By: Justin Pomerville
I am Justin! I am not from Themyscira and I'm not the daughter of Hippolyta, but that won't stop me from being WONDERFUL in writing this review.
*Pauses for dramatic effect while everyone loves his pun...hopefully.*
Anyway, I just got back from seeing "Wonder Woman" and I can tell you right now, this is exactly what was needed for the DC movie-verse. And really, I did find a few minor things that bugged me, but overall, this film was....amazing (thought I was going to say wonderful again, didn't you?).
What I really enjoyed about this movie was that it strayed away from any Easter eggs (as far as I could tell) and it didn't sway into the "who can cameo is this?" camp. I mean, it was a given that we wouldn't have cameos because of the time period, but that never stops super hero movies, does it?
Also, the plot was very simple that I can easily describe the whole movie in one paragraph without given away spoilers. But, there are no real spoilers in this film really. Diana (played by Gal Gadot) grows up on Themyscira, learning about the Amazons and that they are put on Earth to protect it from the evils of man and to finally end their war with Ares (God of War). When Steve Trevor (played by Chris Pine) crash lands near the shore and accidentally leads German soldiers to the beach for a fight between them and the Amazons, Diana believes that WWII is being caused by Ares and that she wants to do something about it. How? But having Steve take her to where the fighting is and kill "Ares", who she believes to be General Ludendorff (played by Danny Huston). What she learns on this adventure is that there more than just Gods that control mankind, and that everyone is truly responsible for their own actions and emotions.
Overall, the casting for this film was amazing. Gal Gadot plays a great Wonder Woman (as we have seen before briefly in "Batman v Superman") and having this being an origin story, it was great to see her work up to what she is today. There were some great humorous bits involving her learning about fashion and how it's not made for battle, as well as learning how everyone survives and live beyond her island borders.
That's something we don't see much in these DC films, humor. It's always dark and brooding. I'm not saying that it has to be crammed with as many jokes as possible (I'm looking at you Marvel), but if the occasion calls for it, a well timed joke can enhance the experience and not feel like it was thrown in there for a cheap laugh.
The fight scenes were so great as well. We got to see a lot of what she is capable with and without her weapons. Some of the all out brawls where Diana just destroys soldiers were visually appealing and had a couple of slow motion scenes that felt very similar to the ones we saw in "300", but with less blood and body parts flying.
My biggest complaint, but not really a complaint in a way, was the usage of villains. This seems to be a constant problem in superhero films. The villains do not feel as threatening as they should. But I get it in this film because it is more about Diana learning about the outside world and we kind of already know how WWI ends....I'm just saying. But, the two main villains in this film were the earlier mentioned General Ludendorff and his top scientist, Dr. Maru (aka Dr. Poison). Here they are pictured below:
These two felt very flat as characters and it didn't feel like a huge accomplishment when they got their comeuppance. Although, they did put in another villain that didn't think they would pull out just yet for this film.
(Spoiler Warning)
They did bring in Ares (played by David Thewlis) as a third villain in the third act. He gets involved saying he was around to plant ideas in the heads of Ludendorff and Dr. Poison to make them carry out their plans of destruction, but beyond that he never acts upon anything. That is, until he fights Wonder Woman as the end, which I didn't expect to happen. Or that he would pretty much die before the movie ends. I assumed they would keep him around as the main villain for the sequel. I could be wrong of his demise though.
Overall, this movie is visually stunning and I believe had an amazing cast and director to helm it. It's been a long time coming to finally see Wonder Woman get her own film, and it has arrived and it is indeed...wonderful. Go see it if you can, it's worth it.