Review of Wonder Woman (2017) by Spangle — 09 Jun 2017

Calling this the best film released as part of the DC Extended Universe thus far is a rather easy task, but does Wonder Woman rise to the level of being a good film? Well, probably not. It is not bad (BVS) or one of the worst things that could ever be imagined (Suicide Squad), but Wonder Woman is still not some kind of a good movie. It is close though and decidedly "above average" as Chris Pine's Steve Trevor so neatly offers to describe both his looks and the film's quality. So what is the god killer in Patty Jenkins' first foray into the world of Wonder Woman? After firing and missing on its two most recent efforts, the DCEU lightened things up, but avoided the true cause of death: cliches. There is hardly anything original about the villain or other plot happenings and the film is crushed under this predictable weight. It is a beautiful looking film nonetheless, but it remains a rather pale and typical superhero film blended with a female empowerment picture.

It is in the latter that the film is perhaps the most muddled. As Diana/Wonder Woman's (Gal Gadot) encounters with the outside world begin in a "fish out of water" type fashion (featuring the requisite jokes to highlight how out of touch she is), she is treated very woman-like. Steve tries to save her from any danger and brings her to buy clothes. It is eerily reminiscent of Mila Kunis in Jupiter Ascending who, though she is known as the one who can save the world, spends 60% of the film cleaning toilets. Here, Diana is spared the scrubbing of an inner bowl, but is nonetheless forced into a womanly hole of having to wear flashy dresses and to act like a woman. Naturally, this all comes after Steve has seen her kick ass while in the Amazonian world. No matter, eventually the men will come around, correct? Wrong. Instead, every man that surrounds her consistently tries to hold her back, hold her hand and lead her around, or shield her with their bodies. With comments about how attractive she is and jokes about how attractive she and her friends are, the film further makes one wonder if this is really a female empowerment picture. Yes, women kick ass in Wonder Woman, but they are never treated as the equals of men. Even the dialogue uttered by Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) about the world describes it as the "world of men". The line about how men are useless besides procreation is a bit too much in the opposite direction (more about emasculation of men than it is empowerment of women). All in all, the film gives her room to take people down, but she is never given credit for her actions in a way that does not sound like "pretty good for a woman". Compared to Gamora or Black Widow, Wonder Woman is never able to not be a woman. Instead, every line and action by those around her serves as a reminder that, yes, she is a woman.

If the dialogue did not remind you, perhaps the camera work will. As Laura Mulvey so perfectly defined, this film is very much the product of internalized sexism. With camera work that focuses on Gal Gadot's ass and with the camera working its way up from the bottom to allow the scopophilic audience to soak in every inch of our superhero. For a film with marketing so focused on showing her to be a beacon of female strength, it seems rather fine with having her represent to-be-lookedatness and the result of the male gaze by the camera and the audience. Yes, the film tosses in Chris Pine naked once, but for a film about a woman and for women, it seemed more interested in objectifying Diana than Steve. In a similar vein, the scantily clad costume design is both problematic and not. For one, it is too much and only allows the camera to soak in more skin. On the other, Steve tries to get her to change because she is so scantily clad, which is equally problematic. If she is comfortable, why change? She should be wearing more clothes because, if it is armor, why must she wear a skimpy skirt and not full body armor like male superheroes and warriors? But, forcing her to change to be appropriate is like the film recognizing it is absurd, but also taking away her own autonomy when it comes to deciding what she can and cannot wear, giving control of that to her male love interest.

The film's stereotypical approach to women may be crushingly disappointing based upon expectations, but what is perhaps worse is how awful the villain winds up being. Turns of Ares is just a pissed of British guy who wants to destroy the world like every other villain in a superhero movie. Given no development beyond a desire to kill the world and having killed Zeus and other gods to follow through on this, the chief villain here is rather dull and, worse, is killed by the power of love. Gaining superpowers from grief and love in a scene that plays out like the "Save Martha" one from Batman v Superman, Diana is finally able to overcome him by, as she later describes herself, by discovering that love conquers all.