Review: Wonder Woman is easily the best DC movie in years
Gal Gadot shines in this excellent standalone superhero adventure…
Patty Jenkins’ triumphant Wonder Woman is everything I’d hoped it would be and more. Most importantly, it’s the joyful and exhilarating corrective to the mess that has been DC’s attempt to establish a cinematic universe. It’s a fantastic movie that feels fitting for one of the most iconic comic book heroes of all time, and it’s almost certainly one of the finest standalone superhero movies in modern cinema. By my reckoning, this is the strongest origin story since 2005’s Batman Begins. That’s certainly high praise, but Wonder Woman earns it. Unlike so many others, it isn’t weighed down with questions of morality and vigilantism. The titular character’s sole purpose is to defend the world of men from the evil of war, so she won’t shy away from the conflict. When all’s said and done, Wonder Woman is a sincere, exciting and beautiful work of filmmaking… and it’s amazing to see it be such an enormous success with audiences.
It’s a wonderful, but not unexpected, box office success
Wonder Woman’s massive debut weekend (in which it earned $100 million in the US and more than that worldwide, becoming the biggest opening for a film directed by a woman, ever) shouldn’t really come as a surprise. There have been some fears that if this were to fail, it would be used as a litmus test for the very idea of blockbusters directed by women at all. The worst case scenario could’ve given studios more of a reason to continue to under-represent women both in front of and behind the camera. This is a fight that’s far from over — especially when the majority of the actual cinema-going public is women to begin with — but the popularity of Wonder Woman emphatically proves a point that needed proving.
People have been eagerly awaiting this film, and more films like it, where women are at the forefront in blockbuster-leading roles with the backing of big budgets, special effects and rousing adventure. It’s outrageous that progress in this area is taking as long as it is! That’s perhaps the main lesson to be learned from the success of The Hunger Games series and now this. Audiences want movies about women, and movies directed by women too. Hollywood needs to get its act together.
It has taken far too long for this movie to get made
Beyond Superman, Batman and a maybe a handful of others, Wonder Woman is easily one of the most popular and recognisable icons from comics. She’s one of the most powerful and important heroes too, created during the early feminist movement in the ’40s and having a widespread cultural impact ever since. And yet, it’s taken until 2017 for her origin story to be told in a big movie! Just think about it, in that time nine actors have played Batman and nine actors have played Superman! While there have been a few adaptations of this character on the small screen, her cinematic debut is long overdue. It feels like this character has been waiting on the sidelines, needing her moment in the spotlight. There are a lot of other great stories about women in comics that haven’t made it to the movies too. Just look up the tales of Muslim American Marvel hero Kamala Khan and Carol Danvers (who’ll be played by Brie Larson in Captain Marvel) in the world of Marvel, or Batgirl (an upcoming Joss Whedon film) on the DC side of things. This film being a smash hit should give Hollywood all the evidence it needs to place a bit more faith (and money!) in these projects.
It’s a great superhero story
Like any compelling movie, Wonder Woman excels because it has great characters. Gal Gadot plays Diana of Themyscira, who grows up in an island paradise where there are no men, training to be the greatest warrior of them all. When the plane of American pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands near her home, she learns about World War I and its devastating consequences in the outside world. She decides to leave Themyscira so that she can try to end the war, setting her on a path of self-discovery. The film is beautifully shot, has an excellent cast and a well-structured narrative that feels truly heroic and different. Diana isn’t the sort of character we’ve seen in these stories before, and everything about her is refreshing.
Wonder Woman feels like a throwback because it is so optimistic and uplifting, while not shying away from darkness. It’s got more in common with Richard Donner’s Superman than it does with almost any modern superhero film. It’s also a lot like the terrific first Captain America movie, not only because of its wartime setting, but also because of the nobility, strength and fearlessness of its hero. This is a narrative that’s more about stopping a war than it is about picking a side, and it’s notably nuanced in its presentation of conflict and human nature.
Gal Gadot was born to be Wonder Woman
As a movie lead and a blockbuster star, it’s fair to say that before this Gadot was something of an unknown quantity. She was easily the best element of the awful Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but it was still unclear if she could lead a film until now. Her terrific performance puts an end to that debate. Her action scenes are incredible, she really sells the emotion and the growth of the character, and her chemistry with sidekick Chris Pine (quickly proving himself to be the best Chris) is fantastic. Diana is a great protagonist made greater by all the little quirks that Gadot brings to her.
She also displays complete confidence when portraying the character’s optimistic outlook and her intelligence, while her skills are also nicely balanced with her naivety about the customs of the real world and her unawareness of the darkness within people. Because we’re going on this journey with her, we feel her shock at the kind of evil that occurs in war almost as much as she does. She’s a hero who believes people are capable of being better than they are, and it’s a message that is wholeheartedly expressed by Gadot’s top-notch work and the film’s strong screenplay. It’s a message that’s clearly struck a chord with fans too. There’s a level of truth, complexity and emotion here that’s missing from a lot of blockbusters and feels really relevant right now, which is a big part of why Wonder Woman is such a hit.
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter, and head here to follow me on Twitter.
