Review of Wonder Woman (2017) by Phil S — 10 Jun 2017

Wonder Woman isn't the second coming of the virgin Mary as some might have you believe, but it is a solid superhero action film in its own right. Gal Gadot owns her role and no doubt solidifies her new superstar status after this breakout performance.

With all of the previous films of the DCEU being bogged down by failed attempts at profundity and oversaturated with grimdark edginess, Wonder Woman is a refreshing back-to-basics take on the superhero formula with a decidedly more upbeat tone.

It doesn't really reinvent superhero films, but rather just sticks to what works and does it well. However, this approach is simultaneously one of Wonder Woman's biggest vices, as its opening act is overburdened by origin story exposition and the finale similarly succumbs to tired supervillain cliches with the main antagonist rattling off a litany of overused generic bad guy lines, coupled with a really forced self-sacrifice scene that didn't make any sense.

This movie's strongest point ironically is in its second act with its double fish-out-of-water narrative between Steve Trevor and Diana Prince. The characters play off each other really well, and the action scenes out on the battlefields of World War 1 boast some exceptional choreography.

It's also perhaps worth noting that despite the premise of the film, the director, and the current political climate, it's nice that this wasn't used as an opportunity to patronize men with its female empowerment narrative, but instead maintain a positive and inclusive message for all audiences throughout.

That of course hasn't stopped certain armchair activist critics from soapboxing about how this film could have been ruined by male sexual pandering (despite having nothing at all to say about the shameless naked scene involving Chris Pine), but we're veering off-track here.

All in all though, it feels like Wonder Woman mostly survives on Rule of Cool and unabashed optimism. It could have used just a little more substance and a more compelling final act to turn it into a great movie instead of just a good one.