Metropolis has Superman. Gotham has Batman. Now, the world (almost) has Wonder Woman – and not a moment too soon.
The Patty Jenkins-directed solo movie is currently riding the crest of a wave of critical adulation, given that the general consensus has declared Diana Prince’s origin story to be a spectacular addition to the DC Extended Universe. As a matter of fact, some have even gone so far as to say that it’s the best installment in Warner’s cinematic franchise to date. High praise indeed, particularly for a movie that was ostensibly written off midway through production – remember that one report claiming that Wonder Woman was a “discombobulated mess” from a little while ago? If nothing else, it’s a pointed reminder to take those speculative tidbits with a pinch of salt and nothing more.
Regardless, Wonder Woman has almost emerged from its production cycle, and ahead of the film’s release this Friday, June 2nd, IGN caught up with cinematographer Matthew Jensen, who likened Diana’s solo debut to Batman Begins and Superman: The Movie.
Every day seemed like a challenge because it was such a big and complicated movie. Just the knowledge that we were doing Wonder Woman’s story, solo, a movie that a lot of people had been trying to get off the ground for over 20 years, and she is one of the pop culture icons, so there was a lot of pressure on us to do it correctly. We were setting out to make something close to Richard Donner’s Superman or Batman Begins. We wanted to do her story that kind of justice so every day felt like we had that monkey on our back.
Few would argue against Jensen’s line of thinking, but we’re more intrigued to discover if Wonder Woman will write its name in the history books as an instant classic, perhaps rubbing shoulders with Batman Begins and Superman: The Movie in the process.
Elsewhere, Screen Rant hosted a separate interview with Connie Nielsen (Queen Hippolyta), who had nothing but praise for writer-director Patty Jenkins.
She’s also the kind of director that I really flourish under. She has very strong and particular and specific ideas about what it is she wants to say. She comes from a place of strength always. And so, when you are dealing with someone like that, you feel absolutely free to be vulnerable, to be creative, and I am a big researcher. I put a lot of effort into research and I brought all of that research back and you can always tell if somebody is interested or not, and the fact that she was interested and made sure that there was space for all of that research and space for those nuances … every time I wanted to try something else and maybe something that wasn’t even a part of it, she always not only went with it, but actually was interested in exploring further with me.
Wonder Woman will be with us on June 2nd – just don’t waste your time hanging around after the lights go on in the hope of catching a post-credits stinger.