Review of Wonder Woman (2017) by James M — 02 Oct 2017

While Wonder Woman is a super-person with high visibility, there is a much smaller percentage of the population that is actually aware of her abilities. I counted myself in the population of ignorant nerds before viewing this, and I enjoyed how the movie both set up and played with our expectations.

We begin with a feeling not dissimilar to the first Thor film, where the sheltered paradise is shown off in all its glory. Seeing Diana grow up here establishes a really strong character base for her. Then, when [SPOILER] is tragically killed (WAY too early, by the way), this serves as the impetus to go out into the world...and then immediately forget about it. Seriously, I was really looking forward to some good fish-out-of-water stuff, and while we got a little bit, it wasn't done well.

Nevertheless, the film does have some great points, with many memorable scenes and characters. There were some anachronisms that bugged me, and some of the content I felt was far too adult-based for this film. The legally-mandated mid-third-act twist was definitely worth it, though the film did get a little too large-scale after that.

There's some great acting here. Gal Godot is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here, and she shoulders it like a champ. While I'm not crazy about Steve Trevor the character, I love me some Chris Pine. Danny Huston and David Thewlis each bring their particular energy to their parts to round out the film.

Compared to most other 'genre' films, this movie holds its own as a fun journey. Compared to the DCEU's 2016 offerings, this is a TRANSCENDENT EXPERIENCE ON PAR WITH DIVINE COMMUNION.