Jan and I went to see Wonder Woman Sunday afternoon. Because of the buzz, and the opening weekend rush, we pre-purchased tickets at one of the new crop of theaters featuring barcaloungers, and, critically, assigned seating.
As we settled into the clips announcing forthcoming films especially curated to accompany the film, I began to feel slightly anxious. Lots and lots of things blowing up. Which, hey, I’m a guy, I do like. But, often blowing things up becomes a substitute for, you know, a plot. And acting. All that stuff.
I needn’t have been so worried. The movie lived up to the buzz. There has been a lot invested in its being good for reasons other than a decent script and good acting. More on that in a moment.
But first here’s my short view: It is a very good film. I would modify that slightly, it is a very good film adapting a classic comic book genre. And, a click or two, maybe three above the summer blockbuster genre. And beyond that, flat out, it is just a very good movie.
Rotten Tomatoes gives us as succinct a plot summary as we need. “An Amazon princess finds her idyllic life on an island occupied only by female warriors interrupted when a pilot crash-lands nearby. After rescuing him, she learns that World War I is engulfing the planet, and vows to use her superpowers to restore peace.”
Reading some reviews I gather the DC franchise has been consistently criticized for two things. Tasha Robinson writing for the Verge, says one is a “fetishized and unrestrained use of violence.” While the other is “forcing their heroes through protracted existential crises instead of letting them be heroes.”
Ms Robinson informs us that Wonder Woman doesn’t abandon those obsessions, however this movie “embraces and redefines (these themes), making it clear that it’s possible to wallow in the emotional troubles that have defined DCEU (DC Extended Universe) movies, and still have fun.” To the point she says, while continuing to delve into the questions of whether humanity even deserves heroes as well as the questions around the morality of a single person possessing such enormous power, “Wonder Woman has a lightness and wryness that none of its DC predecessors could claim, but it’s still about philosophical crisis and a hero trying to find an identity.”
This is a different hero, for sure. Wendy Ice writing at the Guardian informs us Wonder Woman’s “secret weapon is not the bullet-repelling jewellery; not her swordplay; not her ability to fire shockwaves from her wrists. It’s not even her luxuriant, swooshing hair. It is her empathy. Although now I mention it, the hair is pretty impressive.”
The story begins “today” with a woman working in the antiques department of the Louvre who receives a package delivered by an armored car whose brand telegraphs to us that its from Bruce Wayne. That’s the only inside notice of this being part of a franchise that I noticed. Inside that package is a photograph from World War One. The rest of the story is told through flashbacks.
I found the story intelligent and with an occasional twist that completely surprised me – something a little hard to come up with in these genre films. The ending? Well, you know. In the last analysis it is all about blowing things up. And so things are blown up.
And back to that point how people have invested a lot in this movie being successful. As well as how some are invested in it not being successful. In addition to the fact that this is a super hero movie staring a woman, something that has not been done with success so far, much has also been made of the fact the director is a woman, Patty Jenkins. Some have found this double threat a double threat.
In that regard I find it interesting that in the wake of the many positive reviews the negative ones have tended, not exclusively, but for the most part to be more politically motivated, and frankly misogynist, rather than any kind of exploration of the merits of the film itself. Leading to one rather impressive parody of the hate reviews.
And, yes, there are feminist threads throughout the film. A delightful throw away in the movie was how the only person to be shown in the nude was a guy. As well as small jokes and asides that mock our male dominated culture. As I saw it without ever slipping away from the adventure story that drives the movie.
Actually its something of a complete package. A. O. Scott at the New York Times tells us “Wonder Woman is leavened by touches of screwball comedy, espionage caper and romantic adventure, as well as by what might be the most credible superhero screen kiss since upside-down Tobey Maguire planted one on Kirsten Dunst way back in Spider-Man.” This confection is masterfully created and brilliantly executed.
First and foremost the screen is absolutely captured by Gal Gadot’s Diana, Princess of the Amazons. She drives the film with amazing power and skill. And, she is supported in this by Chris Pine’s Steve – who fills that role, one step back from the lead with grace, charm, and humor. Oh, and sexual fission. They have to be one of the great screen couples.
In his NY Times review, Mr Scott summarizes the other characters, “Diana and Steve are assisted in their mission by a quartet of misfit sidekicks: a Scottish sharpshooter (Ewen Bremner); a Native American scout (Eugene Brave Rock); a Middle Eastern fixer (Said Taghmaoui) and a plucky British suffragist (Lucy Davis). The field of possible supervillains includes Danny Huston as a German commander and Elena Anaya as a diabolical chemist. The great David Thewlis is on hand doing some of the things you might expect and also some things you might not.”
The tortured hero theme that apparently has driven much of the DC movie franchise is toned down and given some real opportunity to be explored. I found this gives the film a chance to dig into genuine spiritual questions. Small wonder some of my Unitarian Universalist friends have seen “universalist” themes in the movie. Actually, so did I. And, a Zen Buddhist friend suggested Diana becomes a gender bending Fudo. I have to admit that worked for me, as well.
The script is, of course, based in the long established DC world of Wonder Woman, but brought to life reinterpreted for our moment by Allan Heinberg. Zak Snyder and Jason Fuchs share screenwriting credit with Mr Heinberg. Among the many small touches that are just fun, the villain General Erich Ludendorff is actually based on a real person. Morally, rather closely, actually. I find it interesting that the title “Wonder Woman” is never used in the film.
At Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 256 professional reviewers gave it a thumbs up, while an equal number 93% of more than 70,000 viewers who chose to comment approved. Wonder Woman runs 141 minutes. For those interested in such things, it brought in more than a hundred million dollars at the box office for its opening weekend.
I say, this is probably the best comic book derived movie of the season. One of the best, ever. A film for our times.
Go see it!
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