Wonder Woman
Year: 2017
Rating: PG-13
Length: 141 minutes / 2.35 hours
Wonder Woman (2017) is a triumphant movie that shows the comic book genre doesn’t have to be dominated by men. Unfortunately, because it took so long getting here, I can’t help but draw comparisons to other works that came before it, making Wonder Woman seem derivative. In fact, had this movie come out eight years ago, it would have made Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Thor (2011) look like they were copying it. As it stands, though, Wonder Woman feels formulaic, even if the superhero is a woman instead of a man.
I will grant that some of the jokes come at the expense of the “fish out of water” character of Diana (Gal Gadot), playing on her naïveté of the “modern world” for laughs (a la Thor) but with a more sexualized context because she’s a woman. There were a few missed opportunities to add depth to the character via these circumstances, the interaction with Chief Napi (Eugene Brave Rock) being one of them (as the Amazons and the Blackfoot tribe were likely very isolated from each other). Either way, the levity helped to break up the incredible action sequences.
The action sequences in Wonder Woman served a few purposes, both of which helped develop the titular character. The acrobatic style of the Amazons looks a little ridiculous when they’re fighting each other, but thoroughly brutal when they’re fighting anyone else. While she dominated on the battlefield, showing that she could conquer “no man’s land” (an apt observation of her gender), when she struggled against the main antagonist of the film, her vulnerability made her a much more interesting character. After all, it’s tiresome to see an overpowered character with no obstacles to slow them down. That being said, I think the film could have gone in an interesting direction if the antagonist got away since most superhero movies end with the hero winning.
A wonderful film that draws too many comparisons, I give Wonder Woman 4.0 stars out of 5.
