Why I Broke Down in Tears: A Wonder Woman Review

I can sum up my experience watching Wonder Woman in three simple words.

It’s About Time.

Those three words can sum up years of frustration that were built up with superhero movies. Yes, this includes Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. And while the film still has issues that most hollywood movies suffer in general, it’s still a joyful step in the right direction for women superhero representation in film.

In the past, women superhero movies were met with a lot of scorn. Partly due to their poor writing and partly due to the fact that most of the time they were made to ride on the coat tails of already established male-lead superhero films. The first being Supergirl, released 1984, which was made to be a spinoff of the popular Christopher Reeve led Superman films. Even though it made the #1 spot at the box office on its opening weekend, earning a total of $14.3 million in North America, it was still nominated for two razzies and was considered a major flop. The most recent film since then was Elektra, released in 2005, which was an attempt to make a spinoff of the Daredevil film. It received negative reviews and was considered to be the lowest earning Marvel movie release since Howard the Duck, it earned $24,409,722 domestically out of a $43 million budget.

But here’s a film about a woman who was created to stand shoulder to shoulder with the others as an equal from the get-go. She wasn’t made to be a female-version or extension of an established male character. Since her conception in 1941, Wonder Woman was established as one of the Trinity; consisting of herself, Superman and Batman. She was one of the founders of The Justice League and is considered the longest running woman superhero.

So, naturally, if Warner Brothers was going to make a film about her, they knew they had to do it right. This is especially big due to the fact that Marvel was under heavy fire for not having released a film with a main super heroine in the lead role (until 2018 when Captain Marvel is expected to be released). The studio also went under much heavy criticism for either pushing their heroines to the back, or cutting them out entirely for the marketing of their films. This was a major punch that DC could beat Marvel to. When Batman vs Superman was released, Diana was given the royal treatment for the marketing. She was displayed with the two titular heroes in posters, toys and trailers despite only taking up less than fifteen minutes of screentime in the theatrical cut of the film. Audiences responded in droves how much they approved it, that was their signal, the world was ready for Diana to grace the screen. And not only that, but they went on to hire a female director (Patty Jenkins) as well.

So did the film hold up? Was it worth the hype?

Well, it’s definitely more of a traditional film. It’s another origin story, and that alone might make a few folks grow doubt considering those take up the majority of superhero films. Thankfully, it takes a different approach by making it a flashback. Diana is the only child among a society of Amazon women. She is loved and protected by her mother, Hippolyta, but can’t wait to start training to learn to defend her home. One day a plane crashes not too far off from the coast and she saves the pilot. The pilot turns out to be an English spy carrying important information. It’s then that she learns that there’s not just a whole different society outside of her island, but it’s right in the middle of World War 1. Believing that the God of War himself, Ares, is influencing all of mankind to fight amongst each other; Diana runs off to help the spy and finally gets to see the world for herself.

The film isn’t too shy of going through a few of the tropes you expect, there’s plenty of “fish out of water” moments, a delightful scene where Diana gets to try on some of the popular fashion of the time, and you get plenty of nods to where feminism was at the time. Diana, thankfully, is a delight to watch through all of these scenes. She teeters, but never falls into the newly named “born sexy yesterday” trope. Throughout her adventures in this alien world, she still manages to keep her head and doesn’t become a weight for her male friend to carry around. Throughout the majority of the film, she’s the one who actually drives him and convinces him to make certain important decisions. The best and most iconic moment is when she truly shows where her heart is. She’s in a trench in the front lines and, against the will of her friends, rushes out into the battlefield to act as a shield and a distraction for England to overtake the Germans. She was told “you can’t save everyone”, her response? “Maybe you can’t…”

This is probably the closest way to get to Wonder Woman’s “theme”; as her creator, Dr. William Moulton Martson, was a very strong feminist and wanted to create a character that was a shot back at all the prominent male superheroes that were so popular. He’s gone on record stating “Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world.”

That is the main anthem of the film, and it’s an anthem that people have been crying out for decades. It’s a film about a very confident, powerful and strong willed woman who kicks butt and takes names. It’s a fun, wild ride from start to finish. While the film’s story doesn’t have the same hold and originality as, say, Captain America: Winter Soldier. It still manages to be a very fun, very genuine blockbuster ride. A very simple good vs evil storyline that won’t require a lot of brain power on the audience’s part, but with a lot of fun dialogue and some much needed representation and screen time of a character we all were wishing to see more of. And considering how plot-heavy Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman was, this was a much needed breath of fresh air.

I’ll fully admit that I got teary eyed in the theater upon the reveal of her costume and her proud arrival on the battlefield. This is something I’d been waiting to see as a superhero fan for my entire childhood, and it’s so wonderful that there will be little girls that will get to grow up with films like this. With the release and success of female-heavy action movies in the last three years (Mad Max: Fury Road, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), it’s becoming very clear that Hollywood is starting to listen to the pleas of so many audience members that were begging for some representation. While we will get a few duds here and there, it’s very important to acknowledge when these films hit their mark. Wonder Woman grossed $129.4 million domestically on its opening weekend. Pirates of the Caribbean was expected to be the highest earning film for that time, and it only raked in about $115 million. Studios are starting to learn that if they give audiences quality material of these beloved characters, that they will reap the rewards of it. Warner Brothers, you’ve finally gotten your golden egg from this goose, let’s hope we can see more in the upcoming Justice League film this fall.

This was a much needed film. It was an action packed, funny, heartfelt joyride that was able to tell girls that they were capable of doing whatever they believed they could do. It managed to carry the original message that Wonder Woman was created to convey and gave us a fantastic movie with fun characters along the way. I’ll say it again, the best way to sum up this film is in just three words. It’s About Time.