Wonder Woman
Directed by: Patty Jenkins
Wonder Woman opened in theatres on June 2 to great success – and for good reason. Director Patty Jenkins delivers an exciting, entertaining, and engaging superhero origin film, something that is becoming increasingly difficult in the era of the superhero genre.
Wonder Woman tells the story of Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the all-female Amazons. These Amazons live on an isolated paradise island. When pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes nearby, Diana learns of the “war to end all wars” and sets off on a journey to save the world.
It’s the typical superhero origin to a tee. While the characters, time period, dialogue, setting, and context are new, the plot of the film is not. However, this does not detract from the quality of the film whatsoever.
Wonder Woman is a cleanly written, well-acted, beautifully shot film that showcases Gadot’s iconic performance as the titular character. The humour is organic and not overwhelming, mainly due to Pine’s quips and Gadot’s reactions. Their chemistry is believable. The set pieces and costume designs are outstanding. The themes touched upon in the movie are powerful and relevant.
Diana’s character struggle and subsequent development push Wonder Woman beyond the typical action flick into a character-driven film with a satisfying ending, however cliché.
That said, the third act does involve a ton of CGI and a big battle (as is to be expected with these things), but it makes perfect sense within the story to do so and does not take up the runtime of the entire third act. As such, it works very well.
For the most part, the CGI and special effects look cool, but there are instances where it is glaringly obvious that an actor is replaced with a computer-generated double or that a lasso is not actually being manipulated in such a way as to defy the laws of physics.
One notable thing about Wonder Woman is that most of the secondary characters have enough background and personality that audiences want to care about them too. They are a diverse ragtag team of misfits but they each have their own demons and their own personality that eventually wins you over.
There are some similarities to Captain America: The First Avenger, but Wonder Woman is still able to stand alone, even with its place in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Like Captain America, Wonder Woman takes place during a world war, but unlike The First Avenger, is set during World War I.
Jenkins does a great job incorporating Diana into the time period and the setting works well with the story and its themes. Jenkins doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the horrors of war and instead embraces those horrors for the sake of Diana’s character development.
Overall, the film is a solid addition to the genre and to the DCEU. Wonder Woman is an inspiring movie for anyone who ever wanted to be a badass and will get you excited for her role in the upcoming Justice League movie.
