Wonder Woman Review (Spoiler free)
I absolutely loved it! The film was beautifully made and Patty Jenkins was a revelation! I'm so happy to say that DC and Warner Brothers did NOT screw this up.
Jenkins created an incredibly scenic and elegant Themyscira. Then showed the harrowing scenes of war in a very dour fashion. War is not glamorized, only Diana herself is.
This version of Wonder Woman does not get called Wonder Woman- which is a bit of a shame but we still get to know the character really well by the end of the film, so you will remember her. She is given her dues as the DC icon that she is. They take some liberties with the character's origin but there's nothing major. If you can deal with Batman being cool with killing then you can deal with this (it's worth noting, I'm still struggling with that Batman thing but there's nothing here that is even nearly as sacreligious!). I wasn't sold on Gal initially, even in BVS (partially because she had very little to do) but she truly proves her acting ability here. Diana is sweet, kind and yet also naïve. She is not aware of man's world so she deals with an abundance of culture shock when she arrives, which is highly entertaining.
I am very proud of these women. They were the key ingredients to bringing this vision to life. Both were, and I understand how lame it is to make this pun, WONDERFUL!
The action is outstanding! There are several scenes in this film that rival BVS's warehouse scene. Diana has trained in combat since she was a young girl and when she finally gets to actually utilize her skills, you can tell that the training pays off!
Wonder Woman crossing the battlefield, leading the charge was the best scene. You will have seen snippets of it from the trailer but I will not go into specifics so as not to spoil it. It was incredibly moving! I honestly believe that it will be remembered as one of the most iconic Wonder Woman moments ever. Diana is depicted as having such beauty and grace, even as she is being an incredible badass.
Chris Pine didn't steal the show, thankfully! He was very good, and very charming- but can you imagine if this turned into a Steve Trevor film? Chris Pine is the biggest actor in the film so I did have that worry going in.
If you're worried about the film being a big piece of feminist propaganda- don't be. Yes, it is an inherently feminist film. It has to be! However, it does not bash you over the head with men being awful and demeaning towards Diana. It does happen but it makes sense in those moments. It is also VERY satisfying to see the Amazon warrior princess put some men in their places!
There are unfortunately several similarities to the first Captain America film, however, it can be forgiven because there is also a lot of original material. It has a soldier, named Steve, fighting in a World War, the film is book ended by modern day scenes and both feature a big plane at their at the climax. Like I said though, there is enough originality for it not to be a copycat. The hero is a WOMAN after all!
I was so pleased with this film. We don't have enough female superheroes and so it's about time that we gave one a spotlight! This is a character that I know that my little sister will now grow up adoring. She likes superheroes enough- but in terms of the movies, she only really has Black Widow to relate to! (At least until now!) It doesn't just rest on being the first of its kind though (yeah, I'm not counting Supergirl or Catwoman) because the film also has a lot of heart! For all of the reasons stated above, I'm giving it an A!
