Wonder Woman
Composite Score: 81.59
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Lucy Davis, Connie Nielsen, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, Eugene Brave Rock, and Elena Anaya
Director: Patty Jenkins
Writers: Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, and Jason Fuchs
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, War, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive content
Box Office: $822.85 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Wonder Woman was the first major superhero film (Marvel or DC) to feature a female lead, making it a pioneering film in the field. On top of its originality, the film also features incredible action sequences, solid comic relief, and a formulaic but fun superhero origin story. It tells the story of Diana of Themyscira, and her journey from Amazon warrior princess to becoming the superhero Wonder Woman that appeared in Batman vs. Superman (2016), specifically her origins fighting in World War I to stop Ares, the God of War from plunging humanity into an endless war and eventual extinction.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
There are certain story aspects that are easy to nitpick about continuity. Ares has the Lasso of Truth on him at one point and tells Diana that he is “the god of Truth”; should we take this to mean that he is in fact the god of Truth? The fact Ares dies and World War I basically immediately ends, but World War II still happens in the universe’s continuity raises some interesting questions. Also, World War II existing in the universe and Diana (implicitly) not stopping Hitler, what’s up with that? How did Dr. Poison find a random note page that gave her exactly what was missing in her lost notebook, and then why did they keep trying to get that notebook back even once the gas had been developed? These are all plot holes that people love talking about online when Wonder Woman, but they shouldn’t inherently be reasons to skip watching it. I just wanted to get it out of the way before bringing up a more legitimate critique.
The final action piece is the least enjoyable in the entire film. I’ll talk more about the great other action pieces in a second, but the final fight between Diana and Ares feels the most generic and least interesting. It’s basically just two strong people throwing stuff at each other against a fiery backdrop. Because the audience knows that Diana survives, Steve dies, and World War I ends, the fight’s stakes do not bring you to the edge of your seat either, as some other generic superhero action sequences can when the end results are somewhat more in question. Also, the conclusion to the fight made me think of the ending of The Rise of Skywalker (2019), which came after, but has an equally dissatisfying way to end the villain – deflecting his lightning back at him with crossed defensive weapons that also have offensive capabilities. The parallel obviously came later, but that does not change the fact that using the villain’s own powers against them feels convenient and slightly dissatisfying.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Aside from that Ares fight, Wonder Woman’s action scenes are incredible. The use of slow motion to highlight Diana’s superior fighting skills feels appropriate, especially when we see the few sped up moments of action where she moves alarmingly fast. Being able to see every little move and the movement of the bullets and arrows through the air was really cool. Inspired by the bullet time of The Matrix, this film utilizes the bit well to help show Diana for the superhero that she is, absolutely giving everybody else the work in every bit of combat she participates in. In particular, the Amazons versus the Germans on the beach of Themyscira showcases some really solid uses of bullet time for Diana and the other Amazons. Also, her superhero moment of crossing no-man’s land on her own and then liberating the town beyond basically solo has a great crossover of war action and superhero action that should get everyone in the audience super hyped.
The film’s script does a good job of making Diana lovably naïve at the beginning and allowing her to mature throughout without losing hope for the “world of men”. Early scenes/jokes that work well at establishing a connection include her conversation with the nude Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), offering to sleep on the same pallet with Steve on the boat, and hearing a baby cry and saying “*gasp* A baby!” Having that early connection and innocence makes her resilience in the face of the violence of World War I all the more impressive and encouraging. She experiences loss and hurt, yes, but never loses her belief that humanity can be better and, given the opportunity, will not destroy itself. It’s a solid challenge for those of us watching the film but not too heavy-handed in its delivery.
Despite some minor plot holes and a less-than-satisfying final fight, Wonder Woman delivers a solid, funny, engaging superhero origin film with some of the best action sequences from the last ten years. Its position as the first major female-led superhero film also helps elevate it to the status of Great Film, one that will stick around for a while on many people’s must-watch lists. The film is currently available to stream on HBO Max, so if you have a free evening, it’s worth checking out.
