I love tracing the studio battle between DC and Marvel. For decades, DC was the undisputed champ, starting with Superman in 1978 and continuing with Batman in 1989: Two mega-hits that solidified the age of the blockbuster. Then, DC came down with a bad case of Bat-nipples and left an opening for Marvel to give movies a try. Blade had been doing OK through the 90s. X-Men proved to be a hit in 2000 and Spider-Man broke box office records in 2002. DC quickly responded with the Dark Knight trilogy and a failed Superman reboot. It was Marvel who stumbled onto the winning formula with 2008's Iron Man by bringing all the properties they could into the same shared universe. However, DC was the one dominating the box office that year when The Dark Knight became (at the time) the third highest grossing film of all time in the US and only the fourth film to make $1 billion worldwide. After they couldn't convince Christopher Nolan and company to stick around after his trilogy was complete, DC was four years behind Marvel on the world-building. In 2012, it was Marvel's Avengers breaking records and DC's Dark Knight Rises lagging behind. Since then, DC has been working hard to "catch-up" to Marvel. Man of Steel was a perfectly fine introduction. Batman vs. Superman had a litany of problems though, that could be summed up as "too much, too fast". Suicide Squad had the problem of being too different too quickly. It's like the old writing adage [that I might be making up], "you need to prove that you've learned the rules before you can start breaking them". They were trying to break the formula by following villains turned heroes before they had mastered making a standard hero story in a share universe. Finally, that brings us to 2017 and the most encouraging DC film in almost a decade: Wonder Woman.
Why is it encouraging? Because it's DC going back to basics. Wonder Woman tells the story of Diana Prince (as she is known in the present day), played by Gal Godot. She's raised on island that was hidden from the rest of the world by the gods and run by the Amazons. She is trained to be a great warrior and taught that basically everything in Greek legend is true (and in this world, it mostly is). One day, a WWI pilot (Chris Pine) crashes near their island. He's pursued by some Germans who are held off by the Amazons. This pilot, Steve Trevor, leads Diana to England, then mainland Europe where she is determined to end the great war by defeating the war god Ares, who she believes is forcing men to go to war with one another. And the movie recognizes that this is all pretty zany. A lot of fun is had with how little Diana fits into WWI Europe. You can see a lot of previous superhero movies in this one. The wartime period setting calls Captain America: The First Avenger to mind. Diana's fish out of water response to the world reminded me of Thor. The focus of the movie wasn't on creating some huge spectacle or one-upping Marvel or previous DC films. The film isn't an extended universe delivery system either. The idea for this film is simple: let's introduce Wonder Woman. That's all it's wants to do and that's what makes it so good.
It's ironic that by taking a step back from playing the Marvel game, DC ends up beating Marvel to a lot of firsts. Wonder Woman is the first female lead protagonist in a film in either extended universe. Director Patty Jenkins is the first woman to direct a superhero film and broke all sorts of opening weekend and overall records in the process. However, none of this would matter to me if the film wasn't any good*. And, this is the best reviewed of DC films since Christopher Nolan was working with them. I wouldn't call this film exceptionally made in any specific way. Rather, it's a collection of things done well. Wonder Women has a better sense of fun than the previous DC movies without losing the stakes. It switches between lighter and serious moments comfortably. The WWI setting is a refreshing change of pace and handled as seriously as a superhero movie can handle a real war. Jenkins holds back during the action sequences when needed, which is a nice change from something like Dead Men Tell No Tales last week that was a mess when the bullets started flying. Jenkins is more in love with the slow motion shots than I was as an audience member. The film still struggles with some of the sillier comic book trappings in the same way all superhero movies do (i.e. the lasso of truth will always be a little silly, just like Dr. Strange's cape is). This is the thousandth iteration of the "men are capable of great evil but also great love" story I've seen, but they don't belabor the point too much.
*OK, yes, it does matter, big picture. It just doesn't matter for this Reaction. I'm all for more diversity of voices in film (or in anything). More voices means more variety which invariably means more quality. That just makes sense. Hopefully this success and other films that are already in production with female directors and leads will mark a lasting shift rather than a blip in the business.
The cast really shines throughout. Gal Gadot plays the titular heroine perfectly. I remember when her casting was first announced, I was worried. At the time, I only knew Gadot as the eye candy from Fast and Furious movies. I thought DC just cast the first 5'10 model who could pass a screen test. She made a believer out of me in only a few minutes of Batman vs. Superman last year and Wonder Woman only solidifies that belief. She pulls off the physicality. She has superpowers but also skills. Even if she wasn't a goddess, I'd believe she could kick some ass. She is good enough at getting a laugh, normally out of a physical gag, and she can sell a dramatic beat even if the dialogue she has to deliver is a little clunky. She has great chemistry with Chris Pine*, who is playing the "Chris Pine in an action movie" role. He's a little jaded. She's a little naive. There's a yin and yang to what they bring to the relationship. She's undeniably the hero of the story but he is also heroic. He takes away from her no more than Peggy Carter takes away from Captain America. The rest of the cast is enjoyable. Back on the island of Themyscira, Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen bring gravitas as the lead Amazons. I can't say any other characters matter. The other men on Diana and Steve's team are entertaining character-types who probably have names I'd recognize if you said them to me. The villains are thin, mostly by design. I doubt we are ever returning to WWI Europe, so it's fine if Diana is the only person with dimentionality by the end of the film.
I'm really not a music person. I like music, but I can't speak intelligently about it. That said, the theme music DC has developed for Wonder Woman is superb. Even going back to BvS, when that music starts playing as shit's about to go down, it's electric. Wonder Woman needs to show up in as many movies as possible just so we can get to that moment in any movie.
I really liked Wonder Woman. It's an efficient superhero movie that stands alone. It's familiar in all the right ways and different in enough ways that it doesn't feel like a rehash. It's not subtle thematically and the final battle feels a little tacked on, like some executive said, "She's a superhero, dammit, so make her have a 'super' fight." It's never boring though. I left this more excited by what's next in the DC universe than any of the previous films have. I'm perhaps a little higher on this than I should be, but that's what lowered expectations do.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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