Review of Wonder Woman (2017) by Wayne K — 13 Nov 2017

I find it difficult to get pumped up for a DC comic book movie nowadays. With the releases of the dire Man Of Steel and the decidedly average Suicide Squad, it's clear that in the battle with Marvel Studios they're completely outclassed.

Wonder Woman thankfully exceeded both films, but it fell short of the hype that surrounds it. Gal Gadot, as most have said, is a great choice for the lead role, combining tough determination with sensitive contemplation.

Chris Pine is also very good, especially when trying to explain the nature of human beings to his feisty comrade, a topic that clearly he himself doesn't understand. The action scenes are well put together and decipherable, but with Zach Snyder serving as producer, slow-motion is crowbarred in at every opportunity, regardless of how necessary it actually is.

As a fun action flick it's great, but when it tries to be serious and make statements about mankind it falls apart badly. It succumbs to the typical superhero movie clichés and descends into an over-portentous mess, bringing up the whole 'human beings are innately evil but have good in them' diatribe and shoving it down our throats.

For an apparent feminist symbol, a strong, independent female, Wonder Woman sure does come to base a lot of her actions and motivations on the feelings she has for a man. It feels like the filmmakers were crafting a movie that defied genre and narrative conventions but lost their bottle in the final act and reverted to playing it safe and familiar.

For that reason, Wonder Women isn't as much a bad movie as it is a missed opportunity. There's a lot of unanswered question pertaining to both the story and the characters, but as an action flick it gets the job done.

I just wish a bit more time had been spent tightening the script and fleshing out the heroine.