Wonder Woman was a success by any metric you want to use. It has grossed more than $820 million worldwide. It’s the highest grossing superhero origin movie of all time. It’s the second highest grossing film of the year, second only to The Last Jedi. It’s the highest-grossing live-action film directed by a woman. It’s the highest grossing action/comic-book film with a female lead. And besides all of that, it’s actually a good movie. People were excited to see it and they weren’t disappointed. Gal Gadot was launched into international stardom. Director Patty Jenkins should, by all accounts, have a pile of scripts to choose from and an unlimited budget. But considering the dumb backlash against Wonder Woman, I stopped expecting the film to be nominated for any Oscars. Turns out, I was right to lower my expectations.
The 2018 Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning and one fan favorite title was utterly snubbed in all categories: Wonder Woman.
Fans hoped the breakout DC hit starring Gal Gadot would at least get something in the big awards race — like perhaps a directing nod to Patty Jenkins, who overcame industry skepticism to launch the first female-fronted superhero box office blockbuster in, well, ever.
Or maybe at least something in technical categories, like sound mixing or costumes? But no. Wonder Woman will just have to be content with $800 million in worldwide box office, critical acclaim, and legions of fans who found the film inspiring.
When the Golden Globes nominations came out, I realized that WW getting a Best Picture nomination was probably a pipe dream. But to not even get nominations for any of the technical stuff? It almost feels like a deliberate snub. I mean, Suicide Squad got nominated for an Oscar. Boss Baby got nominated for an Oscar. The Adam Sandler film Click was nominated for Best Makeup. NORBIT WAS NOMINATED FOR AN OSCAR. And Wonder Woman… nothing.
Still, we got Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig in the Best Director category so, all in all, that softens the blow of Wonder Woman’s snubs.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Warner Bros.
The CGI was pretty weak but I could have seen it getting a costume nod.
And I knew it would never happen, but Chris Pine could have been up for Best Supporting Actor.
While I agree the movie wasn’t Oscar worthy on any level – if a single nomination were given to the “Man” in a female driven movie…
Yep. That would have raised all the eyebrows.
I enjoyed WW, but Oscar worthy is a stretch. It was a refreshing superhero film in the golden age of comic book movies. However, aside from being female led and female directed, it was a generic film. Done well, do t get me wrong. But cookie-cutter none the less.
Good point, but his was a great performance and the textbook definition of strong support.
Chris Pine was one of the higher points in the movie, I agree with you. Sadly, nowadays we can’t really appreciate things like that without it becoming sexism/racism and other isms. The only reason why this movie had so much hype is because it was about a powerful woman, directed by a woman and it didn’t suck for a DC movie. Which is good and hopefully it sparks more projects like this, but objectively it’s just a run of the mill superhero movie, hardly the best of the year, let alone the genre.
I loved Pine in this movie!
@Gutterflower I pretty much love him in all movies, he isn’t really traditionally my type, but he has something!!
Why should it be ? It was just another mediocre super hero movie and Gal was dreadful in it..
You clearly havent seen the movie. I hate superhero movies. I watched it as my friends begged me to do it and I loved it. Made me proud to be a woman. Made me want to go kick as badassess.
While I loved WW it was not oscar worthy for anything other than maybe costumes
I know, right?
Welcome to paying attention to superhero films 101.
They rarely if ever get nominated or win anything.
Thats all.
I mean….let’s be honest. Wonder Woman was a fun movie but it definitely isn’t oscar worthy. Are any of the Marvel movies really deserving of an Oscar?
It was definitely more deserving than Boss Baby to me.
But Boss Baby is nominated in animation where WW can’t compete.
Um, Boss Baby is nominated in best animated film. Basically that’s a category for animated kids movie. Not even relevant to the discussion.
Winter Soldier, maybe? Or (produced by Fox but with Marvel characters) Logan.
I’ve never even seen another X-men movie but Logan was fantastic, it deserved its screenplay nomination and would have been a good candidate for Best Picture.
It isn’t a Marvel film. But I agree, it was a good, fun film, but not Oscar worthy. Although I am really losing interest at this point anyway. Denzel Washington was nominated for the leading role in a film that scored 49% on Rotten Tomatoes; do people give it any thought at all when they nominate him and others like Meryl Streep and Daniel Day-Lewis?
Fox’s Logan was pretty great.
Civil War maybe. I thought if any comic movie should’ve gotten a nod it was Logan.
And The Dark Knight which is honestly the cream of the crop for superhero movies. I thought it should’ve gotten more nods than it did
Controversial opinion, maybe, but Wonder Woman doesn’t deserve to be nominated for anything. (*whispers* it was a bad movie)
Agreed. It was a fun superhero movie but it is not Dark Night – by any means. I dont even know what it would be nominated for? Definitely not Best Picture or Makeup. Also, Suicide Squad was horrible but the makeup was really good – they deserved that Oscar.
I think the Dark Knight is one of the most over-rates movies of the last decade, personally.
@ Bridget:
The Dark Night was unwatchable to me. Literally.
It was on cable and I decided to give it try (because…*ahem*…Cillian Murphy).
Fell asleep around the 14th minute (I remember the exact time because I took a look at the watch since it felt like it was going on forever — before my eyes shut).
@Eve: good thing you fell asleep, because Cillian Murphy isn’t in that one! He’s in Batman Begins.
@ Bridget:
Phew!
I endured Batman Begins just for him (Murphy). But had to put it on mute because every time I heard Christian Bale’s “Batman voice” I almost died laughing.
Lol, totally agree! I feel like to even suggest it be nominated is absurd.
It could have been worse, but I’m with you.
High grossing does not always mean Oscar worthy. Action movies are fun, that’s kinda the point, but Oscar worthy? If so, then I want Die Hard to have a retroactive nom.
Oh, thank god. I thought it was sooo boring. I just didn’t understand how it made so much money so it not getting any major awards makes sense to me.
you and me both! I saw it on a plane and could barely get through it. I know it’s a comic/action movie so it had the big drama and explosions, but the script wasn’t great.
I liked it and I thought it was a lot of fun and will happily watch it again. I think that WB should have at least mounted a campaign because their visible support would have been a very good thing. Do I ultimately think that it’s one of the 10 best movies of the year? Maybe not, objectively. But I also don’t think that a lot of the movies that actually did make the cut are that great as well.
Agree, SG. I enjoyed it, fun popcorn movie, but it wasn’t good. Like someone above said maybe a costume nod. Maybe. The sound mixing was a mess, the CGI was laughably bad-I got Sorcerers Stone vibes from it, and the music was meh. Compared to other superhero movies, it was great. That’s not a high bar. Pine was fantastic. I think people don’t really understand how the Academy works. You’ve got something like 6k+ members. Few of whom are cinephiles. Most of them don’t see all the movies, and some of them vote for what they think the cinephiles will vote for. Except for the animation category where they just vote for whatever their kid liked best. 🤷
I agree, I thought it was just dreadful
It benefited from the PR boost of being the first female-led superhero movie this decade but that’s about it.
It doesn’t deserve the Oscar cookie for doing the bare minimum, like I said below there are better popcorn movies out there and all it proved is that people want to see female superheroes (so let’s have more of those already)
@ SG:
I agree. I was thrilled yesterday when I checked the entire list and saw it had been completely shut out.
The hype over that piece of garbage really annoyed me.
The movie itself was ok, imo. I really liked the part with Ares. The acting, however, was among the worst I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie. Controversial opinion, but Gail and Jason shouldn’t have been cast in the DC world. They cannot emote, are so bad in fact that they look like they’ve had bad botox. Sorry.
@ Bordermollie:
Hey!, don’t be sorry.
Even her red carpet game seems contrite. Always with the head bending towards (her) right and the smirk.
lol I’m Canadian, am always sorry 🙂
@ Bordermollie:
Small correction. I meant ” contriVed”.
As for being Canadian and always sorry: you should be proud of coming from a place known for its people’s politeness.
Totally agree. It was never in the running for a nod. It was a fun movie and it’s prize was box office success.
THIS!!!!!!
Wonder Woman was great, the No Man’s Land scene alone should have gotten Patty Jenkins a Best Director nom.
I agree with this. It was an action movie, but that moment really pulled at my heart strings. I think the ebb and flow leading up to that moment was really well done.
I gotta be honest Hugh Jackman’s snub PAINS me more.
Me too! He was spectacular in Logan, if that’s the movie you’re referring to.
WW was carried by the charm of its star and the fact that someone finally figured out that people don’t want to watch four superhero’s. But it wasn’t a technical marvel nor did it have a great script (a la Logan). Vulture broke it down well – WB already had two technically superior movies it poured its money into, Dunkirk & Blade Runner, and Wonder Woman would have needed a really strong technical showing to warrant a Best Picture. Though it was indeed robbed in not being nominated for Costumes.
It was a fun movie, it was a successful movie, but it wasn’t a great movie. And for it to be honored, they would have needed to mount and incredibly thoughtful and cohesive campaign, like Get Out, which was still in the conversation because they did their damn best to make it so.
This, exactly.
Exactly.
I’m still salty that THE HANDMAIDEN has been completely overlooked this year, at the BO and awards, but i blame the distributor and the demise of the type of company that would have pushed it to mainstream glory.
I’m not even sure about costumes. The nominees are Beauty & the Beast, Phantom Thread, Victoria & Abdul, The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour. Maybe switching out that last one but I found some inconsistency in WW costumes as far as time period. Categories like costume design are chosen by the people in that guild.
The CGI and sound were muddy and the plot fell apart in the third act. It was a fun, summer popcorn movie with a charismatic lead. Which the industry does need but the rewards for that come at the box office.
@ Lightpurple:
Remove the words “fun” and “charismatic” and I’ll totes agree with you.
To each their own. I think that Gal has a warmth and charisma that just pops off the screen. But opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one. It would be weird if everyone liked the exact same stuff.
I’m extremely gratefulI for having a working a**hole as well as for having a discerning opinion.
This made me giggle. I’m not sure if my opinion is discerning or not, but I too am grateful for the working hindparts!
Wonder Woman really wasn’t that good, honestly. I know I left the theater disappointed. DC & Warner Brothers really don’t know how to do superhero movies. I really wish they would just lease out the characters to Marvel! They knock it out of the park EVERY time and even then I wouldn’t expect those movies to be nominated for anything but MTV & Choice awards.
@ A:
“I really wish they would just lease out the characters to Marvel!
Please, no.
Plus, now that Disney bought Fox and, technically, Marvel has all those X-Men characters back…there may be a chance to have a decent X-Men movie made.
@ A, ITA
I was not impressed with WW. I’ve said in previous posts it was not a favorite of mine. It was a fun summer film, I had some laughs and the action was ok but it did not rock my world by any means. I saw it once and had no interest in seeing it again but I was happy to add my little contribution to its BO success but like many superhero films, it was a nice summer respite. But that’s it.
I certainly was not looking for anything more. I just was not that good IMO.
As for the technical categories, well, I cannot speak to that. It’s been too long for me to have an opinion on sound mixing or sound editing, etc.
I’m pretty certain it is not the second-highest grossing film of the year, not with Beauty and the Beast in existence. Do you men domestic?
I want the academy to stop ignoring great work of women (like Mudbound). I don’t want them to award a slightly above average film directed by a woman to show how woke they are.
Not even domestic, The Last Jedi cracked past Beauty and the Beast’s domestic total by the time 31 December 2017 came around.
YAY!
I’m sooooooo going to rub that in the face of a prick (who I thought to be a friend) and LOVED WW (and religiously watches the Oscars every year).
Now I only need Blade Runner 2049 to lose in all the categories it’s been nominated to have my victory lap over that a**hole (he thought that was the best movie of 2017 — and didn’t quite understand why it was a MAJOR flop when I explained that a movie has to make three times its budget to break even).
“(…) a prick who I thought to be a friend and who LOVED WW”.
@Eve this is late but I’m laughing my head off and I hope you get your wish.
I wanted to like this movie SO much, but I turned it off after 20 minutes or so.
I found it very boring, but to be fair, I also know I shouldn’t have watched it on my pc. I can only enjoy a superhero movie in a theatre, not at home.
The only comic book/superhero movie that deserved a nom this year was Logan and it received one so I’m happy.
Wonder Woman really was not that good, the lead being a female doesn’t change the fact that the 3rd act was actual garbage and the typical DCEU CGI slugfest to end their comic movies.
Logan was the unexpected ending to the Wolverine saga that I needed and didn’t even realize it.
I liked Wonder Woman more than you, probably 7/10, but I agree with you on Logan.
I was teary-eyed by the final shot of Logan, and this despite not watching any X-men films before or knowing anything about the characters beyond wiki/trailers.
I ugly cried at the end of Logan.
Suicide Squad won for best Hair and Makeup, which… eh, seems like a stretch.
I love Wonder Woman, but I can understand why it got shut out. It was good, but could have been better. The fact like it seems like she’s in love with Chris Pine’s character (EI the first man she’s ever seen) really bothered me. I know it’s cannon, but I think that would have been an easy thing to break away from, especially where they killed him off.
Chris Pine (the BEST Chris) should have gotten nominated…seriously, that could have went…SO WRONG…and it went BEYOND right, he was the emotional heart of the movie…and I STILL remember every nuance of his performance…
I said the same thing above but you said it so much better than me.
All I’ll say is, no. Comic movies are not Oscar bait. Unless of course is The Dark Knight and we are talking Nolan calibre here.
That being said, I think Patty was more deserving of an Oscar nos for putting this together than Greta for Lady Bird. While fun and tender, Lady Bird is not a movie that stands out for its directing style or complex shots
It was a fun popcorn flick, but not some great movie. Big box office often does not equate with oscars.
I thought it was incredibly boring and we actually left the theater before it was over. It made so much money because lots of people like me, went to see it and had high hopes it would be good. It was a bad movie and I’m not shocked it wasn’t nominated for any Oscars
I really enjoyed it and rewatched on blu ray. It’s a great super hero movie, but I don’t think it’s a Best Picture kind of movie. Which is fine, that’s not what it had to do.
I could see some technical nominations, and the costuming was pretty interesting. It’s a shame there aren’t awards for stunt work, because that would have been where it shone.
It’s an ok movie with a messy third act and some awful CGI towards the end, definitely not Best Picture material and I don’t even mean that I the ‘popcorn flick’ sense, I mean that in the ‘it’s not even that good a popcorn flick’ sense.
Also Patty did a great job but anyone who thought Gal could or should get a best actress nomination for this, is either off their gourd or slept right through the (mercifully few) scenes where she was required to portray emotions. She looks really cool but good actress she is not, you’d have a better case for nominating Daisy Ridley for Best Actress than her.
i don’t care i loved this movie. the fight scenes literally made me so overwhelmed with emotion that i cried
love this movie
I loved it too. I thought the storyline of the strong woman with integrity, going around being a bada$$, was sorely needed and fantastic to see on a big screen. I think it will inspire loads of young women. Society needed this Wonder Woman.
There were a few great moments in the film (the No Man’s Land scene), but it was too uneven, and the script too poor, to warrant any noms. I’m completely fine with it, though looking forward to seeing what Patty Jenkins does next (other than WWII).
Wonder Woman was a good movie. It wasn’t a great movie. It had ok acting, ok directing, ok script. The reason it stood out was really because we finally had a good female superhero and it was directed by a woman. Also was the only decent thing that has come out of the DC Universe. If any superhero movie deserved awards this year, it was Logan.
I’m loving all you who are saying this movie wasn’t that great! I was so hyped to see and then so disappointed. I’m the “no mans land” scene wasn’t that amazing. I’ve seen documentary re-enactments that are more exciting. Uh it feels so good to say all that without being yelled at for not supporting a female led movie.
@ Nick:
Right there with you. And I’m a woman.
I was dragged on twitter for saying that lol. For me it was mainly the acting. Gal is truly awful. As much as I think the marvel movies are corny, when it comes to casting they always nail it.
@ Xi Tang:
You really did that? F*cking awesome. Even *I* kept my mouth closed when everybody was praising this movie (re: I’m known to be very blunt around here).
P.S.: Marvel not only nails the actors but directors as well. See Taka Waititi, for instance.
P.P.S.: I only disagree when it comes to Crap Pratt.
I too argued that Gal Gadot wasn’t a good actress and that she didn’t manage to put irony or humour where it was required. And guess where my comments went. Apparently as a woman one is supposed to support any woman doing anything even when it ain’t good.
(When Wonder Woman/Diana works on that statue and is asked how she spent her weekend and Diana just says something bland while she saved the world as Wonder Woman… now Gadot managed to play that scene without any wit or humour or irony. Talking about killing a script.)
Try the shopping scene: the “secretary”-actress does easily outplay Gadot/Wonder Woman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGD0JkxoXvo
I thought the score was pretty good.
“It almost feels like a deliberate snub.”
To a crazy person maybe.
This is definitely a case of somebody inventing something to get outraged about.
*blowing kisses to you, Josieh*
The film was entertaining, and came at just the right time, but it’s not a great film. It’s just barely an ok film. The pacing is all over the place, the story has multiple large weak areas, and all the technical work was extremely mediocre to bad. The score was quite good, but nothing at all special. The acting was very good to serviceable. The direction was ok, which is a big triumph for a DC film but not a triumph of filmmaking. I’m baffled that anyone could seriously expect Oscar nominations when Marvel’s put out far, far better films and gotten zilch.
Thor: Ragnorak was one of the best received films of the year and is one of the best superhero films ever, and it’s up for nothing. That’s an actual snub.
@ Jussie:
Great comment.
Disagree only about Ragnarok. I loved it but wouldn’t qualify it as one of the best ever made.
It’s definitely the best Thor movie though. No doubt.
The Academy typically snubs comic book movies so this really isn’t a surprise.
CB is always really annoying about the Oscars. The writer doesn’t know enough on the topics and hence always is really outraged.
Nothing to be mad at here from where I’m standing. The movie was good, not great. I enjoyed watching it in the theater. But its not Oscar worthy, despite being a huge financial success. I don’t think it wasn’t one of the best movies of the year, or even of the best super hero movies of the year (Logan, Ragnarok and Homecoming were all better in that order), in my opinion.
Gal Gadot is a totally bland actress. She shouldn’t be nominated ‘just because’ she’s a woman. She is not Oscar-nom worthy so far in her career.
I didn’t see it, but my impression from the trailer was that it was a generic superhero movie and the only thing making it special was being female-led. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s awesome, but it never really occurred to me as something ‘Oscar-baity.’
I agree. Thank you for summing up this!
I don’t think that WW deserves an Oscar nomination.
Perplexed that WW was hailed as such a feminist movie despite the Pygmalion life she leads in London guided by the male Chris Pine character – also disappointed that the lead character was really Chris Pine after the promising opening.
I tell the story how as a little kid my mom was watching the Oscars in the 70’s and I was rooting for Superman to win. When it didn’t win much I thought this show is dumb. Have never watched it since lol