“Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.
All the world’s waiting for you,
and the power you possess.” (Lyrics on Demand)
Plot:
(There will be major spoilers– be warned)
Princess Diana of the Amazons lives on the mystical island of Themyscira. The amazons live in peace on this paradise island while training for a future war with Ares, the god of war. The only people on this island are the female Amazons.
Queen Hippolyta does what she can to protect her daughter, Princess Diana, but Diana and her aunt,General Antiope, train in secret. Eventually Hippolyta accepts Diana as a warrior princess.
Steve Trevor crashes his plane through the mist that hides Themyscira from the rest of the world. A group of German soldiers follow him through the mist to the island. Diana saves Steve from an ocean grave and drags him onto the beach. But it doesn’t take long for the Germans to find him and invade Themyscira. The Germans find themselves easily outmatched by the Amazon Warriors.
The Amazons assume Steve Trevor is one of the Germans (he is wearing the same outfit). After integrating him with the Lasso of Truth, they find he is a spy trying to end the Great War (World War I). Queen Hippolyta decides to keep Trevor as a prisoner but Diana helps him escape while getting the special armor, shield, Lasso of Truth, and the god Killer sword.
Queen Hippolyta comes upon Diana and Steve about to leave. She gives her mixed blessing to leave but it means that Diana may not be able to ever return to Themyscira.
The adventure begins for Diana as she learns about the culture and life of the man’s world. She looks at things with wonder and surprise. She sees the horrors of war on the faces of the wounded and victims.
Steve takes a secret notebook to the British allies. Diana’s focus is to find Ares, who she believes is behind all of the war. This leads both to head to front on a mission not approved by the British. This is just the beginning of the fun.
What I liked: (More Spoilers)
Wonder Woman is a warrior princess but she is much more complex than that. Her character show the whole spectrum of emotions and feelings. She desires peace and the destruction of war and yet she is a great warrior. She is relentless in battle and yet her heart breaks for those wounded and the victims of the war. She is innocent in the ways of the world but yet she has studied about them extensively. She is beautiful but yet every woman can relate to her. She is the full package.
This movie plays to the some of the Mythos of the character’s past. It tells the story of Diana’s creation as her being formed by Queen Hippolyta from clay and the gods blessing her and bringing her to life. It doesn’t keep this as her origin but it plays to it. I audibly said “YES!” in the theater when I heard this origin story. There is also a moment where Steve calls the island, Paradise Island, which was the original name of Themyscira. The movie even has the ice cream moment straight out of the comics where Diana first tries Ice Cream for the first time. Well done DC. Well done.
Unlike Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, this movie had some comedy. It wasn’t Guardians of the Galaxy 2 funny but it had some moments. It had the right amount of humor added to dial down the intense dark parts and the awesome action. Marvel has prefected the addition to humor in their movies to level things out where DC had only used it slightly in Suicide Squad. In my personal life, I have to had moments of laughing and humor to balance out the hard times and intensity of life. It looks like DC learned this lesson with Wonder Woman.
This movie has great pacing and action. There are wonderful scenes of kick butt action. The German attack on the beach, No Mans Land, and the Final Battle are sensational. But this isn’t just a mindless action movie. It builds a ton of character. Not only is Diana a well defined character but so are many of the supporting characters. The action keeps you going and the down parts make you understand why you love these characters and want them to win.
Talking about action, the No Mans Land scene is one of the best fight scenes I have ever seen. I was on the edge of my seat. This was so KOOL. I can only image how it makes some girls exude girl power after seeing it. No man could cross that field but Wonder Woman is not a man and she is motivated by the needs of the victims of the war that have lost their village to the Germans. She took on the whole German front and had a little help from the boys. This is where Wonder Woman become the mega hero in this movie. WOW! I am still in awe by this scene.
Wonder Woman is the hero for everyone and this is exciting for girls everywhere. Girls haven’t had a live female lead superhero movie to enjoy. I am excited that my daughter finally gets a female hero lead to see. Natasha loves Black Widow (namesake) and has been upset that Marvel hasn’t made a Black Widow movie. Now, she has Wonder Woman to enjoy and be empowered by. Boys will love this movie but it is special for girls to have a female hero to root for on the screen.
What I not Like: (Spoilers)
I am not personally a fan of making Wonder Woman a demi-goddess. I love her original origin with her blessed by the old gods instead of be one of them. This is a small thing that I can get over.
There were no fun Wonder Woman exclamations. Where was the “Great Hera!” when something bad happens? Again, this is a small thing.
Review:
This movie is everything I had hoped it would be. It has the action that I wanted. It built character like I haven’t seen in a Superhero movie. I shows the full spectrum of Diana as a person and as a hero. It sprinkles in humor at the right moments.
It brought DC out of the shadows and into the forefront. After Man of Steel and Batman V Superman, I wasn’t impressed with DC’s vision for their characters. These movies weren’t bad but in my opinion, they were sub par to the Marvel films. Wonder Woman takes it to the next level and throws down the gauntlet at Marvel.
Not only does Wonder Woman bring up the standard for DC but for knocks down the door for female super hero movies. This should finally put the myth that people don’t want to see female super hero leads. This is great news for Marvel’s Captain Marvel movie and for other future female lead Superhero films. Way to go Wonder Woman. By the way, I have been seeing a ton of girls and ladies wearing Wonder Woman t-shirts. I really want one.
This movie made over 100.5 million domestically and over 122.5 million internationally. 223 Million globally for the first weekend. Yes, Wonder Woman rocks and deserves every penny.
Right now, I place Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at a dead tie for my favorite movie of the year. They are A1 and A2. I loved this movie.
My Grade: A
Other Reviews
IMDB: 8.3
Rotten Tomatoes: Audience: 93% Fresh
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 93% Fresh
Stay Geeky my Friends!
