It’s like Captain America, but Women!
Diana is the sheltered daughter of Queen Hippolyta, leader of the Amazons, an all-female warrior unit. Hippolyta’s sister, Antiope, is the general of their army. She want’s to help Diana train, but Hippolyta says otherwise. After a lot of negotiating, Diana was able to train. When Steve Trevor, a military spy, shows up out of the blue, Diana is pulled into his war with Germany. Her suspicion that the God of War, Ares, fuels her desire to interject.
Wonder Woman was my beacon of hope for the DC cinematic universe. With movies like Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, I wasn’t excited for anything in their slate. Although the movie was still dark at times, it brought a much needed fun and excitement factor to the bleak established universe.
Like I said, this felt like “Captain America, but Women!” Having a powerful person from out of place and/or time interacting with the world as it is, is usually a funny sight. With the horrible scene of trench warfare, contrasted by Diana’s ignorance of the dangers of “No Man’s Land” summarizes my previous point, fun and exciting. That whole sequence was one of my favorite moments in the whole movie.
***Warning: Spoilers***
Where this falls short for me are the parts that involved the reveal. It felt hastily constructed and did not make much sense in the overall composition. At first we think that Wonder Woman is simply on board because she wildy assumes that one random Greek myth is the cause of the current war. From my perspective, it felt that this premonition was being exploited by Steve Trevor to help him win. When she viciously stabs the obvious bad guy to death, it wasn’t him, but a random character from the beginning, who shows up out of nowhere to initiate the final CGI super fight (some of it was a little too CGI). It sort of left me with the thought, “Oh I guess that could happen.”
I wasn’t expecting much from this entry in the DCEU, given its track record, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was fun and exciting, a much needed break from the ultra dark recent films. It had flaws, but not as bad as its predecessors. Wonder Woman is a “Wonder”ful role model for females of all ages. This is a great addition to the plethora of superhero films and should be seen by anyone.