If there's been one thing missing from the spate of superhero reboots in the last few years, it's women. Like, all of them. Sure, Scarlett Johansson did a turn as the Black Widow in The Avengers, and Anne Hathaway breathed some sociopathic life into Catwoman for The Dark Knight Rises. As strong as both actresses are, they still play second fiddle to their classically heroic, male counterparts. But, isn't there room for, say, a Wonder Woman-focused flick somewhere in this testosterone party?
Sam Balcomb wondered the same thing, too. A California-based filmmaker with a suspiciously flattering Wikipedia page, Balcomb and his production company Rainfall Studios are behind a new Wonder Woman short film that's racked up 2.8 million views on YouTube in only two days. Check it:
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A quick scan of the headlines suggests that people like this. "Cool 'Wonder Woman' Fan Trailer Feels Like a Female-Centric 'Thor'" says First Showing. "This Is What an Incredibly Cool 'Wonder Woman' Movie Would Look Like" says Moviefone. And, so on.
But, might we be the first to say that this short is not so groundbreaking. Yes, 2.8 million people clicked on it. The question is whether this could be turned into a major studio film that audiences would actually want to see, one with nuance and dynamism, elements that are questionable in the clip above. From what we see, Wonder Woman does not speak. Why should she? She's very pretty — as are all of her Athenian Amazons — in her gladiator boots and leather gauntlets and fairly impractical bodice. What we get is a classically "kickass" trailer in the vein of 300, in which women are simply present, and flawlessly so, in the heroic role.
You know who else kicks ass? Brienne of Tarth. She's strong yet flawed, handsome if not exactly beautiful. She has a backstory, motivations, and emotions. And sure, maybe that's not giving this Wonder Woman short enough credit; it's only a few minutes long, we know. But, compare it to this Game of Thrones clip, which is not much longer.
See what a few minutes spent developing a character can do? Your move, Hollywood. (Uproxx)
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