The Skid Reviewer
Wonder Woman is – finally – the superhero film fans have been waiting for ever since DC kickstarted its cinematic universe with 2013’s Man of Steel.
While Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad made piles of dough, the critical backlash was swift and deafening. But with Wonder Woman, director Patty Jenkins and writer Allan Heinberg have crafted the first film in the DCEU that works unreservedly.
The action is crisp and doesn’t suffer from the murky CGI bloat that weighed down Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman. The characters – particularly Gal Gadot’s Diana, the Amazonian princess who becomes Wonder Woman, and Chris Pine’s American spy Steve Trevor – have exceptional chemistry and, for the first time in DC’s Justice League-era film universe, we get emotionally invested in our heroes’ journey.
POLITICS DONE RIGHT
Wonder Woman could have become a political message heavy movie. While the movie does provide good discourse on women empowerment and gender equality, the nuance with which this is carried out was very impressive. There is a trench scene where Trevor tells Diana that no one can cross the 'No Man's Land.' The movie could have had Wonder Woman say "Well, I'm not a man, I'm a woman." But she does not say that. She just charges through in all her epicness because it was the right thing to do.
That scene is a perfect example of how Director Patty Jenkins brilliantly makes Wonder Woman an ideal and a superhero not just for women but for men as well.
The backstory of Princess Diana — how she was created from clay by Zeus, grew up on a man-free island and is gifted with super strength, a lasso of truth, bracelets of submission, an indestructible shield and a God-killing sword. Now that is something that has never been attempted on the big screen since the character's debut in 1941.
Choosing to focus on Wonder Woman as the fourth film in its expanding cinematic universe might have been a risky move, but it’s proven to be heads above the rest of the DC titles so far and is a movie that I think will invite repeat viewing and have moviegoers exiting the theatre saying, “When’s Wonder Woman 2?”
GAL GADOT ROCKS
Gal Gadot completely owns Wonder Woman from her beginnings as a warrior-in-training on the secret island of Themyscira to her wide-eyed experience in London to her tireless pursuit of the film’s villain Ares, the God of War.
Gadot is imposing and charismatic throughout the whole of Wonder Woman. We root for her, from her days learning to fight under General Antiope (Robin Wright) right up to her final confrontation with Ares.
IT’S GOT A GREAT LOVE STORY
After Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands near her home on Themyscira with news of a horrific battle being fought by mankind, Diana joins the American in London to stop German General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and “Doctor Poison” (Elena Anaya) from continuing the war. This allows for some genuinely fun banter between the two.
Just like Captain America and Peggy Carter in Marvel’s First Avenger, you want Diana and Steve to have the happy ending that eludes most of us.
WAS IT PERFECT?
Well, the film does have some minor flaws. For instance the final act of the film is a rehash of what we have come to expect from most superhero movies in terms of a climactic end battle. And the CGI in some parts could have been done better.
IS IT THE BEST DC FILM YET?
In a superhero world where we are getting the third – yes, third – Spider-Man origin tale this summer, it was a smart move to take the Wonder Woman character out of Snyder’s modern setting and show us her beginnings.
It’s something to see how the character reacts to the ills of that time period (particularly racism and sexism) and how she comes into her own as she navigates her new surroundings along with her superhuman strength.
So far, through three other films, I haven’t cared what happens to Henry Cavill’s Superman, Ben Affleck’s Batman or any of the Suicide Squad. The stakes haven’t been high and the action has been largely forgettable.
With Gadot’s Wonder Woman we finally have a DC hero who we can get behind. So the short answer is YES. It is the best DC film yet and perhaps one of the best superhero movies ever.
Bring on the sequel!
Find the Skid Reviewer at:
www.youtube.com/theskidreviewer
www.facebook.com/theskidreviewer
Instagram at the_skid_reviewer
(The Skid Reviewer is a YouTube channel run by two comic book fans from Nagaland, who make videos about anything that catches their fancy)
