Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Wonder Woman is really damn good. Let's get that out of the way right up front. I know it's not the most unique opinion out on the internet right now, but it's true. The movie has a few issues, which I'll get to, but the thing it gets right (and the reason why critics are overwhelmingly supportive of it) is the big ol' beating heart at the center of the story.
This is not a deconstruction movie. This isn't another brooding DC hero. Diana Prince is not only pure of heart and spirit, she's also having fun. She is by far the most empathetic superhero we've gotten on screen since Christopher Reeve's Superman. She sees pain in the world and she doesn't have an internal struggle over what to do about it. She acts. Even without knowing the extent of her powers she will put her life on the line for strangers.
While that starting off point was the norm in the very first superhero movies back in the day, it's a dangerous way to go these days. Modern audiences are used to seeing more dramatic arcs. Spider-Man is your average guy, but he still had to be selfish before he became purely good. Iron Man was a dick before he was good. All modern Supermans have been weighed down by their responsibility and we all know Batman's got issues.
Wonder Woman's growth in this film all stems from discovering her powers and her emotional connection to Steve Trevor. There's no doubting her place in the world. There's no “should I or shouldn't I help people.” There's no “woe is me, burdened with these responsibilities.” Her arc is all about becoming the super powered inspiration she is in her most confident form. She falls in love, so there's emotional growth, too, but mostly it's her taking her birthright with both hands.
What's even better is that this film will enrage Men's Rights Activists. Sure, she's empowered and empowering every single little girl who will go see this movie, but there seems to be a couple of sharp lines in the movie aimed directly at the kidneys of these dude bros who can't hang with the idea of women getting someone who represents them up on the screen. If I used a star rating system then that alone would add a good 2 stars to the total.
It really is interesting to watch the point of view shift as an otherwise traditional superhero origin story movie plays out. Chris Pine being cast as Steve Trevor really underlines the uniqueness to this point of view since you'd imagine he'd be at the top of the list to topline a big superhero movie himself. They don't play Steve like a bumbling idiot or the stupid man that needs to be set straight. He's a damn good spy, he has just as much empathy as Diana, but the world has made him more practical. Ignore the suffering in a village with a 100 people so you can get to your objective, which will save hundreds of thousands of lives, that kind of thing.
It's a great choice that only strengthens Wonder Woman's pure heart. If he was just comic relief then it wouldn't be all that much of a big deal whenever she steps up when he's unwilling to do so. This is why the No Man's Land sequence will be an all-timer. Patty Jenkins shot the hell out of this sequence, sure, but the emotion behind it is why it'll be remembered. It works because we got almost an hour of Diana and Steve together, getting to know each other. He sees making a stand at this location as impossible and for little gain. She disagrees and puts her life on the line, inspiring the people around her.
It's a powerful moment that gets to be played as an emotional release and a massively fun sequence, which is what you get with blockbuster franchise filmmaking at its best.
There are a lot of logic holes in the movie and a fair bit of convenience. The mythology behind Ares and his influence is muddled and contradicted a couple of times. We see Diana get cut early on yet she can smash through entire brick buildings, blasting through multiple windows, and not have a scratch on her. Those are the big ones that jump to mind, but at the end of the day that's nitpicky stuff. It doesn't hurt the story or the likeability of the characters or the emotional growth we see.
The first two acts of the movie are pretty great, minus some truly awful greenscreen comping and rubber CGI people that reminded me of the early Potter films. It's easy to ignore that shit when the actual story, direction, pacing and acting is on point. The final act falls a little bit into typical superhero jumbled CG action. They give a human character a cheat drug that lets him become superpowerful enough to have an extended fight scene with Wonder Woman and it looks kinda silly and just becomes another punch-em-up.
It's not a bad finale, especially when they play with the concept of sacrifice as Wonder Woman realizes she is in over her head for the first time and her human misfit squad, who have learned to let her lead the way, find themselves truly in danger for the first time since they realized how powerful Diana was. Like I said, it's not bad, just more typical and muddled with pretty video game cut scenes imagery.
The first two acts demand your attention and the last third let your eyes glaze over a little bit in the chaos of immortal computer people punching each other a lot.
But throughout, Gal Gadot turns in one of the best superhero performances in recent memory, proving she was the absolute perfect choice for this role, which is something even I doubted when she was first cast. Patty Jenkins' vision is executed with exactness and clarity, not afraid to have fun and embrace emotional connection. Chris Pine comes with all the charm you'd expect and really sells his character falling in love with this Goddess without it feeling creepy or cheesy.
I'm quite fond of Man of Steel. I buy Zack Snyder's idea that he had to build an arc for Superman and I like that he starts off unsure, but Batman V. Superman undermined that a bit by keeping Superman brooding and seemingly unhappy about his lot in life. I'll defend the neck-snapping in Man of Steel all day long (that's how you beat an all powerful good guy: you give him an impossible choice and make him choose the lesser of two evils), but I can't defend Superman glumly going “I guess I gotta get back to work” with his reaction to seeing the newscast about a natural disaster and people needing help.
What's crazy about Wonder Woman is it shows that Snyder's desire to build that arc for Superman was well-meaning, but mistaken. Today's audiences will buy someone 100% pure of heart right off the bat. They don't always need gray areas with their superheroes. Beyond the iconic score and fun, throw-back nature of Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie lays Christopher Reeve's inherent kindness. You see it in both Clark Kent and Superman and that's what audiences grabbed on to back then. Today's audiences want that, too, and Wonder Woman will hopefully prove that.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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