Wonder

With Stephen Chbosky's top-notch direction, a clever and elaborate script by Jack Thorne, Steven Conrad and Chbosky, a beautiful soundtrack by Marcelo Zarvos and Bea Miller, great makeup and amazing performances by Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay and Izabela Vidovic, Wonder can be exciting, a lot of fun and one of the best movies of 2017

First of all, I gotta say that I read the book. I absolutely loved the book. Now, I wasn't going to raise my expectations for the movie adaptation because we all know how movies disappoint in comparison to the book. Wonder however, stays true to the book, which is its major redeeming point. I thought it would be some modified, really boring movie that would make me sigh throughout the whole 2 hours as I pointed out key flaws and differences between the movie and book (because I'm one of those people), but I loved it. The acting was INCREDIBLE, the story stayed true to the book (they only left out a flew plot points rather than invent their own) and it was overall a great experience. When I got out of the cinema, so many people were crying or said they had cried and I was overjoyed to find out that I wasn't the only person who felt touched. The child actors are fantastic, but overall there wasn't one bad actor. IF you were considering seeing this movie but weren't sure because you thought it might be boring, trust me, it's really worth the watch!!

Having read other reviews that criticize that this movie is not realistic, I felt the urge to write my very first review here. I was thinking about the following questions:

• does this movie have to be realistic?
• what if it shows us an ideal to strive after?
• wouldn't "Wonder" be a good title?

In my opinion this movie is not necessarily realistic (yet) but optimistic. It does not have to be realistic, because it is (of course) a fictional movie and showing something most people will not have experienced in their lives. Here, I'm especially referring to people that got bullied at school. All too often, those people are left alone and stuck in their situation. Over years, they may get permanently threatened, often with no or very few external help. The reasons for that are manyfold, but often boil down to something superficial. I do know that - not really from the bullied but from the bully side.

Back at my school days, it did happen that I was in groups bullying minorities. At those moments, we felt stronger, I guess. But with hindsight, I felt actually bad, knowing that even the slightest participation in such things is bad. Even looking away is bad.

Courage is what I was missing at these days, and I regretted it. This movie shows even "stupid" people like me that there is a way out and people can manage to act differently. In that sense the movie is optimistically showing an ideal. But people often need to be taken by the hand, to be shown alternative ways of behaving, so they can strive after such behavior. This movie reminded me of that, and it felt good watching it. Even if the movie nowadays has to be titled "Wonder", it is a step towards making this wonder come alive. Believe in it!

Loved the book, one of my recent reads and one of the ones that really resonated with me. Really admired that a difficult subject that similarly resonates with me was being explored. Like feel good films with doses of humour and sentiment exploring serious concepts. Love 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', also directed by Stephen Chbosky, that 'Wonder' is often compared to. A lot of the cast have also done good previous work.

'Wonder' generally did live up to high expectations. It was not quite a wonder but it very nearly was. Is it as good as 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower?' No, not quite. It is a very good film though, and is also one of the most faithful book-to-film adaptations there is (there are not many of those around). A few changes, but not ones that harm the film at all and it doesn't suffer as much as other book-to-film adaptations at compressing, the impact that the book had and its spirit is very much intact.

Not a flawless film. The narration is overused and over-explanatory, there are far worse cases in film but it definitely could have been used less and didn't need to tell us as much as it did when it could have been shown just as effectively and would have not confused the storytelling at all. The ending also goes a little too far with the sentiment, feeling a little too maudlin and contrived.

However, 'Wonder' had inspiring, well-intentioned messaging, and even when past my school days it inspired me and made me think how my bullying suffering could have been handled better on my part. It really resonated with me as somebody who has been there, being bullied in school mercilessly for being "different from the norm" and my difficulties (physically and socially) and found myself identifying with Auggie every step of the way and admired how he overcame everything. Personally actually bought how he was accepted (it certainly works for different people, and while some will not find it truthful, as someone who actually was accepted quickly when changing schools regardless of my problems it rang true for me).

The comedy is not overdone and is genuinely amusing and warm in a gentle fashion, never distasteful, and the emotional elements were very poignant and brought tears to my eyes. The feel good elements had a real charm and warmth and there was a lot to be inspired by. A couple of other elements are also touched upon, including courage in the face of adversity (something that was true for me after leaving school and going to music college) and how friendship and family are portrayed, also very much identifiable and powerfully done.

'Wonder' is a beautifully filmed and directed film, sympathetically written and scored and always involving.

Can't fault the cast. Jacob Tremblay once again, after his performance in 'Room', gives a revelation of a performance that is very easy to relate to, it is completely insignificant that an able-bodied actor portrays a disabled/deformed character (John Hurt in 'The Elephant Man' portrayed a heavily disfigured character, as a notable example, and Hurt was far from that) contrary to a couple of comments made.

Izabella Vidovic also impresses hugely, Owen Wilson is warmly restrained and one would be hard pressed to find a Julia Roberts performance this gentle or endearing.

Overall, very good and very nearly a wonder. With less and more subtle narration and an ending that rang true more, it could have been. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I absolutely fell in love with the story of this movie. I went to the premier last night and didn't really know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. I don't consider myself an emotional movie watcher but I almost lost it 3 times and I laughed more than I could remember. The story line was very easy to follow along. I did not lose interest not one time. I was so impressed with the children actors. A very beautifully written and directed movie. Must watch for the whole family.