There’s a lot riding on Wonder Woman, perhaps an unfair amount. The narrative runs that Warner Bros. is taking a huge risk in having a female-led superhero movie directed by a woman, although they take these chances all the time, just with men. They’ve also given this a smaller budget than either Suicide Squad or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, so. Wonder Woman herself has been around for over 75 years and it’s only now, in 2017, she’s getting her own full length debut. (Her big screen debut was in 2014’s The Lego Movie, though at least that’s a great flick.) Expectations are high and thankfully, director Patty Jenkins, screenwriter Allan Heinberg, Gal Gadot, and the rest of the cast and crew largely pretend said expectations don’t exist as they focus on trying to deliver the most satisfying, fun, exciting, and complete movie they can.
And for the most part, they succeed.
Wonder Woman is a full movie. There’s no teasing about future installments of the DC Extended Movie Universe or some desperate attempts to tie it all together with whatever’s going to happen in Justice League. Once the film starts, once the goals and obstacles are set, the movie plays out to an actual conclusion. There’s no cliffhanger ending, and, because of the flashback structure, there’s a sense of finality when the credits roll. It doesn’t feel like a big budget TV episode.
It is a bit overlong at 141 minutes, though to be fair, it does bite off a lot. Presented as a flashback, where Diana reminisces about her first venture into our world, we’re shown her life on Themiscrya (with its magnificent sets), Steve Trevor’s crash on the island, her being whisked away to London to help fight the first World War, some business with Dr. Maru and Erich Ludendorff who’re developing a gas bomb, and her overall quest to kill Ares and end the war. Along the way, she sees people struggle and fight and love each other as she realizes how much more complicated the world is than she imagined. But some scenes run too long and sometimes something you want to linger on are cut short. (I think the scene where Hippolyta sees Diana off ended too soon, while the subsequent scene on the boat started to strain the limits of its joke.)
It also has some difficulty transitioning into its action sequences, where they either sort of abruptly start or awkwardly sputter along before revving up completely. Once these scenes do find their footing, however, they’re a lot of fun and generally well-delivered. Jenkins shows a strong eye for action choreography, particularly in the Germany sequences, though it’s too bad she sort of undermines herself by doing that whole slow-motion/fast-motion thing Zack Snyder loves. She’s aware of location, of character placement, and even with all the ridiculous effects, of camera movement. She also allows the sequences to grow cleaner and easier to process as Diana grows stronger in her abilities. During her first combat, I thought Jenkins was throwing us into Paul Greengrass territory, and while she never goes full George Miller, she and cinematographer Matthew Jensen are aware that we would like to see what’s going on.
Jenkins embraces a lot of elements and tropes in Wonder Woman. Here’s a director, maybe the first one who’s worked for DC since Richard Donner, who understands not only the character, but superheroes altogether. It’s pulpy and goofy; it’s funny, it’s thrilling; it’s characters aren’t complicated because they’re vessels to exploring the story’s various morals, and the choices they make are consistent with what they’ve been set up to be. She knows superheroes are for kids and, importantly, doesn’t talk down or pander to them while making a film they can understand. She also takes the time to show the horrible effects of war, the devastation and turmoil, but never lets it get dour or Modern Age grim.
This energy carries through with the rest of the cast as well. Danny Huston makes for a terrific German villain while Robin Wright’s mentor character commands authority. Chris Pine is the perfect Steve Trevor, with his leading man charm and frenetic performance. He’s also the most objectified figure on screen. Like, Jenkins goes out of her way to be sure his chest is fully in frame during the scene in the baths.
Continued belowOf course, it’s Gal Gadot who owns the show. She captures so much of Diana’s truth, charisma, and inspiration. Her excitement at seeing a new world, her struggle to understand all of it yet still delight in being able to experience new events, her heartbreak at war, and her hope for humanity are always on display in any given scene. Gadot also makes sure we know Diana is not about to take any bull from anyone, and she gloriously calls out any injustice or inequality she encounters. (Spoiler: there’s a lot.) She’s an inspiration figure and Jenkins goes out of her way to depict her as such.
There are elements I wish we would have seen more. The film takes bits and pieces from various Wonder Woman stories from over the years (here’s a little Azzarello/Chiang, and there’s some George Perez, and let’s not forget a bit of Gail Simone). That Diana isn’t decked out in American iconography isn’t so much a big deal to me and, let’s be real, Warner Bros. wasn’t ever going to let this out with any of its bondage imagery out of it. (Jenkins does have her bursting out of restraints at one point, however.) But her more feminist traits are shrugged off. Her observations on women’s lives in early 20th century London are played more for jokes than commentary. And her pacifistic diplomacy-first force-as-a-last-resort attitude can barely be found. In fact, throughout the whole movie, her main objective is to kill Ares and she struggles when she encounters another character’s goals that don’t necessarily lead to her killing Ares. Sure, it’s for ending the war, but Allan Heinberg has her reluctant to stop gas bombs for some reason, so I didn’t quite get where that was going.
Yet there are moments where you forget about its stumbles and slight flaws, when Wonder Woman gets truly inspirational. It’s difficult not to be awestruck when Gal Gadot emerges from the trenches in her complete outfit — the first time we see the costume in the film — and charges the German line.
There were so many ways for Wonder Woman to have gone wrong. Even now, during the course of its very long running time, there are moments where it starts to veer off-course. Luckily, Patty Jenkins has such a strong understanding of the material and Gal Gadot has such a strong understanding of the character they’re able to keep the film on track. It’s a solid picture, entertaining and at times even inspiring. It doesn’t let you forget the problems and obstacles going on in our world, but it gives a language to help overcome them.
(I also think it was a nice gesture that DC included the names of major Wonder Woman creators throughout the years. I have no idea if they got any money from the film, which would have been better, but it was nice to see some appreciation.)
