Wonder Woman Review
The fledgling DC Extended Universe has it’s first great film.
After the disappointments of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad, many fans began to openly wonder if DC and Warner Brothers were ever going to get it right as they craft their cinematic DC Universe, which they call the DC Extended Universe. Well, if they follow the path of Wonder Woman, they’ll definitely get it right and might even give Marvel Studios a run for it’s money. Wonder Woman is not just a good movie, it’s one of the great films of the genre. It may be in the top 3 super hero origin films of all time (along with Batman Begins and Iron Man). DC didn’t just succeed with this film, they knocked it out of the park!
Princess Diana is the only child on Themyscaria, home of the Amazons, a race of warrior women created by the Greek god Zeus to protect humanity from Ares, god of war. An American spy Steve Trevor is saved by Diana outrunning the World War I-era German army and Steve tells them of the destruction and devastation happening in Europe. Convinced that Ares has returned and is behind this great conflict, Diana insists on returning to “man’s world” with Steve to help bring an end to the war.
Wonder Woman was one of the highlights of the mediocre theatrical cut of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While director Zack Snyder, clearly inspired by the work he did on Watchmen, was making Batman and Superman question their reason for being heroes, Gal Gadot played the character with enough intensity, class, and mystery that made fans want more. Now, with her own film, director Patty Jenkins is inspired by a different source material than Snyder was. Jenkins has admitted that Superman: The Movie, a film she saw in her childhood gave her the most inspiration when guiding the feel and tone of Wonder Woman. And that is exactly what Wonder Woman feels like, a contemporary classic super hero film. Warner Brothers let Jenkins, who directed Charlize Theron to an oscar in Monster do her own thing and not follow the precedent set by Snyder and the result is incredible. Gone are the dour and dark settings in every shot, in is Themyscaria, bright, vibrant, beautiful and inviting. Gone is the lead questioning their need to be hero, in is Wonder Woman running into battle when no one else is willing to, all to help people in need. This is very clearly a heroic film. Wonder Woman is a hero that demands to be celebrated because of her brave actions. She is everything we imagine these characters to be.
While it’s not exactly fair, it’s only natural that fans and general audiences alike are going to compare Marvel and DC. So did this film succeed because it’s more like a Marvel movie? Not really. DC is carving it’s own path. DC’s heroes are different. I once heard that DC heroes are gods that become people and Marvel heroes are people who become gods. With that in mind, good DC movies are naturally going to feel grander and that’s certainly true here. There are far more substantive issues explored in this film than there typically are in Marvel movies from feminism to the nature of evil. Don’t worry, the film doesn’t get bogged down in these issues, like BvS did in the issues it explored, in fact it feels just right and gives the film some weight that isn’t typical of movies like this today. And Ares, the villain, who’s identity I won’t reveal here, is in his few scenes, far more interesting and sinister than most of the Marvel villians.
The performances are wonderful through and through, beginning with lead actress Gal Gadot who IS Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is often accused of being a hard character for a lot of comic book writers. They complain she lacks any sort of angles. But I think the most recent writer of the Wonder Woman comic, Greg Rucka puts it best. She is best portrayed when she embodies certain ideals: love, peace, courage, conviction. And the tension comes from humanity not living up to this and Diana having to deal with the fall out. This creates a challenge for the actor, if one is not careful, a character like this could be extremely unlikable, but Gal pulls it off. She is never preachy. She is strong, confident. She embodies a lot of characteristics many would recognize in strong people but especially women around them. Chris Pine is great as Steve Trevor, his comedic timing is perfect and he doesn’t ever come across as comeptitive with Gadot, supporting her well. Pine is basically Captain Kirk in World War I in this film, but that’s okay because it works for the character. The rest of the cast is great too, but special mention ought to go to Robin Wright, who uses every scene she gets to her advantage. As Antiope, the general of the Amazons and aunt to Diana, she is particually convincing in her battle scenes bringing an intensity that one would expect from the fiercest member of a warrior race. I am glad to hear she will be reprising her role in Justice League in November.
I really believe the difference between success and faliure had a lot to do with the choices in how they handled the political issues inherent about a female superhero in this film. There was a, still good, animated Wonder Woman movie released in 2009 that cast this in much more simple, lazy terms. Diana was a strong, feminist woman who shedded all precepts of the great patriarchy and Steve Trevor was a pig, fawning over nude amazons he finds swimming in a lake (that is hilariously turned on it’s head in this film) and making frequent degrading comments about Diana’s body. Granted, you you were supposed to still like Steve, root for Steve, and think Steve was cool. The movie would not stop reminding you about it. Diana would preach of the evils of men and the virtues of the Amazons, Steve would make some sort of sexist comment shrug his shoulders and wink at the camera. This new live action film takes a much more nuanced view on all of these issues. Diana is most definitely a strong, feminist woman, but she is still feminine. She wonders why women wear such unpractical clothing in 1918, but she melts when she sees a baby. Her femininity isn’t doesn’t hamper her, it’s where she derives much of her strength. Wonder Woman is unapolgetically a woman superhero in this film. Steve Trevor is far from a pig, he is incredibly thoughtful, intellegent, and while he does hold some old school views consistent with how men might have thought in the early 20th century, he respects Diana as a partner in stopping the war. Not one piggish comment is made by Trevor in the whole film. Is there sexism and outright misogyny from other characters? It’s 1918, women don’t even have the right to vote in much of the western world, of course there is! But it’s all handled extremely well, sometimes inspiringly and sometimes hilariously, by Gadot and Jenkins, it’s hard to think of anyone in 2017 who would object to the feminism portrayed in Wonder Woman and the way it’s handled is a contributing factor to it’s success.
Wonder Woman is well on it’s way to becoming the top film of the summer for good reason. It’s the first female lead super hero movie of the modern age, but at it’s heart it’s an old school superhero movie in an age when we need old school heroes. Patty Jenkins is a great director with an awesome cast lead by Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman with Chris Pine supporting her well as Steve Trevor. Smart choices about how to handle the inherent political issues that arise make the movie inclusive and don’t bog the film down. Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot should be proud, they have made one of the great super hero films.
9/10
