Wonder Woman more than lives up to expectations, and raises the bar for all future DC films
As a comic book fan, I don’t think I’ll tire of superhero movies any time soon. Hollywood has become a never-ending comic book movie machine, cranking out webslingers, ancient gods, weird aliens, and handsome billionaires at every turn.
Most of these films are fair to middling—even critically panned films like Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, and some of the X-Men films aren’t really that bad, just a bit boring. There’s always some fun action moments and genuine enjoyment to be had, no matter which superpowered hero is demolishing buildings with their fists.
The films are much like comic books themselves. Not every issue is a winner, not every storyline is pulse pounding, and not every villain is threatening. For every Joker, there’s a Polka Dot Man. For every Green Goblin, there’s villain based on a walrus. For every film like The Dark Knight, there’s every Fantastic Four movie ever made.
Even within the well-executed Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are a few duds. DC’s attempt at recreating Marvel’s success has mostly fizzled with each attempt, until now. With the release of Wonder Woman, DC has finally joined the ranks of quality superhero filmmaking. It’s an energetic story with competently crafted characters and genuine honesty.
While Wonder Woman has similarities with Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger, (a world war, a dashing hero named Steve, colorful shields) the film is very much its own story. Steve Rogers, for example, is a laboratory experiment, not a demigod, so he’s automatically less cool.
Princess Diana of Themyscira (Gal Gadot) is the daughter of Greek god Zeus and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. The Amazons were created by Zeus to protect the world from Ares, god of war. After Ares slew the rest of the gods, Zeus defeated him in battle and gave the Amazons a weapon in case Ares ever returns.
But god of war or not, mankind spends their time between the rise and fall of Greece and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand coming up with new ways to kill each other. And so, when a German plane carrying an American spy working for the British army crashes in the beautiful waters of the Amazon homeland, it brings the Great War with it. Soon enough, Diana leaves her home to save the world from itself, convinced that Ares is really to blame.
The film works for several reasons, the most of which is that it doesn’t take itself as seriously as previous DC superhero properties. While Man of Steel was mopey and full of forced religious imagery and Batman v. Superman put too much of their faith in the name Martha, Wonder Woman maintains a light, almost innocent tone.
Gadot crafts a likable, realistic character with the surety of a hero within a fish-out-of-water tale that fits a lost Amazon princess. Marvel tried something similar in Thor, but for some reason it works better here. Both stories involve ancient gods, but Princess Diana has an earnestness that was hard to find in the Asgardian prince. Still, the film isn’t without its drawbacks.
The love story between Diana and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is an unnecessary attempt at relating the demigod to mankind, when she is more than capable of finding worth in humanity without spending the night with the new Captain Kirk.
Additionally, the villains are fairly boilerplate—Germans have taken their lumps at this point, maybe it’s time to branch out to other nationalities. But these minor quibbles do nothing to dampen a solidly constructed superhero film, one that finally is not part of Marvel’s attempt at world domination.
Whether or not the momentum from Wonder Woman will continue into future films is anyone’s guess. There will, of course, be future films, because any box office success has to be replicated ad infinitum. Director Patty Jenkins has already signed on to the sequel, this time bringing Wonder Woman into modern day.
Diana will also appear in the upcoming Justice League, which after the success of this film might undergo a few edits to boost her role. There should be legitimate concern that Wonder Woman will take a backseat to the other (read: male) personalities in the upcoming film, which could serve to undo the progress DC has made. Time will tell, I suppose.
At least, for now, fans of DC comics finally have a film worthy of one of their characters.