“Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don’t want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women’s strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.” – Elizabeth Marston (wife of the creator of Wonder Woman)
Women in film, and almost all forms of art, have cleared hurdles to be where they are today. From Jane Austen to J.K Rowling, Virginia Wolf to Danielle Steel, Aretha Franklin to Beyonce, and Whitney Houston to Adelle. These women and so many others have made tremendous impacts on the form of art and bringing fresh and new perspectives to a once male-dominated space of culture.
I will admit that while I support women receiving more opportunities in film, I am also someone who struggles relating with and enjoying films from a female’s perspective quite often. The point of experiencing something from a new perspective, whether it is race, gender, sexuality, or social class, is too bring you outside of your comfort zone and force you to expand your thinking. You begin to realize why someone may make a different choice than you in a situation or how their differences affect their daily lives. So, while I admittedly do not enjoy many female-driven films, I see it as an exercise to open my mind to understanding how women perceive the world and how they see themselves. In a day and age when so much turmoil and animosity arises from a lack of understanding and empathy I feel it is necessary for more movies from different perspectives (EVEN the sides we “hate”) so we can come to a better understanding and bring about conversations that don’t further drive us apart but bring us together.
My final note before the review: I had rather low expectations for this film for a few reasons. 1) The previous DC films have been rather mediocre to average. 2) Wonder Woman did not do much to impress me in Batman v Superman that left me wanting more. 3) This is the big one. I was worried this would become a feminist message film. Hopefully most of you keep reading so I can explain. I enjoy films that have a message to deliver, when they are creatively woven within the story and reveal themselves without knocking you over the head. Sometimes films blast the audience with spiritual, political, or social propaganda. I was worried with DC’s track record and lack of quality storytelling that the movie would just beat the audience over the head with “She is a woman. She is independent. She does NOT need a man. Women are better than men.” None of these ideas, except the last one, are bad for an audience of women or men to hear. What it does though, when poorly executed, is boil the character into just a woman. When done beautifully she can be a woman AND more. I was skeptical going into this film, but I feel this film does one of the best jobs as a super hero film, an origin story, and as a powerful film about women and humanity.
Chris Pine & Gal Gadot
Beautifully Powerful
I do not know much about wonder woman outside of some of the more mainstream means of entertainment that I’ve read, watched, or played. It was cool to learn her back story through a flashback set during WWI. What I felt was the most crucial part of the set up of the film was the explanation of the origin of the Amazonian warriors and their relationship to the outside world. The way it started out the movie made me scared it was going to portray men as evil and women as pure, but the way it unfolded led me to believe that the Amazonian women were right to fear and despise men and the outside world.
In order to bridge the gap between the Amazonian society and the outside world there needed to be a strong character to both hold the strong beliefs of the Amazonian and also merge with the chaos of the war in the outside world. Gal Gadot did a wonderful job as the connective tissue between the utopia of Themyscira and the divided world of the early 20th century. Much of the time it is hard for me to believe an actress as a strong warrior, but both Gal Gadot and the director (Patty Jenkins) created a character who embodied strength and honor, without appearing as a Mary Sue of sorts. She does fail, but uses it as motivation and lessons to make her stronger. Throughout the film I was keeping an eye out for some kind of flaw in the character. And at the end of the movie I felt she embodied what I feel like Wonder Woman should be: A symbol of strength, hope, kindness, and humanity. The film did a phenomenal job of taking a god and making her relatable and vulnerable in convincing ways. Whether not understanding some of the social norms of our world or coming to grips with the good and bad humanity has to offer. Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot took a god and did not make her small, but made her someone to empathize and relate to.
Pining For His Affection
The other standout for this movie was Chris Pine. I figured he would have a sizable role in the film, especially knowing his relationship to Wonder Woman as Steve Trevor. He even had a larger role in the film both in screen time and thematically. Pine represented not just men, but humanity as he tried to wrestle with what was going during the war as a soldier. Was he ending it or contributing to it? Was he a part of the problem that Diana saw or part of the solution? Diana’s relationship with him served as a representation of her journey to understand the humans and the world we had created. Man is not black and white; instead we often operate in the gray area of life. Not having a definite answer of why we did the things we did and whether they were right or not. Chris Pine did a great job as the embodiment of an “above-average” man.
What I thought Chris Pine would become was almost a reverse damsel in distress for Wonder Woman, thus making him just an object for her affection and making Diana another woman who has to fall in love with the man. While their relationship is definitely romantic, I felt that Diana and Steve both fell in love with each other as a person before as a man and a woman. Steve saw the beauty in Diana for her strength and her honor, while Diana loved Steve for his courage and humanity. In a relationship where the woman truly was the strongest of the two, the film somehow mad it feel balanced and mutual.
More Than Just A Pretty Face
Something I did not expect from this movie was some very well shot and choreographed fight sequences and set pieces. From one of the first action scenes when the Germans invade the beach on Themyscira, I could tell that Patty Jenkins knew what she was doing behind the camera. The mixture of slow-mo shots, CGI, and different weapons made each sequence interesting and unique. Wonder Woman is a skillfully trained goddess and the film rightfully depicts her as such without short changing her of any of the power and agility of her character. The film also does not shy away from the grim side of war. For a PG-13 film about war it sheds light on the dark side of war in a way that is tasteful but also impactful in showing Diana the dire situation man has found themselves in.
Verdict
Wonder Woman is a fun, action packed super hero movie and an important film in the progress of cinema. It has some laughs while also delivering some hard hitting action moments. The characters are well-developed and provide vessels through which to tell a progressive message about humanity and gender. With the success of this film critically and financially it will hopefully bring about more films from the female perspective in front of or behind the camera. I recommend anyone to go see it as soon as you get the chance.
8.75/10
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