Wonder Woman

Directed by Patty Jenkins

2017

After Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash lands of the mythical hidden Amazonian island of Themyscira, Princess Diana (Gal Gadot) and he journey to the world of men to kill Ares the god of war in an effort to stop The Great War.

This was an amazing female helmed superhero movie. It is probably one of my favorites of the genre. Gal Gadot was perfect for the role. Some have called her iteration of Wonder Woman “Xena” while also saying the film should have been more in line with what Lynda Carter did. I do not see what was done in a campy 70s TV show working well in a big budget feature. One thing is that in the 70s Wonder Woman did not do much of anything that was all that super. She deflected a few bullets and tossed some bad guys. That Wonder Woman also deferred to the men in that series quite often. I am not sure how either would fly with today’s audiences.

Here Wonder Woman was made into an independent woman and a warrior. She was a combatant who was as good if not better than the male supporting characters that surrounded her. But she was also naïve having been isolated on her island her entire life. The character had a sense of hope about her as well as an innocent belief that if she did one thing all the other problems would go away.

Hope is throughout this movie. Even in the darkest moments of the film when they show the ravages of war or the damage it has done to the characters there is hope. Wonder Woman fights for that hope.

This is the rare movie that does not sideline the female lead in favor of the male lead. Wonder Woman is a strong willed individual and because of that Steve is forced to follow her. She dictates the actions of the group. She is the one in charge.

Steve Trevor serves as her reminder of reality. While Wonder Woman sees the world as it should be, Steve tells her how it is and points out why what she wants and what she thinks should be is not so easy. He is her anchor.

Patty Jenkins effectively builds a relationship between Diana and Trevor. They are drawn to each other in a way that is believable. And they are on equal footings in terms of standing in that the situation. This is the complete opposite of what you would find in the 70s television series.

Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) is my favorite supporting character. She has wit and a bit of sarcasm to her. And she has genuinely funny lines that in the context of the character are not funny. She is just speaking her mind. It is unfortunate that because of when this film is set, she will not be in any more Wonder Woman films. Not unless the character had a daughter that retained her name or something like that. She will be just too old and dead.

And this is a bad ass action film. There is no other way to put it. Wonder Woman kicks butt. The scenes are well choreographed and get your adrenaline pumping. The one at No Man’s Land alone should stand out as a classic action sequence. You just want to go into battle with her. It looks and sounds amazing and by the end you’re cheering

Patty Jenkins knocked this movie out of the park. She created a fantastic action film that did not skimp on character. That is no easy task. Most directors favor one over the other either because they do not know how to balance it or cannot balance it, but Jenkins not only did it but did it extremely well.

Through the course of the film Diana believes that the simple act of killing Ares will end the fighting because he has corrupted the hearts of men. Here the movie steps into the real world by acknowledging that people are flawed when the fighting does not magically stop. It is a seriously down note in an otherwise hopeful movie. It is not the only one though. They save that for Steve.

Wonder Woman is an amazing film. It is different from many of the current superhero movies. It is not done in a cookie-cutter fashion and it is a self-contained story that could also lead to other self-contained stories. It ranks as one of my top 10 favorite superhero films. It is a well-made character driven superhero action film that will amaze you. should watch this.