Wonder Woman (2017)

Movie Info

Lasso of Truth…the truth will bring you down!

Diana (Gal Gadot) finds her world of Themyscira rocked with the arrival of a pilot named Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) who reveals that war has broken out with thousands of lives being lost.  Deeming that the war is the work of Ares, Diana joins Steve Trevor in returning to the world in a mission to stop Ares and end the bloodshed.  Teamed with Trevor, Charlie (Ewen Bremner), Chief (Eugene Brave Rock), and Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), Diana finds herself travelling behind enemy lines in an attempt to stop Ares…but war is hell.

Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman is based on DC Comics character who first premiered in All Star Comics #8 in October 1941.  A feature length film of the character was in development hell for decades and the film version of the character was introduced in 2016’s Batman v Superman:  Dawn of Justice.  Following DC’s Suicide Squad of 2016, Wonder Woman was the first of DC Extended Universe films to receive universal praise along with the strong box office returns.

What wall?

I grew up watching reruns of Lynda Carter in the TV version of Wonder Woman along with Wonder Woman every Saturday as part of the Super Friends.  Like Superman and Batman, Wonder Woman was a fixture that was always there.  The DC movies have been mixed though I thought some of them got unfair shakes…Wonder Woman is what DC needed to help fix their film franchise.

The film is relatively simple and rather predictable, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.  It feels a lot like the first Captain America film (this one is set in World War I) and the historical setting means bad luck for Chris Pine.  What works about Wonder Woman is that it feels true to the character.  She is powerful, strong, and chooses her own direction, but she is crafted in a way that doesn’t make her any less feminine…a modern woman also shows the timely compassion that the world needs right now.

I put Team Wonder Woman WWI over team Captain America WWII

I commended the choice of Gadot in Superman v Batman since the makers didn’t go for the typical American white girl.  Gadot brings an exotic nature to the character that fits with her Amazon background.  Her performance is solid and has heart…plus, it shows range from how the character changed by the time she’s in Batman v Superman.  Pine is a rather generic costar, but he’s the damsel in distress which flips the gender roles.  Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen were Diana’s role models on Themyscira and David Thewlis, Danny Huston, and Elena Anaya play the foils.  The UK’s The Office Dawn aka Lucy Davis was almost unrecognizable as Etta Candy and I hope that the character can somehow be brought back.

Ares is playing for keeps

Wonder Woman also looks good.  The movie has a costume that looks like Wonder Woman without it feeling totally objectifying, but it also has some of the spirit that the dark and broody Man of Steel missed out on.  The film is a reminder that Wonder Woman doesn’t have to be constructed with a dark plot to still have fun, but the movie might be a bit dark for people who have become accustom to more jokes from a super-hero movie.

Wonder Woman is a step in the right direction.  It is kind of violent at times, but a movie that can be enjoyed by a large range of viewers and feels like it gets the female empowering message across along with a very positive message about humanity as a whole.  I look forward to a stand-alone sequel to this movie and with its critical and box office success, I imagine one will surface soon.  Wonder Woman returns in Justice League in 2017 and is followed up by the sequel Wonder Woman 1984 in 2020.

Related Links:

Man of Steel (2013)

Batman v Superman:  Dawn of Justice (2016)

Suicide Squad (2016)

Justice League (2017)

Aquaman (2018)