A Review of "Wonder Woman"
(No spoilers ahead beyond what you could infer from the trailers, I promise.)
I finally got to see Wonder Woman. And while I went in with already impossibly high expectations that would be a good stand-alone movie and rescue the faltering DC Cinematic Universe, it still exceeded them.
I love Marvel. They are nothing less than the best filmmakers in the business right now. But I’ve been pulling for DC in that way you don’t want to live in a one-party state. But the launch of the DCCU has been one explosion one takeoff after another. Man of Steel was a grim, monotone, joyless mess. Swedish cinema with guys knocking each other through skyscrapers for 45 minutes. Batman vs. Superman was five mediocre action movies stuffed inside one shitty one. And Suicide Squad was the sound of a studio panicking as they realize they’re making a movie about the most sadistic villains in all of comics and need to make them zany and lovable. The one saving grace of all three was the appearance of Wonder Woman in BvS, who damned near salvaged the movie. She couldn’t quite. But I’m convinced now she can save the DC universe.
The main reason is Gal Gadot, who is perfection. Not just in the way she looks, though there’s that, but the way she pulls off the character. To be frank, Wonder Woman is one of the weirdest superheroes. Her powers are fine, but the backstory about being the daughter of Zeus and the dumb devices like an invisible plane and a rope that makes you tell the truth are hard to give a serious treatment to. No less a giant than my nerd god Joss Whedon famously did two treatments of her and the studio rejected both of them. But Gal Gadot crushes the character. From the exposition scenes on her home island (which don’t get bogged down in backstory and live by the rule of “Show, Don’t Tell) to the fish-out-of-water second act in London (when she puts on glasses … did I mention looks?) to her reaction to seeing war first hand, she’s incredible. And carries what will probably be the biggest grossing movie of 2017. Legitimately, she’s Oscar worthy.
And other huge element is the treatment of The Great War. When this literal Warrior Princess sees first hand the horrors of a war that was ultimately senseless, you feel it. Especially with Chris Pine – who’s excellent as always – trying to navigate her through the moral gray areas of that hell on Earth. It was smart to place her into the middle of World War I which, unlike it’s sequel, wasn’t a morality play of Good vs. Evil. It was kings fighting other kings over where borders were drawn and sending working people into the gears of war like meat into a grinder. And you see Wonder Woman trying to process boys heading to the front, wounded coming back, the trenches, No Man’s Land and the civilians caught in between. It’s a part of history that doesn’t get enough movies made about it.
There’s a few elements borrowed from earlier superhero movies. The guys she’s in the photo that Batfleck sends her in BvS are a mulitcultural team of ragtag misfits, almost identical to the Howling Commandos from Captain America: The First Avenger. And the German officer is so much a store brand Red Skull they could sell him as Crimson Cranium. (Question: Was that line cringe-worthy? The alliteration made it feel sort of Rick Reillyish. But I’m leaving it in.) But there’s plenty enough originality here. Especially the fight scenes, which manage to have an entirely different feel in the different settings. One thing I’m starting to notice with Marvel is that, no matter if you’re a super soldier, a Norse god, a giant or an alien, or a mystic who can bend space and time, it all still comes down to punching guys in the face. Wonder Woman keeps the fight choreography fresh as Diana Prince is figuring out what her true nature is.
I don’t say this lightly, but I’ll put Wonder Woman up in my pantheon of superhero movies. I won’t put a number on it, but it’s in that mix with The Dark Knight trilogy, Iron Man, Spider Man 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, that first Captain America and Marvel’s the Avengers. For real. Enough that I’m actually looking forward to The Justice League now. Even more if they promise more Gal Gadot in glasses.