Movie Review—Wonder Woman

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O'Connell   

Wonder Woman. Released: June 2017. Runtime: 141 mins. MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action and some suggestive content.

Wonder Woman is the best superhero film since the Superman of 1978. The eponymous heroine has been stripped of her red, white, and blue American trappings and, you might say, fights for “truth, justice, and the Amazonian way,” rather than as Superman and earlier WWs did, for “truth, justice, and the American way.” But is there really that much difference between the “ways”? 

In this film, smartly directed by Patty Jenkins as the “origin story” of WW, we find our heroine, Princess Diana (a/k/a Diana Prince), growing up in the beautiful, remote island of Themyscira, a peaceful place where Amazons spend most of their time doing physical training and martial arts. Diana (played as an adult by Gal Godot) is the daughter of the Queen of the Amazons (Connie Nielsen) and has special powers given to her by Zeus in addition to her martial artistry. 

This tranquil way of life is shattered in 1918 when Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes his plane into the ocean off the island. Steve’s an American agent for British intelligence functioning as a spy in the German forces as World War I rages. But Steve has been found out and is being pursued by German troops. Diana rescues Steve, but a battle ensues between the Germans and the Amazons, which the Amazons win.  

The film’s feminism manifests itself in a number of reversals of convention. For example, a woman, Diana, has greater strength and martial skills than men, and a man, Steve, provides the “cheesecake” scene when he takes a bath and banters with Diana while he is nude.

In more serious talk, Steve tells Diana about the war and his fear that Ludendorff (Danny Huston), a German general, and a scientist, “Dr. Poison” (Elena Anaya), have developed a terrible new gas and are planning a massive attack with it. Diana is very upset to learn about the war and feels that Ares, the god of war, is the cause of it and must be stopped.

Steve and Diana make their way to crowded, polluted London. This second part of the film is somewhat comical as Diana, “a fish out of water,” has to learn how to dress and function in Edwardian English society and try to counter the sexism of “Colonel Blimp” types.

Those types deny Steve and Diana permission to go to the continent and destroy the gas manufactured by Ludendorff and “Poison.” But aided by a British politician (David Thewlis), the pair put together a team of mercenaries and head for the front.

The third part of the movie depicts a horrific battle in “No Man's Land” in which Diana fights in a visually striking way. Unlike most superhero movies, the film also takes time to show the actual suffering inflicted upon both soldiers and civilians by war. This suffering moves Diana greatly.

In the last part of the film, Diana and Steve attempt to destroy the supply of poison gas, and there is a plot twist that puts Diana in a spectacular series of struggles against a powerful foe. Despite the spectacle of this concluding section, it actually is less interesting-- even with the twist--because more familiar from other superhero movies, than the earlier sections.

Those earlier sections with their reversals of convention and mix of action, light romance, and humor are delightful. But by not neglecting to show the real pain of war, some of those sections are also quite moving. What is invariably delightful or moving is the performance of Gal Godot, which is magnetic—in more ways than one—even charismatic, even luminous. The full spectrum of emotions plays across her lovely, expressive face like the wind over the waters off Themyscira. Her performance is not just, perhaps, the best performance ever given in a superhero movie, but, perhaps, one of the best performances of the year in any kind of movie, and the year isn't even half over yet.