Even though Diana Prince is never formally referred to as “Wonder Woman”, the newest film from Warner Bros. very much feels like a true Wonder Woman movie in every sense of the world. In contrast to the gloomier portrayals of its heroes as of late, the Amazon princess’s solo debut on the big screen has a remarkable lack of irony in its tone, with a spirit and optimistic energy that recalls Richard Donner’s original Superman films.
Its story, which follows some of the standard origin story tropes, streamlines into a singular mission, but there’s more than enough occurring for Diana to develop over the film’s running time. Said development is the film’s strongest aspect, thanks to a great performance by Gal Gadot that blends toughness, humility, empathy and even a bit of humor at certain points.
Diana’s sense of justice and duty is unwavering- her progression is rooted in her naivete and isolation from the outside world, having been raised on the (visually jaw-dropping and colorful) island of Themyscira. Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), the queen of the Amazons who sculpted Diana from clay, is fearful that war god Ares will someday find her. She’s reluctant to allow her friend Antiope (Robin Wright) to train Diana as a warrior, but our title hero can’t help but want to get into the mix.
Her abilities are put to the test when Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), a USAF captain who’s stolen secret plans for a destructive weapon and a German plane on a spy mission, crashes through Themyscira’s force field hiding it from the outside world. Without even thinking, Diana dives in the water to rescue this mysterious stranger- there’s none of the navel gazing or questioning of one’s goodness from her that was so entrenched in Dawn of Justice. It turns out enemy soldiers were in pursuit of Trevor, and suddenly World War 1 is brought to the Amazonian shores.
Surely all of this anguish and death must be the work of Ares, Diana deduces, and she volunteers to help Steve deliver the plans in exchange for being led to slay the war god. When Hippolyta finally relents and allows her daughter to leave the island and realize her destiny, Steve acts as her bridge to modern civilization, and these result in some funny scenes in which Diana can’t quite get accustomed to early 20th century London. It’s a delight watching Wonder Woman fumble around in a period dress with her sword and shield, awkward but still committed to her duty while Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) can’t get a handle of her.
She’s among a number of appealing supporting characters that make up part of the crew Steve organizes to execute their mission- Chris Pine as Trevor is particularly entertaining as a skeptic to Diana’s beliefs, on top of serving as a love interest who is neither too overpowered nor a damsel in distress.
When Diana arrives on the front line, her skills are without peer, but because of the build up of her character up to this point, it feels earned rather than coming off too overpowered. Her principle antagonist, curiously enough, is a fictionalized version of real-life WWI general Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston), who gains superpowers after inhaling a mysterious gas developed by his chief scientist. His insistence that mankind finds glory in war is an interesting counter to Diana’s representation of peace.
It all eventually builds to a very CGI-heavy climax, and at times the final battle seems to go on a bit long. Still, the cast remains engaging and the development is so well handled up to this point that it still felt emotionally satisfying.
This is generally a very confident, well-realized movie that knows exactly how it wants to honor the legacy of Wonder Woman, both as a character and a brand. I was reminded of Captain America: The First Avenger during many scenes- not just in terms of it being a period-piece superhero film, but also in how well it represents its protagonist. Patty Jenkins’s direction mixed with Zack Snyder’s production is an interesting combination of strong affection for Diana with his aggressive style.
All in all, Wonder Woman’s attention to detail and its refreshing lack of cynicism made it one of the most entertaining DCEU movies I’ve seen in a while. Highly recommended!