Wonder Woman's 3rd Act

[Marvelgirl]

How would you have done the 3rd act differently with Diana and Ares?

[Osiris-Rex]

Didn't have a problem with it so not really sure what I would have done different. Maybe get a more manly looking man to be Ares?

[Frobisher]

It’s an absolute cop-out that we find out that Ares is just a small man in a general’s uniform directing the war from behind a desk, but then they have him turn into a **** CGI monster so Diana has someone to fight. Sort of like a cinematic version of the infamous US military wargame against asymmetric opponents that was so frustrating for the participants that they demanded that the opposing forces were given some warships so they had something to shoot at.

If they were going to use an actor of the calibre of David Thewlis in the role it needed to be more of a battle of ideas than a literal battle, with WW inspiring the soldiers to lay down their arms instead of fight (kind of like, y’know, what the story is about). Instead, we get an Unreal Engine cutscene.

[CRaymond]

Nando v Movies tried it.

[Jim Kelly]

It worked for me. Maybe, the visuals should have looked like the earlier animated sequence where Hippolyta tells Diana the story of the gods. If they leaned into the artifice of the battle--contrasting that with the grounded events involving Steve and his ratpack--people would get the point that it's on a surreal level, given these are gods and they are in a hyper-reality.

[Marvelgirl]

Didn't have a problem with it so not really sure what I would have done different. Maybe get a more manly looking man to be Ares?

The 3rd act gets dumped on for turning into another bloated CGI comic movie.

[Frontier]

It’s an absolute cop-out that we find out that Ares is just a small man in a general’s uniform directing the war from behind a desk, but then they have him turn into a **** CGI monster so Diana has someone to fight. Sort of like a cinematic version of the infamous US military wargame against asymmetric opponents that was so frustrating for the participants that they demanded that the opposing forces were given some warships so they had something to shoot at.

If they were going to use an actor of the calibre of David Thewlis in the role it needed to be more of a battle of ideas than a literal battle, with WW inspiring the soldiers to lay down their arms instead of fight (kind of like, y’know, what the story is about). Instead, we get an Unreal Engine cutscene.

I think we got that when Ares confronted Diana and showed her that he wasn't solely responsible for the war and that her efforts, at least from her perspective at the time, were pointless and goaded her to give up on her principles.

Of course there was a fight involved, but it was still a Superhero movie.

The 3rd act gets dumped on for turning into another bloated CGI comic movie.

That makes it sound like there was a sky beam and the battlefield turns into some kind of psychedelic CGI-fest.

[Jim Kelly]

Calling it the third act is a bit misleading. I timed it once and I think the part with WW against godded-up Ares is about ten minutes of the movie. And while that's happening there's all the stuff with Steve, which was one of the most impactful parts of the movie. So if you're saying the last twenty minutes of a film with a 141 minute run time is its third act, okay; but it's not one third of the total movie.

[Pinsir]

Calling it the third act is a bit misleading. I timed it once and I think the part with WW against godded-up Ares is about ten minutes of the movie. And while that's happening there's all the stuff with Steve, which was one of the most impactful parts of the movie. So if you're saying the last twenty minutes of a film with a 141 minute run time is its third act, okay; but it's not one third of the total movie.

This. The whole 'Wonder Woman's third act is bad' meme really does strike me as a talking point and not an organic opinion. Steve 'Chad' Trevors death is so fantastic that its one of the few times I'll permit them to bring back a character.

I've personally said before that I don't like the Aries fight because I think there shouldn't have been an Aries at all. The movie would have been better if WW realized that she was chasing a ghost.

[riddick78]

Calling it the third act is a bit misleading. I timed it once and I think the part with WW against godded-up Ares is about ten minutes of the movie.

Third acts are typically the shortest part of the script, whether stage or screen. Suggesting that acts must be equally divided by time is not viable. Acts are divided by story progression.

I would have fixed the third act by fixing the first two acts. WW gains whatever abilities she needs to win the fight, rather than having them be set up and established earlier. She just suddenly realizes she can fly, for example, even though there's nothing in the movie prior to suggest that she has such an ability.

[Marvelgirl]

I think we got that when Ares confronted Diana and showed her that he wasn't solely responsible for the war and that her efforts, at least from her perspective at the time, were pointless and goaded her to give up on her principles.

Of course there was a fight involved, but it was still a Superhero movie.

That makes it sound like there was a sky beam and the battlefield turns into some kind of psychedelic CGI-fest.

If Wonder Woman was a high fantasy film, the 3rd Act would be seen in a better light. The psychedelic CGI-fest felt unnecessary as a conclusion to the first two acts.

[Agent Z]

If Wonder Woman was a high fantasy film, the 3rd Act would be seen in a better light. The psychedelic CGI-fest felt unnecessary as a conclusion to the first two acts.

It's a movie about an Amazon demigod from an island of immortal warrior women created by gods who is chosen to defeat an evil god who wants to destroy the world. You can hardly get more high fantasy than that.

[batnbreakfast]

Didn't have a problem with it so not really sure what I would have done different. Maybe get a more manly looking man to be Ares?

Fargo Season 3, sir

The problem is not WW fighting Ares or superhero typical CGI. It looks colorless and uninspired/not well choreographed. There's your problem.

[WebLurker]

Thought the last act was okay.

[Vakanai]

I didn't know people had a problem with it - I liked it.

Also disagree on the notion there shouldn't have been an Aries, would have felt like a copout and that we went along with Diana for no payoff.