After
the less than stellar Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide
Squad, Wonder Woman amazes us all by being surprisingly . . . okay.
It’s easily the best of the DC ‘cinematic universe’ films and a
much needed step in the right direction.
Overall,
I liked the film, but I’m also rather disappointed by it. It feels
like a lot of potential was wasted here. It’s hard to say more
without spoiling the movie, so if you’ve not seen the film, stop
reading here.
Wonder
Woman has an opening so heavy on expository dialogue I wondered if I
should be taking notes. It tells the story of how Diana – Wonder
Woman (Gal Gadot) – came to be. A weapon sent by Zeus to destroy
Ares, the God of War, should he ever return to wreak havoc upon the
world of men.
Set during World War One, Diana
teams up with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) on a mission to halt the
production of a deadly gas, being developed by the nefarious Doctor
Poison (Elena Anaya)
and the German General Ludendorff (Danny
Huston) – who she
suspects is Ares in disguise.
Gadot
brings a charming naivety to the role of Diana. There’s a wonderful
scene where she tells Steve that by destroying Ares, the war – all
war – will end. He just looks at her, weary and sad. Even
though he comes to believe her story about the God of War pulling the
strings, he doesn’t quite share her faith in the nature of men.
Throughout
the opening Diana is told there’s ‘much for her to learn and
understand’ – about the world, about Ares, about mankind, and
about her role within it. Ultimately, her goal is to bring peace to
the world of men. It’s a noble theme and a poignant one considering
the setting. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman squanders the potential it
builds, and Diana ultimately defeats Ares and ‘war’ by quite
violently punching it in the face.
Diana
doesn’t really bring ‘peace’ – she just kills any unfortunate
German soldier who gets in her way. World War Two is easy – nobody
likes a Nazi. But World War One was a far less black and white
affair, so it’s a shame the Germans are presented as comically evil
assholes.
All
that talk of ‘more to understand’ led me to believe there would
be some kind of reveal – a secret she must learn. But all she
learns is that in order to win, you just need to punch Ares really
hard. I suppose there is something quite amusing about literally
punching war in the face, but it’s also a contradiction of the
central theme.
The
question is, did Wonder Woman need Ares as an actual character to
fight? What if he wasn’t just another video game boss but more of a
metaphorical threat? Couldn’t that be the big secret – the
thing she needed to understand? Ares is the evil that exists within
the hearts of men and only men can choose to overcome it –
exemplified by Steve’s sacrifice at the climax.
That
Diana’s role wasn’t to just punch war away, but to inspire
others to turn away from it. To lead by example and show them a
better way. Isn’t that what being a hero is all about? Instead,
Ares was just a CGI flying man that Diana had to punch a lot.
Punching didn’t work at first, but then she really wanted to
punch him, so it did.
I
guess every superhero movie needs to end with a CGI boss fight? But
why? I just wish they’d taken a different path with Wonder Woman.
It’s all set up so perfectly, but then it takes the lazy path and
ends with a lame video game fight that felt like watching a bad
cartoon.
Other
issues? The pace could be tightened and the slow motion effect during
the fighting heavily reduced. Some of the CGI was also a little poor.
I know Gal Gadot can’t actually leap tall buildings, but her CGI
model was so obviously fake at times it was distracting.
I
wanted to like this film more than I did. It gets so much right,
builds everything right, but then does a complete 180 at the very end
and contradicts it all. Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m stupid for
not wanting to see Wonder Woman prevail and bring ‘peace’ by
vaporising her foe with lightning after violently beating him about
the head.
Despite
my issues and my disappointment with how everything came together at
the end, Wonder Woman is still a decent film. It’s a step in the
right direction for the DCU, but it’s still got a long way to go.
6/10
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