Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2017)

[Dave Gray]

Wonder Woman (2017)

Premise: A lost pilot prompts a God-like Amazonian Princess to enter the front line of World War I, where she suspects she'll find Ares, the God of War.

Rating: An competent and enjoyable origin story, but one that's paint by numbers and doesn't elevate the genre.

I enjoyed Woman Woman, but it's nothing we've not seen before.  It's very similar to the original Captain America, in that it blends a fish-out-of-water story with a superhero in an old-timey war setting with a group of rag-tag soldiers.  The two movies are remarkably similar.

I hear a lot of praise for Wonder Woman and though it's an enjoyable film, it does suffer from the same thing that most of these movies do: an uninteresting antagonist and a pretty boring CG fight sequence in the 3rd act.  The movie shines most in its 2nd act, when we're seeing Wonder Woman deal with the social politics of WWI-era Britain -- sexism, racism, classism, etc.  In terms of a movie that is important in terms of feminism -- a female lead, with feminine influences, from a female director, the movie succeeds.  Gal Gadot is great.  Wonder Woman, the character, is great.  She's bad-ass while still being womanly.  It's a good balance.

Her entourage is also very likable.  Chris Pine is a relatable audience surrogate and some odd-ball characters (specifically a secretary and Arab soldier) add some light humor.  As a DC film, the movie is definitely more light in its tone and the story makes very clear, logical, A to B sense.  Nothing here is confusing or convoluted, like things got with BvS or Suicide Squad.  Even though I liked those movies more than some, describing the plot of the films can get a little tricky.

The film does a commendable job of not over-explaining away her powers.  She is vaguely magic or god-like...similar to Thor, but it doesn't really matter.  They don't "midichlorian" an explanation for everything.  The things that we know from Wonder Woman, like the lasso of truth, super strength and speed, healing factor -- they just ARE.  They show you, rather than tell you, how a lot of it works, which is refreshing.

As a stand-alone experience, Wonder Woman is fine.  It's got one or two interesting fight sequences, an origin story that gets you where you need to be, and a conclusion that sets you up for what matters: Justice League stuff.  I'm glad this movie is over, actually.  It did its job, but it's not an era that needs to be seen anymore, yet we're left with a good character and interesting powers that I'm excited to see alongside 21st Century America, as well as other heroes.  I can already see how Batman tied up in the lasso of truth is going to be a great scene that brings some levity to a over-stuffy DCU.

[Tenshot13]

I want to see this, but thought the overly positive reviews were a little odd.  I was hoping it was because it's a great movie, but it seems it's because it's a good movie with a strong female lead that they didn't completely botch, so it's being over-hyped as a fantastic movie to, possibly, push an agenda?

I don't know, I'll judge that when I see it. 

[Sunstroke]

I'll be watching it this week, and I'd heard nothing but incredible reviews from a few friends who saw it this past weekend.

[Dave Gray]

I also saw people saying it's incredible and I'm sorry, but that's just not being honest.  It's good, but it's just like all the other fair-to-good origin movies to date. 

It's a female-driven movie and it's a DC movie, which both haven't had hits so far, but if you strip that away, it is not a phenomenal film like the praise that it's been given.

[Cathal]

I just saw it this weekend. I liked it more than I thought I would. I would recommend it to anyone who likes superhero movies. I'm glad it's done so well in the box office. The small love interest part was a bit forced, but whatever, not that big of a deal. I did enjoy how they were contrasting the cruelty of our world vs Wonder Woman's. Made it a bit more grown-up, but they could only do so much. I mean, this is WW1, there's plenty of nastiness to go around.

[Sunstroke]

Watched this last night, and absolutely loved it. I came in with high expectations, as the movie it was most compared to in the MCU was the original Captain America, which is arguably my 2nd favorite Marvel movie ever. I am a complete junkie for period piece movies, no denying it. Give me a fantastic tale with a familiar historical setting, and I am putty in your theater seat.

My expectations were met and exceeded. I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of the movie, from the classic storyline to the badass slow-mo fight scenes to the goosebump-inducing score. I thought that the actors were well cast and on point in their performances. I have a feeling that this one is going to have the same replay-ability for me that Cap did...and that makes me a happy comic book camper.

[Sunstroke]

Note...my vote aabovfe (convfefe!) was for "I'd like to see it." If I could re-vote, it would get the full 5 stars.

[Fau Teixeira]

i thought it was really solid .. i'd give it a 4/5

[Dave Gray]

Really solid is fair, I think.  I can't really say I wanted more than I got.  I just don't think it elevates the genre.

[Cathal]

Really solid is fair, I think.  I can't really say I wanted more than I got.  I just don't think it elevates the genre.

It may not elevate the genre, but it sure made women superheros a viable movie. What other super hero movie actually had a heroine that was as good as this one?

[Phishfan]

What other super hero movie has had a female lead?

[Fau Teixeira]

elektra

[Sunstroke]

elektra

[checks with judges] ...OK, technically, Jennifer Garner is a female, but there should be an asterisk next to her name.

Seth Rogen as Green Hornet should count, because he has a - wait, check that...he IS a pussy, he doesn't actually have one. Disregard that entirely.

[Dave Gray]

I think that Black Widow, Scarlet Witch to a lesser extent, Elektra (from Netflix) have all been good female characters.  ...Also several X-Men.  Admittedly, none of them led their own film, though.

It's really a shame that it took us this long to get a Wonder Woman film, but I think that's what's clouding judgment.  Just because we should've had this movie 20 years ago doesn't mean that it's suddenly a great movie.  It's a good movie that's understandably exciting people, not only because of the woman-aspect, but also because of the DC aspect.

[Spider-Dan]

JLaw was at least a co-lead in Days of Future Past and was definitely the lead in Apocalypse.  Neither movie was as good as Wonder Woman.

I saw WW last night.  Definitely the best DC movie since Dark Knight (which isn't saying much).  I'm really looking forward to what they do with the sequel.

I liked Ares as the villain, but SPOILER I found his mustache ridiculous.