Wonder Woman – Review

 

There has been plenty of hype around the fact that Wonder Woman is, well a woman, and apparently the idea of a superhero film led by a woman is a big idea in Hollywood circles. I hear they will be letting women vote next. Whilst I don’t agree with some people who have said it is the first female fronted superhero movie, (Elektra, Supergirl and Catwoman came before), I hope this movie finally puts to bed the idea, that some dark corners of the internet have, that people don’t want to see a film where a woman is the main character, especially an action movie.

I also hope the success of this film, because it will be a success, also means that Marvel get their act together and give Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow a solo outing. Wonder Woman is a highly enjoyable film and Gal Gadot is brilliant in the title role. Anyway I thought that you probably didn’t want to hear me waffle on about the importance of having a woman portrayed in a film as more than a love interest or how it’s great to see Patty Jenkins at the helm (after missing out on Thor 2) so I asked my thirteen year old daughter what she thought.

So we’ve just finished watching Wonder Woman, what were your initial impressions?

It was awesome, because she was pi-ow (breaks into laughter.) Don’t put that in will you? (I give a non-committal smile). It was really nice to see a female superhero for a change. She was really strong, both physically and mentally. She was kind with a real strong sense of what was right and wrong.

What did you think about the story?

It was clever how part of it was set during the First World War. And I liked that all the Amazons lived on an island because it was cool and I’d definitely want to live there.

On an Island without men?

(Laughs) Yes, exactly – apart from you.

Is Wonder Woman a good role model for young girls?

Yes because she said that you can do anything if you believe it. She learns that everyone has good in them somewhere, you just have to find it. That message came through strongly for me.

What did you think about the special effects?

They were quite cool, the battle scenes were good.

What about the CGI, good, bad, too much?

It was fine, I wasn’t really looking for that, I was just in it for the story.

Rumour has it that you cried like a little baby during one particular scene, which I won’t spoil for the readers who haven’t seen the film yet?

Hey that’s mean, it was emotional because the story was compelling and really engaged me. Wonder Woman was a very likeable character who made you empathise with the story.

I didn’t cry because I had guessed what was going to happen and my one tiny gripe with an origins story as portrayed here was that we don’t get enough time to be emotionally invested in the whole ensemble. All the performances were really solid but I didn’t feel attached to any of them apart from Diana. And I can’t really criticise anyone for crying, you’ll remember that I was crying before Inside Out even started. Those damn singing volcanoes, and don’t even get me started on Bing Bong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXj61BXEy2M

Any other characters that stood out for you?

I thought Steve (Captain Steve Trevor played by Captain Kirk, AKA Chris Pine) was cool. I was a bit dubious about his relationship with Diana to start with because I thought, here we go again.

You were worried that the boy had to get with the girl, what a surprise?

Yes exactly but in the end I thought it was quite a nice relationship. It was sweet because they really cared about each other.

And she tells him what to do a lot. She doesn’t fall into the stereotypical heroine trope.

I liked that. She was very independent. She cared about him but she also knew what she wanted and that didn’t always coincide with what Steve wanted to do. She needed to do her own thing.

The director was also a woman, which sadly seems to be rare in the big budget movie world, so I think this is a good step forward.

That was great because there are loads of awesome women directors and they should be given a chance.

Why don’t you think women are given more of a chance to direct?

Because (laughs), do you really want me to tell you what I think?

Definitely

Because throughout time woman have been looked down upon and not given the opportunity they deserve and some people still hold that view now and I think it’s time we change and have equality.

There are some awesome women directors of course, Jodie Foster, Kathryn Bigelow and Elizabeth Banks to name just a few but a recent study did conclude they are on the decline in terms of opportunities.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/12/female-directors-on-decline-in-hollywood-study

I read somewhere that the reason there were not more female led superhero movies was because men don’t want to see action movies with a woman as the hero. But surely this is silly and this film will stop that idea from circulating once and for all, because everyone will enjoy this movie won’t they?

Of course anyone I think would want to see this film because she is an awesome action hero. Boys and girls will enjoy it. I’ve seen superhero movies where the hero is a man and I’ve enjoyed them but I enjoyed this one more.

This busts the myth that a woman can’t front a superhero movie.

It was a really good film that anyone can relate too and hopefully this film will open the door for more films led by strong female characters.

I would have liked to have seen more of the Amazons together. She shared a lot of screen time with Chris Pine, who was awesome, but it would have been good to see the Amazons sorting some stuff out together. Robin Wright’s character Antiope was cool and I would have liked to seen more of her story. And of course she was Princess Buttercup in one of the best films of all time, The Princess Bride.

Yes I agree because they fought really well together. And Antiope was good and I wanted to get to know her more. There is one really cool scene where they fight the Germans on a beach and they have never encountered bullets before.

Someone recently remarked to us that they weren’t always happy with how women were portrayed in comic books because they were always scantily clad and it was just an excuse for men to ogle over their outfits. What did you think about this in terms of Wonder Woman.

I think I agreed with this comment initially but in terms of Wonder Woman’s outfit in this I thought it was tasteful and also practical for her to fight in. In fact they make a joke of this when they are trying to dress her like other woman when she arrives in London and she thinks corset’s are body armour.

Marks out of 5?

5

5 stars, that’s a good score. Any weak points at all for you?

I would have liked to see her return home at the end. Not necessarily to stay there but to see her family again and show her Mum that she was OK.

Well I am sure they will explore that in the countless sequels that await us. Interestingly Joss Whedon, director and writer of the Avengers films and of course Buffy, has now stepped in to direct the Justice League movie and he is renowned for writing strong female characters. I am not sure what involvement he will have with the script but I am optimistic this bodes well for Wonder Woman’s development. Are you looking forward to the Justice League?

Yes, I hope she takes a leading role.

There is not loads of linkage with Batman Versus Superman but just enough to remind you that these stories are related. And that’s another thing I liked about it. I really like the Marvel films and I am really looking forward to Spiderman but it has got to the point where you need a map to understand some of the references, so I was worried this film would go that way.

I didn’t mind the lack of reference to the other film, in fact I liked it and it really stands on it’s own. You don’t need to have seen the other film.

Further Reading

Why Buffy Still Kicks Ass

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/may/31/wonder-woman-female-superhero-movies