-used Snyder-esque slow-mo sequences. Used sparingly this can be a great technique to emphasise a moment (as employed within the Matrix) but use it as the main effect and it drags the pace of everything down and loses that natural excitement of keeping up with fast complex action. You never reach the end of a point and think 'wow', what did I just see.
CGI generally has come good over the last 10 years, really good, but this is back to some of the cheesiest effects you will see on film. And the more they throw at you the more your brain goes 'meh'. Its like making a 2hr film just composed of CGI explosions - after 2 minutes you'll be bored to tears.
Some will like it - probably those types who can't sit in a cinema for more than a minute without opening another bag of crisps or checking their phone. For them the film will work well as those kind of interruptions won't spoil anything. But if you've got anything else to do with your life today, do that instead.