Wonder Woman And The Law Of Diminshing Returns

Rating: Null/10 (7 June 2017)

Looking at the reviews and ratings for "Wonder Woman", gives me the sense that critics and audiences got caught in the hype and hubris of what this means and symbolizes versus what the movie actually is.
Because actually watching "Wonder Woman", what I was left with, war a rather mediocre, subpar and overly long movie, which did not escape the underwhelming cookie-cutter mould oftentimes movies of the superhero genre are subject and prisoners to. There was nothing above average about this film and worst of all and even unforgivable it was fairly boring and dour for a significant amount of time.
So where to start with this movie. I could write a whole essay about its flaws and shortcomings. But I won't. Suffices to say that problems abound in editing, pacing, cinematography, special effects, script, casting and so forth. Just to pick on a few examples, throughout the movie there were instances when the CGI was just bad, cheesy and looking completely undercooked and unfinished! Which is something you might forgive a TV series due to obvious budgetary limitations, but not a movie with a $150 million dollars budget! What did they spent the money on...catering? Actually I've seen modestly budgeted TV shows have better CGI than "Wonder Woman" had at times.
And what is with the frequent and repeated use of the slo-mo effects?!?! That special effect was innovative in 1999 when the "The Matrix" came out, by now as a tool of the trade it is played out and tiresome. The slo-mo effects have become Zach Snyder's calling card much like lens flares have become JJ Abram's. It doesn't mean other directors should emulate and copy them. Looking at you Patty Jenkins.
The cast I found rather bland and underwhelming. Edit: Actually I liked Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen in their roles, they looked and sounded the part, but had soo little screen time that they didn't have the opportunity to make a positive and lasting impact on the movie's overall quality.
Which brings me to Gal Gadot. She might look like a version of Wonder Woman, somewhat, but so do many fans in cosplay. I think casting Gal Gadot was more a matter of looks and style versus actual substance and abilities. I found her acting range to be quite limited and her on-screen presence rather stiff. I thought and still do that there are other more accomplished and versatile actresses who could have served the role and character of Wonder Woman better.
It looks like since Nolan's Batman trilogy, DC movie projects have taken an IQ dive...not that Marvel is any better...and that is in large part because Zach Snyder and co., have laid the foundation of what the DCEU looks, feels like and is. And now all subsequent additions to this cinematic and even TV universe are beholden and slaves to that vision.
Personally I would have loved to see what an unshackled Michelle McLaren could have accomplished with a movie like this.
And that is part of the overall problem. As movie audiences and critics, we've come to accept mediocrity in our entertainment (much like in many other aspects of our society), and we have been left with these increasingly higher scale, higher budget movies which deliver less and less. Whenever one even rises a bit above that line of mediocrity, we deem it a resounding success and reward it accordingly. That is the law of diminishing returns.