Last evening alongside my girlfriend and a group of our friends, we sat down in a packed theater to enjoy DC Comic's and Warner Bros. Pictures latest movie, which brought to life in a most epic, compelling and mind-blowing way, the character of Wonder Woman and her world.
Directed by Patty Jenkins, the movie's cast was as follows: starring Gal Gadot in her return to the role of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Chris Pine as United States USAAS (United States Army Air Service) Captain Steve Trevor, with Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta (Diana's mother and Queen of the Amazons), Robin Wright as Antiope (Hippoylta's sister and general of the Amazon army), Elena Anaya as Doctor Isabel Maru/Doctor Poison (one of Wonder Woman's Golden Age villains and a chemist working for the German military), Lucy Davis as Etta Candy (Wonder Woman's friend/sidekick in the Golden Age and Steve Trevor's secretary in the film) Danny Huston as Erich Ludendorff (one of the leaders of the German military during World War I), and David Thewlis as Sir Patrick Morgan (one of the members of the Imperial War Cabinet working to end the war).
There are so many things to say about this movie, from plot and characters/casting, to the special effects and the music, the list goes on and on.
To touch on plot and characters/casting, both of these aspects were major show stealers for the entire movie. Every single moment of the plot was gripping, not once did it get slow or boring of seem to lag, coupled to the amazing cast (the major players I've listed above), each person stood out in their role and brought the respective persons from the Wonder Woman universe to life in such a realistic way.
A major theme I want to focus on in Wonder Woman that is constant throughout is that of people standing up for what they believe in and fighting for that belief. Whether it's Diana and her mission as an Amazon to save the world and make right that which is not, or Steve Trevor and his mission as a member of the Allies to end the war and avert more suffering and loss in the world, holding fast to one's belief and not giving up on it no matter what odds stand in the way is one of the things that stands out as a success of this movie. For Diana, despite having lived on Themyscira her whole life under the guidance of her mother and the Amazons, she goes into man's world never faltering in her steadfastness that she can save the world and make things better for people, even with things like the horrors of World War I surrounding her. It is a theme that everyone who see's the movie can latch on to, because it is something that drives all of humanity, standing up for what is right, holding fast to something that you believe in and staring down all obstacles and opposition when fighting for the causes that can change the world for the better.
When a person looks at Wonder Woman's various comics over the 75 years she has been in publication (and even if that person has never read a single comic in their life), this movie combines all of the best aspects of her character, and in some cases blows the comics themselves right out of the water. I will even go so far as to say, that this movie is on the same level of excellence and high quality as Christopher Reeves and the 1978 superhero classic Superman. Wonder Woman does for the comic book community and the movie going world of 2017, what Superman did in 1978, takes a character from comics who is well-known, has a heavily built up story-line and group of characters, and weds it to the magic of the movie-making industry. The end result being a film that is so powerful and grips a person so much that very few if any words can be used to describe it properly.
It is my firm stance that for all the success DC has had making superhero/comic book movies over the years, Patty Jenkins and the cast of Wonder Woman have shown that when DC takes one of their characters that many people love and tell their story the RIGHT way (meaning that while as a superhero movie it does have action, it doesn't skimp/diminish the characters and story by making these things sidebars to a lot of explosions and intense fighting), amazing things happen. Maybe now comic book fans and movie goers can breath a sigh of relief that future films from DC and Warner Bros. will take the formula laid down by Wonder Woman and apply it to all their future movie making efforts.
Wonder Woman gets nothing less then a high rating, for all of the things discussed throughout this review (without giving anything away I might add), and widening the scope of the superhero movie industry in a huge way. To everyone who reads this review and has not seen the movie yet, I urge you to see it! You will not want to miss out! And to everyone who has seen the movie and not yet picked up a Wonder Woman comic, perhaps you will change your minds after seeing the movie. This could very well be THE superhero movie of the year, and therefore is one that people should see in order to be a part of history. Do not miss out on Wonder Woman readers, that's all there is to say.
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