When one considers the Golden Age of Comic books, out of hundreds of heroes created, only a few dozen have maintained their relevance. Of those dozens there are only a small handful that are women, and there is no greater female hero of the Golden Age of Comics than Wonder Woman. As the pioneer of female empowerment and gender equality in comics, Wonder Woman's relevance has not only stood the test of time, but has become a focal point of the DC universe and the glue that hold's DC comics' trinity characters together (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman). 75 years after the making Wonder Woman again becomes the glue to hold the universe together as her movie becomes quite possibly one of the greatest contributions to the genre of modern super hero cinema.
Wonder Woman (2017) is directed by up and coming director Patty Jenkins, and stars Gal Gadot (Fast and Furious franchise) as the titular character, and is the fourth installment in the DC comics' much criticized cinematic universe. Despite much apprehension on her casting, Gal Gadot proves herself more than worthy of the bullet proof arm guards, and lasso of truth. Surrounded by a rich ensemble of actors, Wonder Woman is brought to life like no other has been before, and the switch to the World War I setting actually benefits to her own development. As much as the film should be lauded for it's story telling and writing, for a moment I wish to address something in lauding Gal Gadot's performance of the film.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
Ever since it was announced some 3 years ago, Gal Gadot's casting decision has been a matter of controversy of the grossest kind. From the horrific complaints on her "bust size" or the comments on her figure, Gadot has faced nothing but criticism, so it is with great pleasure I wish to say that in a cast of some of the greatest talent you can find in Hollywood at the moment, Gal Gadot outshines her cast with a STUNNING performance. While we were already shown the physicality she brought to the role in 2016's Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (and while we certainly get to see plenty of it again in this 2017 outing of the character), one of the more compelling aspects of this film was Wonder Woman's bravery out of the battlefield. Small things like calling out a general who was willing to needlessly sacrifice the lives of his men for his cowardice, or giving a soldier facing self doubt due to his PTSD a sense of purpose with a line as simple as "But Charlie, with you gone, who will sing for us?" Gadot wins the audience over with both her fierceness on the battlefield (in a sequence in No Mans land that will give you a chill down the spine) and her fiercely good heart. Also the exploration of the lighter sides of her character as a "fish out of water" essentially provide a much needed levity that the DC films have been so lacking in.
That being said the film does have it's issues. While it certainly thrives in its second act, it's opening and final acts can drag, and the final fight is a CGI disaster at times. I honestly feel the film could have ended some 40 minutes earlier and had much more impact. Also the films end is (in my opinion) in contradiction to some already established points of her character in the DCEU, not to mention a scene ripped directly from a Marvel film as a gallant, blonde haired man name Steven sacrifices himself to end a great war by taking down a rigged plane that contained a bomb. With that in mind I feel that stylistically this film differs greatly from it's predecessors. This is not inherently a bad thing mind you (in fact I guarantee that is why the film is such a success), however, this film is the first DC film I would say could be categorized as a family film (taking a page again out of the Marvel book). Almost as soon as Chris Pine enters the fray there is a non stop 40 minutes of sexually charged jokes with some very heavy innuendos. While this is not bad, I am counting it here because of the inevitable hypocrisy of die hard fans of the DCEU that disavow the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the use of the same humor, labeling them as "kid potty humor." While this does not directly hurt the film by any stretch of the mind, it will certainly leave a sour taste in my mouth as I read so many pages' posts that will praise the very things they detract in films that are attached to another label.
All in all Wonder Woman is a triumph, and it exceeded most if not all of my expectations. The story is great, the performances from all the cast are tremendous, and it's just a fun movie that brings to life one of the greatest icons of feminine strength that has ever been created. Celebrate her 75 years by enjoying this amazing movie!
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