Wonder Woman / Zootopia 2 / Code 3
It's a bit frustrating rewatching Wonder Woman knowing that everything around it kind of fell apart in the end. For me, this is the template for how DC should be approaching their movies. Wonder Woman feels standalone and, while Diana appears in plenty of future movies, this movie does not rely on future revelations to make it a worthwhile viewing experience. I'd much prefer if this was the approach going forward - a focus on standalone movies that don't need to connect to a greater universe.
Wonder Woman stumbles a bit in its final act but it is a genuinely enjoyable film throughout. Chris Pine acts as a great, charismatic contrast to Gal Gadot's fish out of water and there is great visual contrast with the bright colours of Themyscira versus the grey, smoke-filled world at war. One of my memories of this movie is how much my mother adored it - I suppose after a lifetime of male superhero leads it is very empowering to see a female lead. It's fantastic to see representation having an impact on someone first hand.
Zootopia 2 passes the animated movie test of providing us with a new vocal stim that we've been using ever since we watched the movie. There's a walrus character we are introduced to about halfway through the film that has a conversation back and forth just saying "hey bub" "bub bub" "hey bub bub" and so on. I don't know why...but this was hilarious to us.
Zootopia 2 is very quick and very funny. I think that it loses some of the heart of the original. In practice though, it doesn't really matter as we were just having so much fun watching the movie. We might be inundated with sequels these days, but I think Zootopia has a really nice formula for them, and I'd be very happy to see Judy and Nick take on many more cases in the future.
Code 3 stars Rainn Wilson as an EMT at the end of his patience for the job. While darkly funny at times, this is largely a dramatic turn for Rainn. This is a frighteningly real take on the role of emergency services. One of the writers had 12 years of experience as an EMT so each case that they take on has a feel of being based on real-life experiences.
There are some great moments in this one and it gave me an even greater respect for the work these people do. At times it is so easy to get frustrated with public services of any kind, but the vast majority of these services underpay, overwork and put unnecessary pressure on very skilled people. Even when they are just trying to get a bit of food after a long shift, it's very hard for them to switch off and refuel. It's a wonderfully gritty film with some memorable scenes. Well worth a watch.
