02 Jun Wonder Woman Anaylsis

WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman is one of the best superhero movies ever made, and incidentally represents a marked improvement in the DC Extended Universe of movies, which include Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad. Through great casting and a clear understanding of what fundamentally makes the character a legitimate superhero, WW casts off the decades long trend of dark deconstructions of comic book heroes and finally presents a superhero who loves her job and is REALLY good at it.

Wonder Woman had a mountain of figurative baggage working against it before it was released. Some of the more notable challenges: there have been very few female-led superhero movies, and never one on the scale of Wonder Woman (even Marvel, 15 movies into their Cinematic Universe, has shied away from a female superhero movie, despite fans begging for a Black Widow film). With a female director, Wonder Woman was breaking the mold as the biggest-budget blockbuster movie directed by a woman in history (it’s unfortunate it took so long, but obviously worth the wait). Coming on the tail end of two critically savaged DC movies (BvS and SS), and in the middle of Marvel’s long-standing string of critical and financial successes, Wonder Woman had limited expectations from critics and audiences alike. And as a superhero, Wonder Woman presents particular historical and progressive challenges rooted in past portrayals, which vary between naively fetishist to outright sexist.

And yet, despite these challenges, Wonder Woman succeeds in so many ways that the relatively few and minor flaws are completely eclipsed by its greatness.

Here’s what Wonder Woman definitely got right:

First and foremost, after years of Hollywood deconstructing every superhero they can get their hands one, culminating in the excellent Logan earlier this year, it is incredibly refreshing to see a superhero movie that embraces the wholesome strength and core heroism of the character. Most people would agree that DC’s Superman has suffered the most by throwing off traditional characteristics of the Man of Steel and presenting a dark, brooding superhero. Sometimes this works, a la Batman or Wolverine. But both characters are firmly rooted in origins that ARE dark, violent, and indicative of serious psychological trouble. Deconstructing them seems appropriate and allows filmmakers and audiences to understand more about (and sympathize with) their incredibly anti-social nature. But that didn’t necessarily work very well for Superman, the ultimate superhero who is supposed to stand as a beacon of hope. Most portrayals of Superman dig deeper, only to find a hero more and more committed to his cause. While I was fine with a respectful deconstruction in Man of Steel as a great origin story for Superman, I always wanted it to lead directly into a more traditional portrayal of Superman in all his goodness. I was disappointed with BvS, which took a step back to re-tread the exact internal conflicts Superman seemingly resolved by the end of MoS.
So what the heck does all of this have to do with Wonder Woman? Well, her character was introduced in BvS and made a huge impact as one of the most enjoyable aspects of the entire film, particularly since she single-handedly kept Doomsday at bay while Batman scampered around for his life and Superman deuced out to rescue Lois. Again. Although the character had a great introduction (as both Diana Prince and Wonder Woman), there was still not a great deal of confidence that a Wonder Woman movie would be tonally or developmentally any improvement over the prior DCEU films.
Which is why Wonder Woman was so damn good. The character of Wonder Woman, as played by Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins, was, in no uncertain terms, the superhero Superman should have been, and has now emerged from the pack of DC characters as the most beloved hero this side of Batman; and honestly, I have to ask re: Batman: “What have you done for me lately?”
Unlike almost any superhero I can think of in years, Wonder Woman is a hero that loves her sworn duty to protect humankind, is really damn good at it, and has an underlying strength of compassion and virtue that defines her as a character and motivates her every action and decision. I can’t emphasize how refreshing it is to see a confident, skilled superhero that loves her job. That attitude and mentality are the foundation of the entire film and permeates every scene, making the entire movie better for embracing it.

I love that Wonder Woman was directed by Patty Jenkins, a talented filmmaker in her own right, who happens to be female in a profession utterly dominated since its inception by men. I think the inherit diversity in selecting a woman to make the first mega-budget female-led superhero movie is now seen as not only socially responsible (and incredibly financially successful), but simply a damn good decision for the character and for audiences to get the best film possible. I mentioned compassion and virtue (i.e. intrinsic power derived from moral excellence) –these qualities make Jenkins’ WW so awesome–a true beacon of hope, and I believe that the best person for personifying these characteristics in a female superhero is a female filmmaker. Jenkins would have undoubtedly made a fantastic movie with any character–that is evident from her resume, but I think there is something extra that she and Gadot found in Wonder Woman that is the underlying strength of the film; and it is not a coincidence that two women collaborated to make this happen so spectacularly.
As a side note, I think it’s awesome that Jenkins will now be known for breaking a lot of records and setting a remarkable example to women and men around the world for her perfect encapsulation of the tone of a character in film. And the world needs more female voices in a position to convey their stories through film–Jenkins has now set an impressive standard that I hope other filmmakers rally around.

When Gal Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman, the internet was overcome with trolls complaining about any number of ridiculous (and unfounded and deeply insulting) reasons why she was completely wrong for the roll. Some of this died down after her awesome introduction in BvS. But now, post-Wonder Woman, I think the debate is dead: Gadot is the only person I can imagine in the roll. She is as well cast as the best Batman, Iron Man, Captain America, or any other superhero. She clearly put WORK into the roll and it paid off in spades. Credit goes to Zack Snider, who cast her for BvS, but it was really Jenkins and Gadot that found the core of the character in Wonder Woman.
In addition, for a character who is frequently dressed like a fetishized stripper, it was great to see Wonder Woman’s character remain faithful in attitude and dress to the roots of the character as a warrior. There was a fine line to tread in creating a costume that was not trashy, as most WW costumes have been throughout the history of the character–it has almost always been embarrassing to compare her costume to any other male character whose costume is fastidiously designed to be practical and protective. And now, ironically in 2017, we are presented with not only the most modestly dressed version of Wonder Woman ever, but her costume is a warrior’s armor and every bit as functional and protective as anything Batman has ever had, at least respective to the characters’ respective innate vulnerability.
BIG props to both Gadot, the costume designer, and Jenkins for presenting a character and backstory that are, for once, powerful and cohesive between design and execution.

I loved the moments in the movie that Jenkins chose to define Wonder Woman’s character. When she leaves Paradise Island and sails to England with Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor, their conversation directly addresses some of the sexual politics of being raised on an island of all women. Instead of making Diana Prince a naive woman who knows nothing about the complicated gender politics of the modern world, the scene clearly demonstrates that Diana may lack experience, but is well educated and intelligent about such matters; all matters, really. Pine’s comedic skills are also crucial to the exchange, as he is clearly surprised and pleased that Diana is not stupid, but, rather, his intellectual equal (or superior) and will not be manipulated or exploited. This was a crucial and delicate scene to execute, and sets the tone for Diana’s introduction into a world she is unfamiliar with: she may lack experience and knowledge about the details, but she is intelligent enough to protect herself (and others) and make good decisions.
Along the same lines, Diana has brief moments with each member of Pine’s crew, each of which strengthens our understanding of her as a character, but also makes us care for the rest of the crew on the central mission of the film. My favorite was Diana’s brief exchange with The Chief, a Native American who has accepted his people’s defeat, and claims to be a small-time war profiteer, but in reality, has a compassionate heart and secretly helps those in need. Diana’s education about the world, and how it works, is defined by these moments, when she meets those that have fought injustice, lost, and yet still do the Right Thing.

One complaint I have leveled at many superhero movies, and movies in general, is a soft second act, which is often filled with excessive exposition and repetitive preparation for the climactic final battle. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and plenty of great movies are, to some degree, guilty. But Wonder Woman’s best action scene and best character moment is the centerpiece of the second act of the film. When Wonder Woman & Co. arrive at the front lines of World War 1, they first pass two horses being whipped into pulling a cart through a mud-pit. Diana wants to help but is told they don’t have time. Then she sees a gravely wounded soldier and instantly wants to render assistance. Again, she is told they can’t help him and need to move on. Finally, in the trenches, Diana encounters a French woman and her child, who informs her that their village was destroyed, there is no food, and everyone has been taken as slaves or killed. When she is told for a third time that they don’t have time to stop and help, that they can’t save everyone, and have a more important mission, Diana stops everything. She refuses to not help those who are so desperately in need. And in the blink of an eye, she throws off her disguise and, as Wonder Woman proper, charges the field of battle in the most spectacular and mind-blowing display of super heroics of any superhero film I can think of. Ever. And the action scene that ensues, for all its intrinsic awesomeness, is immeasurably boosted by the context of Diana transforming into Wonder Woman (literally and figuratively) and taking a stand to help those that are most desperately in need. And THAT is what a superhero does: the RIGHT THING at the RIGHT TIME and for the RIGHT REASON. In seconds, Wonder Woman (the film and character) are elevated above the complicated deconstruction of every superhero for the last 28 years, since the dawn of the modern era of superhero movies, which arguably started with Tim Burton’s Batman, itself a shockingly (for its time) dark take on the Dark Knight.
As far as I’m concerned, this scene in Wonder Woman was the best scene in a superhero I’ve watched in years and years. It was awesome, and it represented an aspect of superheroes that has been too-long denied: the superhero who loves doing the right thing and doesn’t question the morality of doing it.

I could go on with things I loved. The film had a great red herring villain, and a decent ultimate villain. The musical score was great, with variations of Hans Zimmer’s awesome Wonder Woman theme from BvS. The movie happens to be the best World War 1 movie I know of–a war that is called The Great War, but universally passed over in favor of World War 2 films. There is a lot of great humor throughout the movie, much of which gives a quick wink and nod to the social sexism of the day while not being heavy-handed in criticism of an era that simply had different standards than ours today. In fact, the movie was really funny throughout, which was a stark and welcome contrast to Snyder’s DCEU films and the overall schizophrenic, cynical tone of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.

Now, were there problems with the movie? Sure. Some of the CGI was inconsistent. I attribute this to a lower budget, which may have been related to the studio’s nervousness about a big-budget film directed by a woman about a female superhero. That’s speculation on my part, but when I see that BvS had a budget of $250 million and Wonder Woman (a far superior film in every way) only had $150 million…I gotta wonder what the reason was, and the simplest answer seems like the most likely. Whatever the case, some of the CGI was clearly not as refined as it could have been.
The final battle, while spectacular, resorted to some of the overly-CGI mass destruction that Snyder pioneered for the DCEU in Man of Steel. Wonder Woman fighting Ares was a Big Boss Fight and solid climactic battle, but also about 90% computer generated, which comes across as a little less impressive these days.
The villain, Ares, was really well-handled, particularly as he reveals that mankind has brought itself to this state of war with minimal-to-no intervention on his part. But I’m not sure David Thewlis was the best choice for the revealed form of Ares at the end. He is unquestionably talented as an actor, but he comes across as far too intellectual and not-physical to play the God of War. He fit the disguised version perfectly, but throughout the final fight, seeing him in CGI armor, I just couldn’t buy it 100%.
Lastly, there was some latent confusion about the character when compared to what she said in BvS about leaving mankind for 100 years. This could easily be cleared up in the sequel, or maybe in Justice League this November, but the character was SO BADASS that at the end, I didn’t see any motivation for her to have left mankind behind after the events of the film. In BvS, we find Diana trying to recover a long-forgotten picture of her and her squad in WW1, and it’s strongly implied that she hasn’t been active as Wonder Woman since then. But why?!?! There isn’t a reason, unless the reason is that Steve Trevor died saving the day in Wonder Woman while Wonder Woman saved the world; but that would completely undermine the character and fundamental theme of the movie. There has to be another explanation, and the only reason I’m a little disappointed is that the film is bookended with scenes set in modern day, setting up the film as Diana telling Bruce Wayne about the photograph he recovered for her, i.e. how she got her proper start as Wonder Woman. There could have been a line or two of dialogue to explain…

But these complaints are minor and completely overwhelmed by the near-perfect aspects of the film. When all is said and done, Wonder Woman is an incredible, unique film that sets itself apart from its competitors by a genuine, feminine earnestness that shows that women can be as good or better superheroes than men, and it doesn’t have to be through a dark deconstruction, but by simply embracing the best traits in all of us and showing just how bright that light can shine.

Wonder Woman is definitely and comfortably in my Top Ten superhero movies of all time. Go see it. Enjoy it.

Review by Jim Washburn