Growing up, I loved superheroes. I’d spend my Friday nights all cuddled up in front of the TV excited for the weekly episode of Batman: The Animated Series. In grade school, I’d beg my parents to bring me to the then monumental Spider-man 1. I’d also buy TV Guides just to see the schedule for reruns of Christopher Reeve’s Superman, also bad ones like the Justice League failed-pilot-turned-TV movie and Shaquille O’Neal’s Steel. The fascination in my young eyes always came from the their big superhero moments: moments where faced with a difficult task at hand they’d step up, let the hero inside shine bright. They were good, pure, and inspiring. They instilled wonder. Then Batman Begins came out (which I remember I hated as a child, but adore now as an adult) and the whole landscape for superhero entertainment changed. Everything now should be ultra-grounded, everything should be dark, everyone must be in pain, blah. It was only after Iron Man 1 and the whole Marvel Universe that things started being fun again. These movies though felt too saccharine at times, devoid of conflict. Stakes didn’t feel real: you knew right away that hero and all his generic friends would win in the end. THE END. Fast food, popcorn, chichirya you could call it. The traditional superhero movies of yore were gone. Genre fatigue has pushed us into a corner where in order for a superhero movie to be enjoyable, it had to either be formulaic or a deconstruction. Now, with Wonder Woman, I think we’re entering a new phase once again.
It is the middle ground between Marvel’s enjoyable superficiality and DC’s hitherto annoyingly emo / edgelord grittiness where Wonder Woman strikes a chord. It feels real but at the same time super. It is grounded but at the same time larger than life. It doesn’t sugarcoat the darkness of man through the lens of war but it still can show the light at the end of the tunnel, instill belief and (pun not intended) wonder.
Wonder Woman is far from a perfect film, sure it has its flaws (which I will go into later). It too doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel but what it does, it does well. Wonder Woman is a no-frills origin story and at its heart is a parable on optimism and belief: sticking to your core, believing, no matter how jaded this world can make you. Wonder Woman follows Diana (Gal Gadot), Princess of Themyscira, from her childhood on the secret island — complete with a precarious mother (Connie Nielsen‘s Hippolyta) who disapproves of her daughter training in the ways of the Amazons and an Aunt (Robin Wright‘s Antiope) who trains her in secret anyway — to her introduction into man’s chaotic world. She is forced to go beyond the comforts of her home as she morally obliges herself to stop World War I after learning of its existence from American spy, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). He who is shot down from the air and crash lands on their hidden island, bringing alongside him his German foes hot on his trail. In her mind, it is the ancient God of War Ares who is behind all this and it is only through his death that the war will end. Just like in real life though, things aren’t as simple.
Besides the action one would expect from superhero movies, Patty Jenkins directs Wonder Woman as a fish-out-of-water tale where the conflict primarily stems from Daina’s naiveté as it is forced to evolve in the face of the intricately morally complex concept of war. There is a lot of material that the script and the narrative gets works with due to this juxtaposition. This contrast is the source of both the nuanced charaterization and the much needed levity the DCEU is aching for. Diana at the beginning is presented as fierce — not yet fully adjusted yet highly skilled — but greatly lacking in worldview. Even though set near a century before the present, you could say that Diana’s initial attitude draws parallels to the today’s oversimplification of both national and international issues: blaming a single person/god/group as the root of all problems and believing that it’s through their eradication that everything will return to sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies (I swear, this sounds so familiar). It is through her interaction with the world-weary yet driven Steve Trevor that Diana’s character grows. Chris Pine does a tremendous job showing rougish charm the just serves as protective layer to his inner exhaustion. He is a man who has seen the perils of war, knows that death is a mere stone’s throw away from him, but is still intrinsically motivated to carry on his mission. He is the one that carries the “I’m just one man but i’ll change world anyway” card all throughout the movie and it is through this that he becomes Diana’s window into humanity. Steve Trevor is the embodiment of man’s flawed but worth-fighting-for nature. Part of me wishes that Chris Pine chose to do Green Lantern instead of Wonder Woman just because of this quality his carries but the maturity that he lends to his characterization of Steve Trevor is one of the bedrocks that makes Wonder Woman work well.
The dynamic between Diana and Steve Trevor, whether it’s their stark contrast in perspectives or their palpable chemistry between banter is the heart of film. Supplementing this is a cast of side characters that are surprisingly better rounded than that of what we usually see in blockbusters. Whether it’s PTSD, racism, or colonization, each of Steve Trevor’s rag tag group of mercenaries adds a bit to Diana’s growing perspective of the world. Early into the movie, she and the Amazons ponder why man would fight against his own kind; her little interactions with these side characters answer her question piece by piece. This, for lack of a better term, “innocence” creates questions that provide insight not only on war but also on prejudice and sexism. Setting the film in an era rife with such issues is an inspired decision if you think about. What better way to showcase a strong, independent, female protagonist than to give her a backdrop where women are not allowed to join in men’s discussions nor hold positions higher than that of secretaries. This sends the message that removed of patriarchal constructs, if one looks at the world with fresh eyes (like say if you were born on a secluded island), everyone will be deemed equal. I for one appreciate that this the kind of message people going out of the theaters will carry.
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Wonder Woman’s victorious message and lead characters aside, the film stumbles when it comes to its technical aspects. Seeing the memorable No Man’s Land sequence mid-film (a scene where Wonder Woman drops her disguise and steps into the battlefield in full-costumed regality) then being served a rushed CGI fest, with an overabundance of slow-mo, for the film’s finale is a quite a letdown. After two-thirds of the film, it felt like there was no adequate pay-off for the various build-ups set, particularly those for its villains’ arcs. It would have been forgivable seeing General Doofenschmirtz (intentional) and Doctor Poison cackling like Scooby Doo villains if somehow they were given more time, made the confrontations more gradual. There’s definitely more room to grow somewhere in there. I have to admit though that the villain’s bigger plan is sound enough to get you thinking. Just like a worthwhile villain, motivations show a direct contrast to that of the hero’s. A path that’s also not unimaginable for the hero to take — two sides of the same coin, relatable, “the road to hell is paved on good intentions” yaddi-yadda.
As a whole, beyond the at times Tekken-like CGI, a rushed third act, and (ok, I have to admit this) Gal Gadot’s mediocre acting (Christopher Reeve and Tobey Maguire were not that different!); Wonder Woman is superhero film that I deeply enjoyed. Again it is not perfect, far from it, but it is able to give us something countless superhero movies have failed to do — a real superhero. This is a superhero in its traditional sense. She may not be perfect but she inspires, she is a beacon of hope, she is a light in the darkness. These qualities are what her heroism embodies. After the general dissatisfaction with Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, Warner Bros promised a cinematic universe that would be more optimistic. If Wonder Woman is a precursor of things to come, then maybe its message doesn’t just hold true for the film but (on a meta-level) the DCEU as well. This writer, for one, is willing again to believe.
https://youtu.be/VSB4wGIdDwo
