wonder woman 2017 movie review and rating

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wonder woman 2017 movie review and rating

Ever since William Moulton Marston created her in 1941, Wonder Woman has always been at her best when her stories lean into the feminist ethos at her core. When artists treat her compassion as the key to understanding her—rather than her brutality in battle—audiences are privy to a superhero who offers what no other can: a power fantasy that privileges the interiority and desires of women. But film rarely has made room for the fantasies of women on such a grand scale. And in comic adaptations, women can be tough, funny, and self-assured. But rarely are they the architects of their own destiny.

As a longtime Wonder Woman fan, I worried her distinctive edges would be sanded off when it came time for her standalone film. It’s arguably easier to sell Wonder Woman as a vengeful heroine in the vein of countless others, but less distinctive. But early in the film I noticed the terrain that director Patty Jenkins turned to most often in order to create the emotional through-line. It wasn’t the glimmer of a blade or even the picturesque shores of Themyscira, the utopian paradise Wonder Woman calls home. Through moments of quiet verisimilitude and blistering action sequences, Jenkins’ gaze often wisely returns to the face of her lead heroine, Diana ( Gal Gadot ). At times, her face is inquisitive, morose, and marked by fury. But more often than not she wears a bright, open smile that carries the optimism and hope that is true to the character’s long history as well as a much-needed salve from what other blockbusters offer. In turn, “Wonder Woman” isn’t just a good superhero film. It is a sincerely good film in which no qualifiers are needed. It’s inspiring, evocative, and, unfortunately, a bit infuriating for the chances it doesn’t take.

Written by Allan Heinberg , with a story also by Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs , the story uses a variety of inspiration culled from Wonder Woman’s 76-year history. As a young girl, Diana enjoys the loving protection of the Amazons of Themyscira, a secluded island paradise created by the gods of Olympus. No Amazon is fiercer or more protective than her mother, Queen Hippolyta ( Connie Nielsen ). But Diana longs to be trained in the art of war by her aunt, Antiope (a stellar Robin Wright ). She grows from a kind, young girl into an inquisitive, brave, young woman who never hesitates to helps those in need. Even a man like Captain Steve Trevor (an endlessly charming Chris Pine ), who brings news of World War I when he crash-lands on the island disrupting this all-female sanctuary, gets saved by her. Diana leaves behind the only life she’s ever known, heading to late 1910s London to stop the war she believes is influenced by the god Ares.

Cinematographer Matthew Jensen , production designer Aline Bonetto , and costume designer Lindy Hemming form Themyscira into a gorgeous utopia that utilizes a variety of cultural touchstones. It’s free of the Hellenic influence you’d expect from a story that takes such inspiration from Greek myth with the Amazons creating their home in a way that respects the lush nature around them rather than destroying it. It isn’t sterile either. The scenes set in Themyscira have a dazzling array of colors including the gold of armor, the cerulean blue of the sea that surrounds them, warm creams, and deep browns. Jenkins films many of these scenes in wide shot, reveling in the majestic nature of this culture. Similarly, the history of the Amazons, told in a dense but beautifully rendered backstory by Hippolyta, evokes a painterly quality reminiscent of Caravaggio. Having said that, while “Wonder Woman” has a lot to offer visually, what makes this film so captivating is Gal Gadot and Chris Pine.

Gadot wonderfully inhabits the mix of curiosity, sincerity, badassery, and compassion that has undergirded Wonder Woman since the beginning. Most importantly, she wears her suit, the suit doesn’t wear her. She evokes a classic heroism that is a breath of fresh air and nods to Christopher Reeve ’s approach to Superman from the 1970s. Likewise, Pine matches her hopefulness with a world weariness and sharp sense of humor. He’s more than capable at bringing an emotional complexity to a character most aptly described as a dude-in-distress. There are particularly great scenes at the beginning, as Diana talks about men being unnecessary for female pleasure. Steve seems undone by her presence, which makes the development of their story authentic. Their chemistry is electrifying, making “Wonder Woman” a successful romance and superhero origin story set during one of the most brutal wars.

At their best, blockbusters evoke awe that can be both humbling and thrilling. Think of the first time you saw the T-Rex in “ Jurassic Park ” or the suspense that suffuses all of " Aliens ." “Wonder Woman” excels at this particularly in the earliest chapter set in Themyscira. I felt my heart swell watching Antiope smirk during an intense fight and Hippolyta’s tender scenes with Diana. “Wonder Woman” is like nothing that has come before it in how it joyously displays the camaraderie among women, many of whom are women of color and over 40. It's electrifying watching the Amazons train and talk with each other. These women are fierce and kind, loyal and brave. If anything, I wished the film dwelt in Themyscira a bit longer, since their culture is so poignantly rendered. Also, it was just awesome to see Artemis (Ann J. Wolfe) and Antiope in battle.

Elsewhere, the supporting cast is uneven. The villains—an obsessive German General Ludendorff ( Danny Huston ) and the mad scientist Doctor Maru nicknamed Doctor Poison ( Elena Anaya )—are painted too broadly and given too few details to have a lasting impact. Diana’s comrades that Steve rounds up are similarly crafted with little detail. Charlie ( Ewen Bremner ) is a Scottish sharpshooter, ravaged by what he’s witnessed in the war. Chief ( Eugene Brave Rock ) is a Native American, capitalizing on the war for profit. Sameer ( Saïd Taghmaoui ) is a confidence artist of sorts. But the actors are able to give these characters enough sincerity and wit to make their appearances memorable.

While “Wonder Woman” is an overall light, humorous and hopeful movie, it isn’t afraid of touching on politics. The feminism of the film is sly. It’s seen in moments when characters of color comment on their station in life and Diana faces sexism from powerful men who doubt her intelligence. Of course, the feminism, charming performances, and delightful humor would be nothing without the direction by Patty Jenkins.

Superhero films inherently carry the thrill of seeing these characters come to life and brandish great abilities, but far too often the fight scenes are neither epic nor engaging. So often they’re flatly lit, unimaginatively framed extravaganzas of characters fighting in airplane hangers and other drab surroundings. But what makes “Wonder Woman” so blistering is Jenkins’ distinctive gaze particularly in the fight scenes. Yes, the CGI is at times half-baked, which occasionally would snap me out of the momentum, but, overall, her voice as a director is so distinctive and her handling of the action so deft I was in complete awe. She shows off the great physicality of the Amazons, Diana's included, giving the action full room to breathe without being burdened by excessive editing or an over-reliance on close-ups. She treats action as a dance of sorts, with important characters having their own distinctive styles so that nothing ever feels repetitive. The sequences depicting Themyscira and Diana’s first entry on the battlefield of World War I are particularly exemplary.

Unfortunately, there are several choices that prevent the film from fully inhabiting the unique, feminist aims presented at the beginning. Ares, when he’s finally introduced near the very end, at first seems to be a somewhat clever take on the God of War. He isn’t so much seeking to end the world as create a new one by influencing the darkest aspects of mankind. But then the story tips into being a far more traditional superhero film than it had been previously.

It’s in the third act that the constraints of being part of an extended cinematic universe become apparent. It’s as if the last 30 minutes were cut from another film altogether that sought to create the bombastic, confusing, fiery sort of finale that far too many superhero works hew toward. The third act's approach to Diana’s true origin creates a distinct schism between its sincere feminist aims and the desires of a company that often doesn’t understand why people are drawn to this character in the first place. But there are enough moving touches—like Diana’s last scene with Steve—that prevent the finale from weighing down the film entirely.

Despite its flaws, “Wonder Woman” is beautiful, kindhearted, and buoyant in ways that make me eager to see it again. Jenkins and her collaborators have done what I thought was previously impossible: created a Wonder Woman film that is inspiring, blistering, and compassionate, in ways that honor what has made this character an icon.

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Film credits.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive content.

141 minutes

Gal Gadot as Diana / Wonder Woman

Chris Pine as Steve Trevor

Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta

Robin Wright as Antiope

Danny Huston as Ludendorff

David Thewlis as Sir Patrick

Said Taghmaoui as Sameer

Patty Jenkins

Writer (based on the Characters from DC: Wonder Woman created by)

William Moulton Marston

Writer (story by)

Zack Snyder
Allan Heinberg
Jason Fuchs

Cinematographer

Matthew Jensen
Martin Walsh
Rupert Gregson-Williams

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Review: ‘Wonder Woman’ Is a Blockbuster That Lets Itself Have Fun

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By A.O. Scott

May 31, 2017

“Wonder Woman” begins with ominous, lugubrious music (composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams), a voice-over invocation of “darkness” and an aerial view of the Louvre that seems full of sinister portent. The viewer may be forgiven a shudder of dread. Are we really going to pick up where “Batman v Superman” left off? Must we endure another dose of the grandiose self-pity and authoritarian belligerence that have characterized the DC-Warner Bros. synergy in the “Dark Knight” era? (This is the cue for unhinged fans to come @ me on Twitter and accuse me of being a shill for Marvel and Disney. The rest of you are invited to keep reading.)

The question is not rhetorical, and I’m relieved to report that the answer is no. Once franchise continuity is established — a mysterious package from Bruce Wayne arrives at the office of Wonder Woman’s alter ego, Diana Prince, who works in the Louvre’s antiquities department — we are transported back to the heroine’s earlier life, long before she became mixed up with Wayne and Clark Kent. “Wonder Woman,” directed by Patty Jenkins from a script by Allan Heinberg, briskly shakes off blockbuster branding imperatives and allows itself to be something relatively rare in the modern superhero cosmos. It feels less like yet another installment in an endless sequence of apocalyptic merchandising opportunities than like … what’s the word I’m looking for? A movie. A pretty good one, too.

By which I mean that “Wonder Woman” tells an interesting, not entirely predictable story (until the climax, which reverts, inevitably and disappointingly, to dreary, overblown action clichés). It cleverly combines genre elements into something reasonably fresh, touching and fun. Its earnest insouciance recalls the “Superman” movies of the ’70s and ’80s more than the mock-Wagnerian spectacles of our own day, and like those predigital Man of Steel adventures, it gestures knowingly but reverently back to the jaunty, truth-and-justice spirit of an even older Hollywood tradition.

This is an origin story, first and foremost, establishing the mythic background and modern mission of its main character. That kind of movie can be tedious, but “Wonder Woman” is leavened by touches of screwball comedy, espionage caper and romantic adventure, as well as by what might be the most credible superhero screen kiss since upside-down Tobey Maguire planted one on Kirsten Dunst way back in “Spider-Man.”

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Diana Prince is, properly speaking, Princess Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons (Connie Nielsen). The girl (played in childhood by Lilly Aspell and Emily Carey before maturing into Gal Gadot ) grows up on a craggy Mediterranean island, a Bechdel-test paradise of flower-strewn meadows, noble horses and mighty quadriceps. Like a Disney princess — the resemblance hardly seems accidental — she is free-spirited and rebellious, her loyalties split between two opposed parental figures. Diana’s mother wants her daughter to mind her tutors and steer clear of the warrior traditions represented by Antiope (Robin Wright), the girl’s aunt.

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Wonder Woman Reviews

A turning point in the DC Extended Universe came when Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman climbed out of the trenches.

Full Review | Apr 20, 2023

Gal Gadot proved to be a worthy successor to LGBT ally extraordinaire Lynda Carter.

Full Review | Dec 14, 2022

Wonder Woman is fierce feminist filmmaking at its finest, featuring a powerhouse poignant performance from Gal Gadot, a truly ravishing romance that harkens back to Old Hollywood, and an effervescent sense of earnest optimism.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 1, 2022

A visual splendor of precise period recreation and breathtaking superhero action. An emotional exploration of human proclivities towards good and evil and the ugliness of oppression and suffering.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Aug 21, 2022

Whether it represents a cog in a larger universe, a historical watershed for women’s leadership, or the answered prayers of long-suffering fans and idolizing dreamers, "Wonder Woman" is valiant, momentous, and satisfying.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 26, 2022

Wonder Woman is flawed, clichéd, imperfect. But it has moments -- more than a few -- where I found myself shedding a slight tear. Sometimes sadness. Sometimes elation.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | May 20, 2022

Wonder Woman features an optimistic, brave, compassionate, and relatively well-adjusted character - a refreshing change of pace from the moody bunch that preceded her.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 4, 2022

It's a big moment for blockbuster filmmaking the next step in diversifying Hollywood storytelling on the big stage. In that effort, dare we say, it does a wonderful job.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2022

The Jenkins / Heinberg duo gave Hollywood a valuable lesson: the "underdogs" of indie cinema and television have much to contribute to contemporary action cinema that urgently needs new blood to avoid repeating formulas [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 2, 2022

Diana Prince is both compassionate, gentle, and peace-loving while at the same time strong, uncompromising where important, and unwilling to be pushed around.

Full Review | Aug 25, 2021

Wonder Woman is the right movie at the right time -- and for all the right reasons.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 16, 2021

It's not a stretch to say that Wonder Woman is the best of the recent DC Comics movies, but that's kind of damning with faint praise.

Full Review | Aug 5, 2021

It showed a female-led comic book conquest was worth doing, especially when it leveraged well-executed period-piece elements with delightful sidekick chemistry...it proved everything didn't have to be dark and brooding in order to reach an audience.

Full Review | Jul 28, 2021

Wonder is Badass thanks to Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot. PAcked with action, adventure and the type of diverse cast I wish was prevalent in most Hollywood blackbusters!

Full Review | Jun 26, 2021

It's taken a while, but the first ever superhero film with both a female protagonist and director is an absolute delight.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 23, 2021

Entries into the Marvel Cinematic Universe continue to take chances and clean up at the box office but even the most cynical of us are eagerly awaiting what Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot have in store next.

Full Review | Apr 15, 2021

It's easily the best film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) thus far. But what does that mean when your yardstick is [Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman, and Suicide Squad]?

Full Review | Feb 17, 2021

Piercing through a lot of the nonsense and bombast, this is pretty crude nationalist and pro-war propaganda.

Full Review | Feb 11, 2021

The overuse of computer-augmented imagery and wirework and fully computer-animated characters makes everything look just a bit faker, especially during showdowns.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Dec 5, 2020

Diana's a strong role model for young girls as she's a fighter and has no time for the typical gender roles placed in society.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 5, 2020

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Film Review: ‘Wonder Woman’

Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot breathe some fresh air into the DC film universe.

By Andrew Barker

Andrew Barker

Senior Features Writer

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It may have taken four films to get there, but the DC Extended Universe has finally produced a good old-fashioned superhero. Sure, previous entries in the Warner Bros. assembly line have given us sporadically successful, demythified takes on Batman and Superman, but they’ve all seemed skeptical, if not downright hostile, toward the sort of unabashed do-gooderism that DC Comics’ golden-age heroes exemplified. Never prone to stewing in solitude, and taking more notes from Richard Donner than from Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins ’ “ Wonder Woman ” provides a welcome respite from DC’s house style of grim darkness — boisterous, earnest, sometimes sloppy, yet consistently entertaining — with star Gal Gadot proving an inspired choice for this avatar of truth, justice and the Amazonian way.

Although Gadot’s Diana Prince had a decent chunk of screentime in last year’s “Batman v. Superman,” “Wonder Woman” assumes no foreknowledge of any previous franchise entry — or of the character herself, for that matter. With most of the film’s presumptive audience too young to remember TV Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, Gadot and Jenkins have an unusually broad license to introduce the character to filmgoers, and they remain largely faithful to her comics origins while also crafting a hero who is both thoroughly internationalist and refreshingly old-school. In her earliest iterations, Wonder Woman was an all-American figure with a mythical background; here, she’s an essentially mythical force who just happens to fight for America.

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After a brief prologue in modern-day Paris, the action whisks us away to the secluded island of Themyscira, home to the all-female society of Amazons. Drawn in lush, misty colors, the island is a sanctuary for the tribe, sheltered by Zeus, whom they helped in fighting off a coup from the war god Ares. On guard against Ares’ possible return, the Amazons have all dedicated themselves to the arts of combat.

All, that is, except young princess Diana (Lilly Aspell at age 8, Emily Carey at 12), who’s the only child on the island. Yearning to learn the ways of her fellow Amazons, Diana is shielded from combat training by her mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen). Fortunately, her aunt Antiope (Robin Wright, cutting an imposing figure and affecting a strange accent) is the tribe’s chief field general, and she agrees to train the girl in secret. By the time she’s reached adulthood, Diana (Gadot) is ready to take on all comers, her traditional battle skills augmented by supernatural abilities of which she’s only partially aware.

Themyscira seems a realm outside of time, but the film’s 1918 setting abruptly announces itself in the form of a crippled German warplane that crash-lands in the ocean just beyond the island’s shores. Diana swoops in to rescue the pilot, an American soldier named Steve Trevor ( Chris Pine ). Once under the influence of the Amazons’ lasso of truth — a potentially silly device from the comic’s lore that the film adapts admirably — Steve reveals he was undercover with the Germans as a double agent, dispatched to collect intel on their experimental new weapon: a powerful poison gas developed by sadistic general Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and his facially scarred star chemist, nicknamed Dr. Poison (Elena Anaya).

When Diana hears Steve describe the Great War raging outside their protected enclave, she immediately suspects Ares has returned, and resolves to head to the front lines to confront him. She and Steve sail to London, and the film takes an unexpected, largely successful detour into light comedy, evoking shades of “Encino Man” as Diana stumbles wide-eyed through the big city, her rapport with Steve growing closer all the while. (Steve is the first man Diana has ever seen, and the film acknowledges the elephant in the room with some choice volleys of double-entendre.) The plot snaps back into focus when Steve and Diana learn Dr. Poison’s gas will soon be ready to launch at soldiers and civilians alike, and finding little help from military brass, they take off to the Western front themselves to intervene.

It says quite a lot about the general tenor of the DC cinematic universe that a film set in the trenches of WWI, with a plot revolving around the development of chemical warfare, is nonetheless its most cheerful and kid-friendly entry. But while “Wonder Woman” may dabble in moments of horror, it never revels in the vicissitudes of human depravity quite like its predecessors. A huge factor in its ability to convey a note of inherent goodness lies in Gadot, whose visage radiates dewy-eyed empathy and determination — and whose response to the iniquity of human nature isn’t withdrawn cynicism but rather outrage.

“Wonder Woman” is the first major studio superhero film directed by a woman, and it shows in a number of subtle, yet important ways. As skimpy as Gadot’s outfits may get, for example, Jenkins’ camera never leers or lingers gratuitously — Diana is always framed as an agent of power, rather than its object. When she finally unleashes her full fighting potential in an extended battle sequence on the front lines, the movie comes alive in a genuinely exhilarating whirl of slow-motion mayhem, and Diana’s personality is never lost amid all the choreography.

From this high point, the film begins to falter a bit in its final act, with some credulity-straining staging — a thunderous mano-a-mano battle appears to take place in full view of dozens of German troops, all of whom continue to blithely load cargo — and a final assault that lapses into the type of deadening CGI overkill that the film admirably avoids in the earlygoing. Approaching 2½ hours in length, “Wonder Woman” does fall victim to a fair bit of blockbuster bloat, and a trio of comic-relief comrades (Said Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, Eugene Brave Rock) don’t add nearly enough to justify their long-windup introduction.

Pine plays second-banana with a great deal of good humor: making little attempt to de-modernize his diction, he nonetheless registers as a noble yet sometimes lunkish jarhead, and it’s clear why Diana might find him attractive while also failing to be particularly impressed by him. None of the film’s villains get much of a chance to distinguish themselves, though Lucy Davis makes a good impression as saucy sidekick Etta Candy.

It’s an open question how much of the tone and aesthetic of “Wonder Woman” will extend to the innumerable future films in which her character is set to appear; subject to an exhausting amount of both kneejerk second-guessing and kneejerk over-praise, the DC Extended Universe has been figuring out just what it wants to be in fits and starts. But for once, it’s easy to stop the armchair executive producing and simply enjoy the moment.

Reviewed at AMC Burbank 16, May 24, 2017. MPAA rating: PG-13. Running time: 141 MIN.

Production: A Warner Bros. Pictures release and presentation in association with Ratpac-Dune Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Wanda Pictures of an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel and Unusual production. Produced by Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Richard Suckle. Executive producers, Geoff Johns, Jon Berg, Wesley Coller, Rebecca Steel Roven, Stephen Jones.
Crew: Directed by Patty Jenkins. Screenplay: Allan Heinberg, from a story by Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs, based on DC’s Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston. Camera (color): Matthew Jensen. Editor, Martin Walsh. Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams.
With: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Said Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, Eugene Brave Rock, Lucy Davis, Elena Anaya

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Review: Wonder Woman is a gorgeous, joyful triumph of a superhero film

Patty Jenkins’s film is Warner Bros.’ best superhero movie since Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

by Alex Abad-Santos

Making a superhero film isn’t as easy as Marvel usually makes it look. Just ask Warner Bros.

For the past few years, Warner Bros. has largely squandered its DC Comics opportunities, under the creative supervision of Zack Snyder . Man of Steel (2013) was so intent on giving us a stern Superman that it became a dour chore. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2015) aimed to ask questions about authoritarianism and superheroism, but was bogged down by messy storytelling and a lack of common sense. Suicide Squad (2016) was an anti-superhero flick that the studio and all the actors involved would probably like to forget. The last time Warner Bros. put out a good/great superhero film was five years ago, with 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises , the last chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

In that context, the absolutely gorgeous and joyful Wonder Woman — easily the best Warner Bros. superhero film since Nolan put his flair on the cape and cowl — is a major relief. Director Patty Jenkins ’s fight scenes are masterpieces of motion. Gal Gadot is majestic. Chris Pine is impossibly charming. And Jenkins has created a film that rightfully does justice to its legendary title character.

This isn’t to say Wonder Woman is perfect; uneven might be more appropriate. In 141 minutes, it shatters the ceiling of how good Warner Bros.’ superhero movies can be — or how good we expect them to be — while also hitting the floor by returning, particularly late in its third act, to the DC formula of staging a big, bloated, finale. Its supporting cast is also underused and underwritten. Ultimately, what could be a fantastic film winds up in “good” territory.

But the moments when Wonder Woman hits its stride give us scenes that are so sublimely good, it’s a reminder of how great the superhero genre can be.

Wonder Woman ’s fight scenes are glorious pieces of filmmaking

Wonder Woman is an origin story, one that actually begins with the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice . In that film, we’re introduced to Diana Prince, a.k.a. Gadot’s Wonder Woman, as a reluctant fighter , a woman who “walked away from mankind.” Wonder Woman expands on this morsel, unfolding Diana’s reluctance to save the world again.

Diana, who works in the Louvre as some kind of expert in ancient weapons, recalls her childhood on the paradise island of Themyscira. Themyscira is home to the Amazons, a race of women created by the gods to show mankind what sort of greatness they can achieve. Mankind being what it is, humans were quick to enslave the Amazons. But after a giant war, the Amazons fled to their paradise island, hidden from human evils. Ever since, they’ve been training to fight (and have also apparently had access to brilliant hair stylists, aestheticians, and waxers) in case man ever does come back.

In Wonder Woman , unbeknownst to the Amazons, World War I rages on Earth, and Steve Trevor (Pine), a man, puts an end to this amazingly complicated backstory by crashing a plane into the waters of Themyscira, bringing a dozen or so German soldiers with him. In doing so, he sets up one of the best superhero fight scenes in recent memory.

The Amazons have been training for this moment all their superhuman lives. They swoop down like trapeze artists, flinging themselves into battle. The hand-to-hand fighters kick up sand, throttling the Germans and taking them by surprise. Meanwhile, one of the Amazons, Antiope ( Robin Wright ), is an absolute marvel in the air, flipping and firing arrows with the grace of a principal ballerina.

Amazons deal beautiful death.

But Jenkins, along with fight coordinators Wayne Dalglish , Allen Jo , Rudolf Vrba , and Ryan Watson , don’t minimize the brutality of the fight. The Amazons may be beautiful, well-trained, and graceful, but any advantage they have from their years of training is negated by German guns. Watching the magnificent Amazons get slaughtered is heartbreaking. It’s not fair, and that’s exactly the feeling that Jenkins is going for.

The violence and fights in Wonder Woman are intriguing not just because they’re stunning but also because of how emotional they are.

The movie’s second fight scene (the one that’s been heavily shown in trailers like the one above) features Diana storming into a WWI impasse, a “no man’s land” in German territory that the British have all but given up on. She dives into battle, holding the line against a hail of German bullets. It’s a stunning feat — a hero under fire, defending the people around her — and it inspires her allies to save the people who live in that village. I’m a longtime Wonder Woman fan, and seeing her signature golden lasso spring and snap to joyous life even made me tear up a tiny bit.

More than the fights in Batman v Superman and Man of Steel , the violence and fighting in Wonder Woman are extremely personal. Diana isn’t fighting alien forces or Zod or other heroes, nor is she saving the world in a do-or-die battle. Her first priority is to protect one tiny village, and then her second is to stop the world war. But those priorities shift throughout the film, as she’s determined to kill who she believes is the source of so much evil. And it’s riveting to see how Jenkins and her team tell her story, which is essentially about a hero finding and questioning her morality through the battles she wages.

Gal Gadot and Chris Pine are the best superhero duo in recent memory

In 2013, DC Entertainment chief Diane Nelson said the reason there was no Wonder Woman film (yet) was that Wonder Woman and her origin story were "tricky" and a "challenge" — an entertaining excuse when you consider that Superman is literally a solar-powered alien, Batman’s parents have been killed over and over in every adaptation, and Marvel has found astonishing success with a pair of movies about talking raccoons and humanoid trees that only say three words .

I understand part of Nelson’s reasoning, though, in that Wonder Woman is a genuine and earnest hero who believes in the goodness of people. That outlook doesn’t match up with the sardonic nature of the most popular superheroes today. Not unlike Superman, Wonder Woman is supposed to be about hope and love, tenets that Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne would scoff at.

So with Wonder Woman , Jenkins faced a challenge: updating a character who is earnest, admirable, and hopeful by default to be relevant and relatable to an audience groomed on sarcastic, grim, “cool” heroes.

Instead of trying to push into darker, more cynical territory, Jenkins leans into Wonder Woman’s optimism and hope by telling her origin story as a fish-out-of-water tale.

Post-Themyscira, Diana Prince is struggling to adjust to a world that makes no sense to her. The men calling the shots have, with their wars and their pollution, turned Earth into a wasteland. Nevertheless, she believes that if she can kill the god who’s responsible for this war, she can restore the planet back to its former glory.

Gadot gives Diana the dignity the role calls for, imbuing her with graceful nobility in the film’s biggest fight scenes. But it’s in Wonder Woman ’s quieter moments, like the disconnect Diana experiences between WWI-era London and Themyscira, or her soul-shattering realization that good and evil are more nuanced than myth makes them out to be, that really show off Gadot’s understanding of the character.

And Gadot and Pine have compelling chemistry, the best in any superhero movie (yes, including the Marvel ones) of the past decade.

He’s her guide to the modern world, as well as her sidekick and romantic interest. Physically, she’s his protector, though he wants to shield her from the rot of Earth. He knows he has to teach her about war and the abstract nature of evil, but he’s drawn to her optimism and selflessness.

Pine has the splashier, more compelling role as the marooned and mortal Steve Trevor. He gets to bounce jokes off Diana’s squareness. He gets to be lovestruck and awkward, but also relatable. And Pine is absolutely charming in the role, giving the film humor, pop, and crackle.

I predict one of the main criticisms of the film will be connected to the inevitable raves over Pine’s performance and the notion that he got the better lines in what’s supposed to be Wonder Woman’s movie. It won’t help that those lines were written by a man ( Allan Heinberg wrote the screenplay). But I also think that to keep Diana Prince true to her comic book roots and what Wonder Woman stands for, she needs to be a bit of a square and a more serious and earnest character — at least initially.

Wonder Woman asks intriguing questions, but falls short of trying to answer them

If Warner Bros. had chopped off the last 20 minutes of Wonder Woman , and worked in a few more Amazon fight scenes, I would’ve raised the movie’s rating by at least a star. Because until those last 20 minutes, and in particular in the film’s second act, Jenkins flirts with a bevy of ideas that feel fresh to the superhero genre, the most scintillating of which is that Diana could be wrong about how to save the world.

Diana is motivated by the simple idea that good must triumph over evil. Evil, in this case, is Ares, the Greek god of war. If she kills him, there will be no more war, and people will be saved. She has to do the killing because she’s the chosen one, the greatest warrior. That basic premise is essentially the core of every superhero movie in recent memory.

Bit by bit, Wonder Woman pecks away Diana’s and our general superhero fantasy.

It reflects on the toll of war on people, exploring trauma and PTSD in ways that superhero movies don’t usually do. It shines a light on what happens to people whose bodies aren’t invulnerable, like the Amazons killed on Themyscira or the villagers in the aforementioned“no man’s land.” It plays with the idea of there being indomitable joy in seeing our heroes exert their power, by also questioning the strange trust we put in those heroes and the way we dehumanize our villains.

What if violence isn’t so easily shaken off? What does saving the world look like in a war that isn’t easily won? How can any one being be super if the world he or she lives in doesn’t reflect that?

It’s a shame then, that in the end, Wonder Woman seemingly abandons these intriguing and provocative questions for what amounts to a grand, weightless fireworks show — a signature of Warner Bros.’ superhero films of late. The movie revs its motor and becomes more about a supercharged spectacle of a fight than Diana’s understanding of heroism and mankind. The scope of the movie increases exponentially, threatening to blow out the intricate sense of scale and delicate intimacy Jenkins firmly established throughout its first two-thirds of the film.

Thankfully, though, not all of Jenkins’s core work is undone by adhering to Warner Bros.’ house style.

Maybe asking for a philosophical, woman-led superhero film that questions authoritarianism and the mythologizing of war, one that explores how love gives superheroes their humanity, was too much to ask of a studio that, in the past few years, has offered little to prove it could pull off such a feat.

That Jenkins and her leading woman Gadot sharpened a story that was considered too “tricky” and “challenging” just a few years ago into something that’s quite brilliant is an accomplishment in itself.Wonder Woman’s next appearance, in November’s Justice League , the Warner Bros. equivalent to Marvel’s Avengers , probably won’t have the space or time to answer the big, fascinating questions posed in her origin story. But maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll get those in a sequel — one that the character, Jenkins, and Gadot deserve.

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‘wonder woman’: film review.

'Wonder Woman,' the first stand-alone feature for the ageless princess of the Amazons, places her in the midst of WWI, with Gal Gadot in the title role and Chris Pine as American spy Steve Trevor.

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

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As the world’s most well-adjusted superhero, Wonder Woman breaks the genre mold. She’s openhearted, not angsty — an anomaly within the DC Universe, “extended” or otherwise. So, too, is her long-awaited foray into the live-action big-screen spotlight: that openheartedness makes the movie something of an outlier. Its relative lightness would set it apart even if it didn’t arrive on the heels of the Sturm und Drang of Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice , the 2016 feature that introduced Gal Gadot as the demigoddess who believes it’s her sacred duty to rid the world of war.

Yet as with all comics-based extravaganzas, brevity is anathema to the Patty Jenkins -directed Wonder Woman , and it doesn’t quite transcend the traits of franchise product as it checks off the list of action-fantasy requisites. But this origin story, with its direct and relatively uncluttered trajectory, offers a welcome change of pace from a superhero realm that’s often overloaded with interconnections and cross-references. (A nod to Wayne Enterprises in the story’s framing device serves as a fuss-free tie-in to the upcoming Justice League. )

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Is 'Wonder Woman' the best DC Universe film? Early reviews say yes

The reviews are in, and critics are officially in Wonder .

Wonder Woman is one of 2017's best-reviewed new releases , based on the first round of critical takes released Monday morning. USA TODAY awarded the Gal Gadot-led film ***½ out of four, calling it "the best movie Marvel rival DC Comics has put out in its own cinematic universe, and unlike the recent parade of bleak superhero tales from both studios, it makes you feel good while you watch it."

Here's what critics are saying.

DC Comics has a winner

Other critics have called Wonder Woman "DC Universe’s best superhero movie yet," drawing favorable comparisons to its critically-maligned counterpart Batman v. Superman .

"Gal Gadot grabs the Lasso of Truth and the bracelets of infinite resilience to take center stage in Wonder Woman , director Patty Jenkins’ formidable and almost entirely successful bid to make the DC Comics movies a little less lame," the Chicago Tribune wrote.

"It may have taken four films to get there, but the DC Extended Universe has finally produced a good old-fashioned superhero," Variety wrote. "Sure, previous entries in the Warner Bros. assembly line have given us sporadically successful, demythified takes on Batman and Superman, but they’ve all seemed skeptical, if not downright hostile, toward the sort of unabashed do-gooderism that DC Comics’ golden-age heroes exemplified."

WW makes superheroes fun again

Many reviews note that Wonder Woman breaks boundaries, not just with its female star and director, but also with its fresh storytelling and lighthearted tone, a reprieve from the gloom-and-doom of many recent superhero movies.

"What’s striking about Gadot's turn in the spotlight in Wonder Woman , beyond its milestone status as a female-centric studio superhero feature directed by a woman, is the movie’s sense of elated lightness," Buzzfeed wrote .

"It's a female superhero film — which is revolutionary enough by itself — but it's also a genuinely surprising film that plays with genre and throws out the now very tired superhero movie formula," USA TODAY wrote . "It’s an action film, a romantic comedy and a coming-of-age story and a period piece and a war movie all in one. Above all, it’s a hopeful story about humanity."

" Wonder Woman is smart, slick, and satisfying in all of the ways superhero films ought to be" EW wrote . How deliciously ironic that in a genre where the boys seem to have all the fun, a female hero and a female director are the ones to show the fellas how it’s done."

"This origin story, with its direct and relatively uncluttered trajectory, offers a welcome change of pace from a superhero realm that’s often overloaded with interconnections and cross-references," the Hollywood Reporter wrote.

Gadot works wonders

"She is the perfect Wonder Woman — a true blue hero who’s as believable in her bafflement of women’s fashions and social mores as she is dead-lifting a tank and swatting away machine gun fire with only her arm cuff," the Associated Press wrote .

"A huge factor in its ability to convey a note of inherent goodness lies in Gadot, whose visage radiates dewy-eyed empathy and determination — and whose response to the iniquity of human nature isn’t withdrawn cynicism but rather outrage," Variety wrote.

"Her Diana is both awesomely fierce and surprisingly funny, especially when she arrives in war-torn London with Trevor and gets her first taste of 20th-century modernity," EW wrote . "Whether she’s reacting to the unfamiliar sight of automobiles or constricting early 20th-century women’s fashions, she takes it all in like a fish-out-of-water naïf.

Not all positive

While the majority of Wonder Woman 's early reviews were positive, critics still found issues with the film, calling its laborious third act "unnecessary."

" Wonder Woman falters slightly in its third act, where its climactic battle tries and fails to outdo with big special effects what earlier sequences did with stunts and Gadot’s charisma," USA TODAY wrote . "It's only when the film feels the need to check off the boxes of the modern superhero movie that it loses its momentum,"

"The CG isn’t always perfect, and the surfeit of Amazons spinning around in mid-air feels like a holdover from earlier DC movies," The Wrap wrote.

"The film begins to falter a bit in its final act, with some credulity-straining staging...and a final assault that lapses into the type of deadening CGI overkill that the film admirably avoids in the earlygoing," Variety wrote.

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What Is Cinema?

Wonder Woman Proves That Rote Superhero Movies Aren’t Just for Men

By Richard Lawson

Image may contain Gal Gadot Human Person Food Hot Dog Finger and Bottle

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Wonder Woman is how, well, unremarkable it is. After all the stops and starts and frustrations of trying to get a Wonder Woman movie made—a whole, vast system stymied by the idea of one measly female superhero starring in her own movie— Patty Jenkins‘s film is finally upon us. And, well, it turns out it’s just another superhero movie. A good superhero movie, sturdily built and solidly entertaining. But yeah, it’s yet another origin story for one of the comic-book world’s most iconic characters, a formula we’ve seen repeated many times over the past 10 years. Wonder Woman is nothing less and, for the most part, little more than that.

Well, Wonder Woman is “more” in that it’s easily the strongest film DC and Warner Bros. have made since they left Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight world behind and reimagined Batman and Superman’s exploits as turgid, fascistic operas of destruction. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice —both directed by Zack Snyder, who gets a story credit on Wonder Woman and whose visual stamp is all over the movie—are deeply imperfect films that nonetheless have moments of flickering inspiration. They’re big, overwrought duds, but they’re not outright catastrophes . The most recent DC movie, though, was Suicide Squad , a wretched, hideous, and curiously halfhearted act of aggression that leaves a really nasty stain on the whole series. So, compared to that, Wonder Woman feels like a revelation, a bright and engaging dream delivering us from a nightmare soup of toxic masculinity.

The cruel irony is that what Wonder Woman really is, is a pretty good Marvel movie. Not to stoke the DC fan conspiracy theory that critics are paid by Disney to favor Marvel Studios movies, but the Marvel movies really are just so much better. (Where’s my suitcase full of money, Disney??) They’re cleverer, nimbler, more cohesively realized. They balance humor with pathos in buoyant, rarely strained fashion. They’re well-oiled machines, slick and confident. Mind you, I would be perfectly happy if Marvel never made another superhero movie as long as we live. In fact, I’d be thrilled. But if they simply have to, they’re at least doing a pretty good job of it.

Wonder Woman falls right in with that company, resembling a cross between the first Thor movie—it establishes a mythic otherworld forged by gods and then tries to reconcile that place and its cultural mores with our own—and Captain America: The First Avenger , a wartime origin story that retcons comic-book villainy into history. Which isn’t a bad combination! Even if a lot of it feels awfully familiar.

Jenkins, working with a script by Allan Heinberg, has to set up a lot of backstory for Wonder Woman/Diana Prince, and she does so with admirable efficiency. We get all the chunky exposition dispensed with right away, and then we’re off on our adventure. As it gambols along, Wonder Woman often looks wonderful. The island paradise where Diana and her Amazon sisterhood live in harmony—though they are forever training for a battle they know will someday come—is a lovely C.G.I. construction, like Avatar ’s Pandora by way of a more verdant Santorini. The darker war-set scenes have their own kind of grim beauty, Jenkins merging period detail with contemporary effects rather seamlessly—until the messy finale battle, at least.

Jenkins has cast well. As the titular avenger—er, Justice Leaguer— Gal Gadot adds a welcome dose of personality to what is essentially a dull, pious hero role. She’s sometimes haughty and sometimes goofy, both naif in the world and wise elder being. Gadot manages to find some humanity in her savior, quite contrary to Henry Cavill, who has not managed to locate any kind of pulse in his Superman/Clark Kent. Elsewhere, Robin Wright thrills as a fearsome Amazon general—I demand a prequel spinoff immediately —and the ever-reliable Chris Pine plays Diana’s skeptical human counterpart/love interest with dashing pluck. (Who would have guessed, back in the Just My Luck days, that Chris Pine would become such a dependable charmer?)

As Diana’s adventures take her from her mystical island to nineteen-teens London to the front of World War I, Wonder Woman oscillates between lively fish-out-of-water comedy—which plays well, but would have fared even better if we hadn’t already seen essentially the same thing in Thor —and somber wrestling over the nature of man, a heavy debate about whether people are naturally prone to violence, or if they would be good and loving were it not for outside meddling forces. (Namely, the bitter war god, Ares.) I’m not quite sure Wonder Woman finds exactly the right balance between these two sides, the fizzy light and the distended dark. But the film still manages to be winning and funny where Snyder’s two films (and Suicide Squad ) certainly never were, and it does prod at some interesting questions—and perhaps answers—when it gets serious. (I was even moved to a little teariness at one part.) So, Jenkins has succeeded where DC had thus far failed, and in that sense, Wonder Woman should be (and is being) hailed as a triumph.

That said, I wish the film had a stronger sense of individual purpose or invention or something fresh animating it. There is absolutely no reason in the world that we should see yet another rote retelling of a superhero’s backstory at this point. Wonder Woman —with all its femaleness already making it an outlier, unfairly or not—had the potential to break that mold and possibly do something exciting and different. The film most certainly does not do that—it’s as boilerplate as any of the others. But what, really, was Jenkins to do? Wonder Woman needs to fit into the larger world that DC and Warner Bros. are, however precariously, building bit by bit. Thus, Jenkins was bound by a certain code of tone and tempo and style. I get it, I do. Can I be disappointed that a movie doesn’t stretch its own boundaries while also completely understanding why it couldn’t? That’s how I feel about Wonder Woman , which is dutiful—and flourishes in its execution of that duty—but does nothing daring.

Perhaps that’s its own kind of revolution, that a woman-led, woman-directed superhero movie can be just as factory-made as the ones the boys have been churning out. With Wonder Woman , Jenkins earns her place among the director class that can be trusted to turn valuable I.P. into something worthwhile and sustainable. Which is an accomplishment. But Wonder Woman is not likely to do much in the way of a shakeup beyond shifting the demographics of the superhero canon ever so slightly toward parity.

I suppose it is good to know that DC can make a decent movie after all, though I’m somewhat loath to encourage these people any more than they’ve already been. In that sense, Wonder Woman is a welcome stand-alone success that, in the end, contributes to what looks, more and more with each passing year, like a larger bad. It’s heartening to watch a female director lead a female superhero successfully into the fray. But the righteousness of a particular pair of troops doesn’t do much to make it a good war—let alone a great one.

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Wonder Woman (2017)

An early scene in Wonder Woman highlights in a way what is at stake. On a mystical hidden island, a dark-haired youth watches wide-eyed as hardened warriors train in ancient arts of war. With obvious hero-worship, the child is stirred to half-conscious imitation, little fists and feet flying.

But for two things, that youth might be me at 10 or 12, swinging a plastic lightsaber or shooting a cheap plastic web-shooter, or any of countless other lads thrilling to the adventures of their heroes.

First, her heroes really exist in her world. Second, Diana, who will grow up to be Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, is a girl, and her heroes are the Amazons of Themyscira.

Artistic/Entertainment Value

Moral/spiritual value, age appropriateness, mpaa rating, caveat spectator.

The stakes for Wonder Woman turn on all of this.

To begin with, that wide-eyed hero worship, and the heroic qualities that inspire it, have become practically as elusive as invisible jets in the modern cinematic superhero landscape. This is particularly true in the troubled, grimdark DC universe pioneered by Zack Snyder, though the problem exists even in Disney’s fizzier, stunningly successful Marvel universe, with its roster of heroes who are mostly semi-redeemed bad boys (arrogant hedonists, brawlers, former assassins, thieves and so on).

At least the Marvel universe has its straight arrow: Captain America. Snyder managed to kneecap the most quintessentially noble of superheroes, Superman himself, as an aspirational figure, though maddeningly other characters still talk about him that way.

But DC has one other archetypal superhero who is defined by her ideals as much as Superman — and in a way she’s even more important.

That’s because, in the entire roster of classic comic-book superheroes, Wonder Woman stands alone as the only female hero in her own right. That is, she’s the only superheroine who is neither a knockoff of a male character (like Supergirl or Batgirl) nor one who traditionally exists only in partnership with male heroes or in mostly male teams (like Black Canary or the Invisible Girl).

And now, despite more than 15 years of ever more frequent superhero films, Wonder Woman has become the first big-screen superheroine to get her own franchise. Where Disney has so far never allowed characters like Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and Gamora to be more than one-fifth of mostly male teams, Wonder Woman still stands alone.

From that early shot of young Diana to the closing hero shot, director Patty Jenkins (the first woman to helm a big-budget superhero film) celebrates her heroine as an icon of female aspiration and achievement rather than male desire.

When an Allied pilot named Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) accidentally crash-lands on Themyscira and finds himself on a paradisiacal island inhabited entirely by beautiful women, it’s pretty clear that this is their world, not his fantasy.

Screenwriter and comic-book writer Allan Heinberg, working from a story co-written with Snyder and Jason Fuchs, invests Princess Diana with possibly the most genuinely heroic characterization of any modern cinematic superhero: a selfless champion of compassion and moral duty who fights for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Not Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel, but Gadot’s Wonder Woman is the closest thing today to Christopher Reeve’s Superman — and, like Reeve’s Superman, her idealism makes her something of a fish out of water in Steve’s world, which turns out to be 1918 during the last phase of World War I. (Wonder Woman was created in 1942, and her origin story is traditionally tied to World War II; the earlier setting is a curious twist.)

Diana believes that mankind is basically good, reflecting the good deity in whose image we were created, though we have been led us down the wrong path by a malign spiritual influence. The catch is that the good deity in question is Zeus, whom we are told brought Diana to life from clay. Also, the malign spiritual influence is Zeus’ son Ares, the Greek god of war, albeit a version of Ares more like Lucifer than anything in Greek mythology.

Pine’s Steve Trevor is a bit of a Han Solo type: a skeptical, jaded figure who stands between the audience and a fantastic, magical world. The difference is that Star Wars was set in a fantasy universe, while Wonder Woman is set in a version of our world and our history. This has consequences for what we can and can’t accept.

For instance, I can buy a version of World War I in which the Ottoman Empire mass-produces dangerous chemical weapons developed by a female mad scientist in a Phantom of the Opera mask nicknamed Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya), which a ruthless German general (Danny Huston) plans to use to sabotage the Bulgarian armistice.

It’s another story when Diana tells a skeptical Steve that Ares must be behind the Great War, and if she can kill him, the war will end. Just because it turns out there are Amazon women who can block bullets with their bracelets and force you to tell the truth with a glowing lasso doesn’t mean anything goes.

If Diana transcends the cynicism and nihilism with which Snyder imbued the first two DC universe movies, the movie is sometimes more cynical than it should be. At times Diana seems so naïve the movie threatens to become an allegory of blind faith, or even lost faith. Other times it seems cynical modernity is on trial. The resolution of these ambitious themes is more thoughtful than I expected, if less than fully satisfying.

In a way, all the DC movies, even Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy , have been about the same thing: Granted that people need heroes, do they deserve them? Are people worth saving? No one asked that question more pointedly than Nolan, though in the end he bit off so much more than he could chew that he neglected to offer a final answer.

The arc of Wonder Woman follows Diana’s education in humanity, good and evil, and suffering, and a moving twist leads her to what is at least a good provisional answer, if an incomplete one.

The movie has fun with the sometimes awkward banter between Diana, who has never seen a man before, and Steve, who has never seen a woman like Diana.

When close quarters make it difficult for Steve to avoid sleeping alongside Diana, he stammeringly tries to explain that he has no objection to “sleeping with women,” but “out of the confines of marriage … it’s not polite to assume.”

Marriage? Although she has grown up in an all-female environment, Diana’s education has encompassed the particulars of sexuality and reproduction, but somehow she hasn’t heard of marriage.

So Steve tells Diana that marriage involves going before a judge and promising always to cherish the other person. And does this lifelong cherishing happen? “Not very often, no,” Steve judges. Well, then, Diana wonders, what’s the point?

This is a pretty bleak — not to mention secular — take on marriage, particularly for 1918, although admittedly as a spy Steve may be more cynical and secular than average. Ironically, as their relationship deepens, the prospect of getting married, having kids and growing old together seems to become more credible.

Paradoxically, the movie’s secularity is nowhere seen so clearly as its religious content. Unlike the Marvel movies, which have been careful to minimize potential scruples from religious viewers regarding story elements like gods and magic, the writers of Wonder Woman show no such concern.

So, for example, Marvel’s Thor is the son of Odin, but we’re told that Odin and his fellow Asgardians are not gods per se, but merely long-lived extra-dimensional beings. Likewise, Doctor Strange ’s sorcery is presented as non-ritual, non-incantatory technique — an alternative form of technology rather than occultism. Clearly someone at Marvel Studios has an eye on Christian moviegoer dollars (not to mention national censors in Islamic countries and aggressively secular China).

Here, though, while it’s eventually made clear that Diana’s mythological view of the world includes a number of mistaken ideas, it does turn out that gods of Olympus, including Zeus and Ares, are real, and at least one of this ilk appears onscreen. Crucially, the idea that Zeus made man in his image is seemingly confirmed.

In a story mostly set in the year of Our Lord 1918, that’s an issue. Stories of the gods of Olympus are one thing, but when they come crashing into Christian history — and at the very least the landscape includes churches, most glaringly when Diana destroys the bell tower of a German church in which a sniper is hiding — something’s got to give. If Zeus made us in his image, it would seem the one God of Christians, Jews and Muslims did not.

In the end, what sells me on Wonder Woman , despite its issues, is Wonder Woman herself. Movies like Man of Steel and The Lone Ranger misunderstand and besmirch their iconic heroes. This movie understands and reveres its protagonist. That’s worth a lot, especially today.

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DVD & Streaming

Wonder Woman

Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

June 2, 2017
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman; Chris Pine as Steve Trevor; Saïd Taghmaoui as Sameer; Ewen Bremner as Charlie; Eugene Brave Rock as Chief; David Thewlis as Sir Patrick; Elena Anaya as Dr. Maru; Danny Huston as Ludendorff; Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta; Robin Wright as Antiope

Home Release Date

September 19, 2017
Patty Jenkins

Distributor

Warner Bros.

Movie Review

Ah, nothing like a good homeschooling environment to get a wide-reaching education and a solid sense of self.

Not that Diana really had another choice.

Public schools aren’t really a thing on the mystical, isolated island of Themyscira. Even if they were, they’d be sparsely attended. Diana’s the only kid on the island, and has been for ever so long. Themyscira’s populated entirely by women, which certainly pares down procreative activities. Even Diana wasn’t conceived in the usual way: Her mother, the proud Amazon queen Hippolyta, fashioned the girl from clay and begged Zeus, chief god for this island stuck in the classical past, to give the sculpture life. And so he did.

That’s great for Diana and all. Better to be a little girl than a hunk o’ clay, surely. But she doesn’t have any playmates her own age, so she funnels her time into the Amazons’ strict, classically based education curriculum. She learns (no exaggeration) about 150 languages. She studies biology, learning what she can about men even if she’s never actually seen one. And, when her mother’s not looking, she sneaks off to get some good, old-fashioned warrior training from her aunt and the island’s intimidating general, Antiope.

If Hippolyta had her way, that’s how things would go for, literally, ever. Her daughter’s safe on the island. And as Diana grows into a strong, smart, brave woman, Hippolyta wants to preserve that cocoon of safety as long as she possibly can.

Hippolyta knows all too well that the outside world is dangerous —more dangerous for Diana than perhaps anyone else on the island. You see, Ares, the god of war and the Amazons’ mortal enemy, has been looking for Diana for a long, long time. Their destinies are inexorably tied. He will find her … someday. And when he does, you can bet Ares wants to do more than just lunch.

Then one afternoon, a rickety aircraft crashes into the ocean near the Themyscira shore, carrying Steve Trevor—pilot, spy and handsome man-about-town—into the water with it. Diana, now all grown up, rescues the mysterious flyer and drags him to the beach. They don’t have much time to get acquainted: Heavily armed German fighters trundle into the island’s sacred space, forcing the Amazons into action. Soon, the beach is filled with dead Germans, dying Amazons and the onset of a cold reality: The god of war might not have found Themyscira just yet, but his handiwork sure has.

Steve tells Diana about the horrors of World War I, the “war to end all wars.” Diana, who’s heard about Ares since she was a hunk o’ clay, sees the god’s fingerprints all over that conflict. The Amazons have to seek out Ares and destroy him. And if Hippolyta refuses? Well, Diana will search for him alone.

Oh, she’ll take Steve along for the trip, of course. After all, Diana’s adventure includes more than just simply slaying a malicious deity. She’ll be leaving her comfy, sheltered environment and entering a brave, utterly confusing new world. And if anyone can tell her the practical purpose of a corset, surely it’d be Steve.

Positive Elements

Modern superheroes tend to be an angsty lot. They brood over their losses, struggle with their personal demons and grapple with their self-worth. Most could use some counseling.

The exception? Diana. She has perhaps the greatest moral clarity of any superhero we’ve seen on screen (with the possible exception of Captain America) in the last decade.

While her friends and allies talk strategy and plot the most prudent course, Diana is motivated by pure, shining idealism: The world is racked by the disease of war and conflict, and she will do whatever it takes to thwack that disease at its source. She sees suffering and yearns to help. She sees injustice and longs to fix it. But Diana’s no pacifist. Far from it. She knows that one must confront evil boldly and, at times, with lethal fury.

Diana comes into the real world with a certain charming naivety—like a child with a clear sense of right and wrong that cuts through all the vagaries of adult life. And while the movie sands away Diana’s innocence, it never blunts her sense of truth and justice. Even when she realizes that the human race will never be as good as she’d like it to be, she still sees something in these mere mortals worth loving … and saving.

Diana’s purity of purpose is contagious: She encourages her sometimes selfish, tortured compatriots to look beyond themselves to see higher goals beyond. Some, though, don’t necessarily need her example. And when Diana wavers from her own purpose, Steve sticks to his: staying on task to stop a war and save lives, even if it means risking his own. “You can either do nothing or you can do something,” he says. “And I already tried nothing.”

Spiritual Elements

Diana’s backstory (both here and in DC comic books, where she first appeared in print in 1941) is rooted in Greek mythology—though little of it resembles, really, anything the ancient Greeks believed.

We hear a lot about Zeus (ancient Greece’s top god) and Ares (the god of war), and about a war eons ago between the two. Ares, we’re told, killed off most of the gods before Zeus alone stopped him. But the battle left Zeus mortally wounded, and his last action was to craft a sword called the “God killer,” capable of terminating Ares if and when he returned.

Or so Diana is told, anyway. Throughout the film, though, various people question the validity of these myths: It’s not so much whether they’re true or false, but rather how much is true. We don’t need to give those details away here, but be warned: This movie includes lower-case gods—who are repeatedly referenced as such—that live and fight.

All that said, it’s also important to note that Ares actually resembles Lucifer far more than the Ares we might read about in Greek mythology. He’s prideful and deeply jealous of humankind, wondering why Zeus had such affection for such broken, flawed creatures. The nature of sin and the power of love are both discussed here (albeit under pagan superhero trappings), and viewers don’t need to work too hard to see those themes.

Elsewhere, Amazons “give thanks” to the gods for their blessing. In a moment of peril, men seem to gather around each other and bow their heads, possibly praying together.

Sexual Content

As mentioned, Diana has never seen a man before. Thus, her early interactions with Steve are filled with clinical, curious and unmistakably sexually charged interplay. When Diana sees Steve naked (he appears on screen nearly so, with just his hands covering his privates), she asks if he’s fairly typical of his kind. (He says he’s “above average.”) And when she asks “what’s that,” referring to Steve’s watch, he thinks she’s referencing a specific part of his anatomy. Steve and Diana talk about procreation—something she has book knowledge about but, obviously, no practical experience. (The books also told her that when it came to pleasure, men were essentially unnecessary.) The two discuss marriage, and Diana initially wonders what the point of it is.

Later in the movie, though, Diana dances with Steve and asks him again about what it’s like to get married, have kids and grow old together. Steve says he doesn’t know … but that he’d like to find out. The two go into a room at a nearby inn, shut the door and kiss. The camera leaves the scene thereafter, but movie clearly insinuates that they slept together.

Diana’s Wonder Woman outfit obviously reveals a lot of skin, from her legs to her shoulders to her bust. (Other Amazons wear similarly revealing garb.) The movie mines laughs from Diana’s struggles with modern fashion—lifting skirts above her waist and high-kicking in tight dresses, shocking many an early 20th-century onlooker. She’s ogled by men on the street, too, and she’s called a “distraction” for the guys around her. When she throws a drunken man across a bar, one of her new allies says to himself, “I’m both frightened and aroused.”

Violent Content

This is a superhero movie, and it unleashes plenty of violence. Most of it is bloodless, but it can still be jarring.

Diana, Steve and their cohorts want to stop Germany from introducing a terrible new chemical weapon into battle—one that infiltrates gas masks. It inflicts dozens, perhaps hundreds of casualties, often innocent civilians. (We see some lying lifelessly in the street.) Its creator (“Dr. Poison”) experiments on one hapless man: When the gas is less than effective, she yanks off the mask and allows him to die.

Others die by more conventional means, too. Bullets and arrows are both lethal projectiles here, with countless victims succumbing to their bloody pokes. Someone’s impaled by a sword; still others perish in explosions.

Wonder Woman, by the way, has no problem killing her adversaries. She uses her sword, shield and magic golden lasso to overcome her enemies, and sometimes she uses her bracelets to deflect bullets right back into the shooter (or, in one case, the shooter’s gun). She punches, kicks and performs all manner of acrobatic fighting techniques—techniques we see her and others hone during elaborate training exercises back on Themyscira. Super-strong Diana smashes through walls and church steeples and can easily pick up and throw trucks and tanks.

A bar fight leads to one guy being bloodied and knocked around. Another man gets thrown across a room. Long falls prove dangerous. We see and hear wounded soldiers groan: Some are missing limbs.

A spy swallows a cyanide pill, killing himself. We hear that 25 million have died thus far in World War I.

Crude or Profane Language

Five uses of “h—” and one each of the British profanities “b—er” and “bloody.” God’s name is misused three times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Characters imbibe beer and other alcoholic drinks. Only one of them, the war-scarred Scottish sharpshooter Charlie, drinks to excess.

Other Negative Elements

For the better part of a decade now, DC superheroes have been playing catch-up to with the Disney/Marvel cinematic juggernaut. The heroes collectively known as the Avengers have made billions for their creators, and satisfied both critics and audiences.

Warner Bros./DC’s latest efforts— Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad —have also made billions. But fans and critics have been, shall we say, less than enthusiastic.

That changes now.

Wonder Woman is a fun, thrilling, surprisingly rich summertime romp, filled with heart and wit and laughs. It’s high time Hollywood gave a female superhero her own stand-alone vehicle, and this one doesn’t disappoint. But I think the reason why Wonder Woman succeeds where DC’s other recent properties have failed is surprisingly simple: Wonder Woman gives us a genuine hero.

In Man of Steel , Superman questions his destiny and ultimately commits a sin that Superman traditionally would never countenance: killing someone. I liked Steel better than many, but it was still pretty disappointing. Meanwhile, the Batman introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was more than just a grim, brooding superhero: He was a sadistic one, prone to picking up guns and killing his opponents, too. Again, both huge departures for the character. Batman, in his latest incarnation, was hard to root for. Supes was a hard one to care about.

Wonder Woman is a departure from DC’s recent template in that she’s not really a grim, edgy departure at all. She stays true to the emotional roots of the character. Moreover, she stands for something: She believes. She inspires. In an entertainment landscape obsessed with flawed heroes, unlikeable heroes and antiheroes, Diana is—unapologetically—a real hero . Full stop. How delightfully refreshing.

But for all the wonder we see in Wonder Woman , we must also wonder about some of the film’s more problematic elements. Diana’s classical mythic backstory will be a hurdle for some. Diana’s sexually charged interplay with Steve can make for uncomfortable moments, too. And then, of course, you’ve got the violence, which is completely inescapable here.

Still, it’s nice to see the DC extended cinematic universe gain its footing again. And it’s all because this movie allows a superhero to be what a superhero is meant to be: an inspiration.

“Fighting does not make you a hero,” Diana’s mother tells her. And it’s true. It’s what you fight for that does.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Wonder woman, common sense media reviewers.

Engaging, entertaining, empowering superhero adventure.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Plenty of strong messages about women's ability to

Diana and all of the Amazons are brave, fierce, lo

The World War I setting means there's frequent bat

Some jokes with innuendo. Diana and Steve talk rig

Language includes "hell," "damn," and "oh my God."

Nothing in the movie, but part of the large, merch

Drinking at a pub and at receptions -- mostly beer

Positive Messages

Plenty of strong messages about women's ability to be skilled warriors/fighters, the importance of teamwork and communication, and the various ways people can be heroes. Also some deeper messages about personal sacrifice, the nature of humanity (i.e. just because people are capable of evil doesn't make them all evil or worth exterminating) and how love can blossom in the unlikeliest of times.

Positive Role Models

Diana and all of the Amazons are brave, fierce, loyal warriors who've vowed to defend humanity against war. Diana is courageous, selfless, and kind, not just "the most beautiful woman" anyone has ever seen. Steve is also brave and selfless, and his team of mercenaries is willing to fight because they believe in him and Diana. Etta is an encouraging, take-charge woman. The "good guys" are fighting evil and injustice and war. The cast is diverse and includes not only the obvious strong female characters (who are white, black, and brown skinned) but also two supporting men of color: a Middle Eastern man and a Native American man. There's also a female villain, in the form of Dr. Poison.

Violence & Scariness

The World War I setting means there's frequent battle/war violence, as well as plenty of explosive, destructive superhero action. It's relatively bloodless, but there's a lot of it, and collateral damage can be high. The Amazons train for battle and then engage in combat (using arrows and swords) against the encroaching Germans, who are armed with guns. There's a high body count during the fights with the Germans. Diana can repel bullets with her armor; she also wields a sword, her shield, her lasso, and her wrist cuffs in battle. Several main and secondary characters die (more than usual for DC/Marvel films); some of the deaths will definitely cause sadness. A German chemist creates a poisonous gas that's released in a meeting of officials and kills them all; there are plans to release it on the Western front.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Some jokes with innuendo. Diana and Steve talk right after he's had a bath; he's naked but covers his genitals with his hands when the camera pulls away. Their conversation includes her asking him whether he's a "typical example of the male sex" (he replies "I'm above average"); she also asks what "that" is, pointing -- he (and the audience) thinks she means his penis, but she's referring to his watch. They have a funny conversation about whether he should sleep next to her (fully clothed) or not; that scene also includes references to reproductive biology and whether men are necessary for pleasure. Later, they kiss passionately after he walks her to her room; he starts to leave, then returns and shuts the door behind him, leaving it vague about whether they spent the night together. A character makes a comment about being aroused after watching Diana fight. Diana wears a tight, short, form-hugging/revealing armored costume. A supporting character lifts his kilt to warm his underwear-clad nether regions over a fire.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "hell," "damn," and "oh my God." Also insults like "bugger," "weak," "stupid," "lying," "coward."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Nothing in the movie, but part of the large, merchandise-filled DC/Wonder Woman franchise.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Drinking at a pub and at receptions -- mostly beer or champagne. One character gets drunk and then gets into fights.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the long-awaited Wonder Woman , which is part of the DC superhero film universe, is the highest-profile comic book adaptation to date featuring a female superhero. As in most other comic-based movies, there's lots of explosive, destructive action violence, as well as fierce hand-to-hand fighting and armed combat (the movie takes place during World War I), resulting in a high body count -- more so than in many other DC/Marvel movies. Some of the deaths are bound to hit viewers hard. There's more romance here than in many of the male-centric superhero movies, including innuendo, brief references to reproduction and being aroused, kissing, characters possibly spending the night together, and a scene in which a naked Steve Trevor ( Chris Pine ) covers his privates with his hands. Bu language is minimal ("hell" and "damn" are the worst of it), and drinking is mostly of the social kind, though one character does get drunk. Diana/Wonder Woman ( Gal Gadot ) is often naive, but she's clearly the heroine of the story, and her interest in saving people means she acts bravely and selflessly, setting an example for others. Both starring and directed by women, this is a surprisingly diverse superhero story with strong messages about teamwork, courage, and compassion. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

Parents say (107)
Kids say (192)

Based on 107 parent reviews

Disappointing

Excellent dceu movie, what's the story.

WONDER WOMAN starts off on the hidden Amazon island of Themyscira, where a young Diana desperately wants her aunt, warrior General Antiope ( Robin Wright ), to train her -- but her mother, Queen Hippolyta ( Connie Nielsen ), forbids it. Eventually the queen relents, and Diana ( Gal Gadot ) becomes the strongest warrior on the island, embracing the Amazons' responsibility of protecting humanity against Ares, the god of war. One day during World War I, an airplane crashes in the sea, and Diana saves the pilot -- the first man she's ever met. He's Steve Trevor ( Chris Pine ), a British spy pursued by the Germans, who soon descend upon Paradise Island and engage the Amazons in combat. After defeating the Germans but suffering losses, the Amazons want to kill or imprison Steve, but after he explains that millions are dying in The Great War, Diana decides it's her duty to help him. With her bracelets of victory, lasso of truth, battle shield, and magical sword, Diana goes to London with Steve in hopes of ending the war. There they team up with three of his friends on a mission to save the world from the plans of the evil German General Ludendorff ( Danny Huston ).

Is It Any Good?

Born to play the role of Wonder Woman, Gadot proves that women can be fierce and loyal, as well as empathetic, in director Patty Jenkins ' epic, satisfying origin story. Some might be tempted to dismiss Gadot as just another pretty face, but -- as hinted at in her scenes in Batman v Superman -- she rises to the challenge of playing Diana as both ridiculously strong and sweetly naive. She's ready to fight, but she's even more focused on vanquishing evil for the sake of peace. Unlike Superman, Batman, or any of her male DC fellows, Wonder Woman isn't broodingly conflicted about her role or responsibility in the universe; she's hyper-focused on helping humanity and defeating the warmongering Ares. Whether it's Gadot herself or talented stunt actors, she shines in battle -- as do her Amazon relatives, particularly Wright as Antiope, the leader of the Amazonian army.

There's more romance in Wonder Woman than in many superhero movies (which means Pine has a bigger role than superhero love interests often do), but it's understandable given that it's Diana's origin story. It's especially funny that her first sight of a man would be the blue-eyed Steve, who acknowledges that he's an "above average" male specimen. Their bantery chemistry is predictable but sweet; who could fault either of them for falling fast and hard for each other? Steve's secretary, Etta Candy ( Lucy Davis ), is the funniest person in the film, with her sarcastic one-liners, but it's a bit of a shame that there's not more back story to help viewers connect with Steve's three mates: Chief (Eugene Brave Rock), a Native American smuggler; Charlie ( Ewen Bremner ), a Scottish sniper; and Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui), a polyglot spy. At least the baddies are deliciously, unambiguously evil. And despite the requisite special effects-heavy fight scenes, everything is so personal for Diana that the battles are surprisingly emotional -- in a good way. With Wonder Woman on board, bring on Justice League.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about women's roles in comics and superhero films. What makes Diana a role model in Wonder Woman ? How does her intelligence shine throughout the movie? What about the rest of the Amazons? What did you think about the fact that many of them are thin, conventionally beautiful, and wearing brief/tight-fitting outfits?

How do the characters in Wonder Woman demonstrate courage and teamwork ? What about Diana's keen sense of compassion and empathy ? Why are those all important character strengths ?

What do you think about the way superhero movies depict violence ? Is there a difference in the way you react to realistic vs. stylized violence? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

Wonder Woman, the character, was created in 1941 and has always been very popular. So why do you think it took so long for her to get her own movie? What about today's culture welcomes such a role?

How is Wonder Woman similar to and different from male superheroes like Superman, Batman, and Iron Man?

Movie Details

In theaters : June 2, 2017
On DVD or streaming : September 19, 2017
Cast : Gal Gadot , Chris Pine , Robin Wright
Director : Patty Jenkins
Inclusion Information : Female directors, Female actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors
Studio : Warner Bros.
Genre : Action/Adventure
Topics : Superheroes , Great Girl Role Models
Character Strengths : Communication , Compassion , Courage , Teamwork
Run time : 141 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive content
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : June 22, 2024

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Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2017)

Deshawn Vasquez
Movie Reviews
18 responses
--> June 3, 2017

There is an idealized Wonder Woman. It’s vague and often inconsistent in description, but seemingly ethereal in public consciousness, in spite of any prior comic book knowledge, or lack thereof. I would compare the cultural assumption to Superman, and the balancing act the original Richard Donner film had to pull off. The benefit of finally making a Wonder Woman film is that it’s long overdue, and yet it could not have come at a more appropriate time. But, the disadvantage is that everyone’s definition of how this material “should” be handled is different. The point is, Wonder Woman, the 76 year old character, isn’t atop a pedestal. The idea of Wonder Woman is. The vague, impressionable, feminine projection of strength and iconography is precious to the public, I would argue, to a fault. Iconography overshadows nuance and potential innovation.

To that degree, there’s a lot of undue pressure on Wonder Woman , given the current political climate and wide response to the DC Extended Universe up until this point. It’s as if the problems with Supergirl, Catwoman and Elektra were the idea of a female lead rather than the directionless messes the films would’ve been regardless of sex. But the question remains. How does Wonder Woman fare? Quite well, actually. From characterization to theme to aesthetic. It all works.

We begin in a lavish and well-realized Island of Themyscira, a landmark of the DC Universe I’ve waited to see on the big screen since I was 11-years old. We follow a young Diana (Emily Carey), rebellious, eager to train. As you’d expect, her mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen, “ Nymphomaniac ”) is protective and reluctant to let her training begin. With some coaxing, she allows Diana to be trained as the most powerful Amazonian to date, to defend against potential invasions to the island as well as Aries, The God of War’s inevitable return.

Pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine, “ Hell or High Water ”) then accidentally crash lands by the shores of the island, and troops pursuing him follow, thus involving the Amazons, indirectly or not, into the machinations of World War I. Smart move, by-the-by, using World War I. Easier to paint morality in shades of gray when Nazis aren’t around. Plus, it has the added benefit of differentiating itself from “ Captain America: The First Avenger ,” as the comparisons are inevitable. Unlike that film, however, this isn’t bogged down by setting up the team-up film following. “Captain America: The First Avenger” had an amazing origin put to screen, but when it came to Cap’s actions in the actual war it was rushed forward in a montage in order to sprint to the final act and get him in the ice. Whereas you get exactly what you came for in Wonder Woman , lots of WWI, no shying away from the true devastation of war. There’s even a Howling Commandos-esque team of misfits that joins Diana (now played by Gal Gadot, “ Keeping Up with the Joneses ”) and Steve’s cause, except they have actual dimension and individual screentime dedicated to more than just gimmicks. The fact of the matter is, you can compare it to “Captain America: The First Avenger” and you can compare it to “ Thor ,” but this is better than the sum of either or both.

Patty Jenkins is not a director you’d associate with an action tentpole, since the only theatrical film she’s helmed before this was “Monster” in 2003. Given the irrefutable merit this and “Monster” demand, I’m surprised there hasn’t been much besides TV episodes in her filmography in the 14 years since as the choices made here are good ones. Sure, I could complain about the excessive use of slow-motion, but hey, I’ve spent years buried in filmmakers using shaky-cam and rapid fire cutting as a crutch for the better half of a decade now, so I welcome well-choreographed set-pieces even if a lot of slow-mo is the price for it. Gadot is also surprisingly endearing in the role, given her lack of experience up until this point. She balances naiveté with pluck on such a tightrope and she makes it look easy. She’s not to be underestimated as an actress from here on out.

I’m also going to nip this in the bud right now, because I’ve already had conversations about it. Wonder Woman is NOT bleak in saturation for the sake of artificial edge. Without spoiling the film, it is contrasted in three separate ways, the lush, sunny paradise of Themyscira, the foggy, dilapidated London at the height of industry and the accompanying warfront. Finally, the modern day London, once at noon and again at golden hour, while not as lush as “Paradise Island,” is a step in the right direction. There is a thematic purpose to the color palette. Diana herself even stands out heavily when in costume, a striking, shimmering red and blue and gold amidst monochromatic military uniforms. She’s a walking, talking metaphor.

Romance in films also tend to go hand-in-hand, unnatural or not. Not only do Gadot and Pine have great chemistry and banter, but the story also allows them to learn from each other and has the good sense to keep clear of melodrama. Nothing is unearned in their relationship, which is more than I can say for most obligatory romances in not only comic book films, but the action-adventure genre as a whole.

Wonder Woman revels in its simplicity, and understands that contrived complexity does not equate to engaging storytelling. Execution is everything, and what initially feels like the beaten path holds more emotional resonance than arguably most of this superhero Renaissance providing the foundation for this project in the first place. It’s colorful, it’s poised, it’s calculated. In a word, it’s wonderful.

Tagged: comic book adaptation , island , superhero , woman , WWI

Comic book addict, frequent rambler and co-founder of the now defunct 'Real Books Don't Have Batman' podcast.

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'Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2017)' have 18 comments

June 3, 2017 @ 7:39 pm Jax

Off to see this tonight, thanx for not spoiling the movie for me as so many early reviews are doing.

June 3, 2017 @ 7:48 pm Orcan

The story is a bit cliché and the villain was weird, but otherwise Wonder Woman is a solid film.

June 3, 2017 @ 8:04 pm BCaF

girl power. yaay.

June 3, 2017 @ 8:25 pm Eddie

If it weren’t for the few sequences in which WW dazzles with her superheroine powers, WW could pass itself off as a powerful wartime drama. The connection between Steve and Diana was as pure as a movie connection can get, the grit of war is made evident, and Gal Gadot wonderfully portrays a woman discovering herself.

TL;DR WW is a damn good watch even without the superhero stuff.

June 3, 2017 @ 8:38 pm OdoMeter

She chooses love. Excuse me while I spit up in my lap. Total rip of “5th Element”.

June 3, 2017 @ 8:54 pm Mustachiatta

Marvel has finally met its match and that it was done with a movie with a female superhero is all the more better. Maybe now DC can build upon their universe without Zack Snyder’s misguided influence and give us a Batman, Superman and Justice League we so badly want.

June 4, 2017 @ 12:33 am Matt

Zack and Deborah have their mitts all over it–he just didn’t fuck it up by directing it.

June 3, 2017 @ 9:04 pm beark

Id like to mould me some Gal Gadot!

June 3, 2017 @ 9:22 pm Tutune

Am I missing something? Wonder Woman is no more special than any other superhero movie. People, including this critic, are grading it differently just because the star has breasts.

June 3, 2017 @ 11:15 pm shrinkage

You’re not missing anything. This follows the same template as the rest. The feminists and liberals are using it as a win because the star and director are women and it somehow proves they’re better than their male counterparts.

June 3, 2017 @ 9:46 pm Mario

Good review, this is definitely the best from DC so far.

June 3, 2017 @ 10:00 pm anbidden

I thought it was good up until the end. That climax was so lame..

June 4, 2017 @ 2:38 am pitfall-harry

That’s what she said when Steve finished.

June 3, 2017 @ 10:09 pm DanGolden

Didn’t think it would happen in my lifetime but DC has managed to make another strong hero movie other than Batman. Though it suffers from a weak antagonist, Wonder Woman has good story and character arcs and Gal Gadot embodies the role well. Time will tell if they can parlay the success to the rest of the universe.

June 3, 2017 @ 10:46 pm The OD

The CGI is an absolute cringefest. Her leaps are so unnatural, obvious greenscreen use, slo-mo is used in excess and the Ares fight is the stuff jokes are made from. So disappointing.

June 4, 2017 @ 9:01 am Pursey

Great writeup

June 4, 2017 @ 1:10 pm Beth Goodman

In my opinion, Wonder Woman is the best I’ve seen from both houses at DC and Marvel. I loved it all especially the small aspects like Diana’s fish out of water amazement/disgust in London and the priceless expressions on the soldiers faces when she charges the enemy trenches.

June 20, 2017 @ 4:55 am Rodney Twelftree

Great review Deshawn. One of the things I myself noticed was how underplayed the romantic angle of the film was; it wasn’t overt or the driving force of the narrative, but rather an ancillary (yet crucial) subplot around which Diana’s arc progressed.

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Wonder Woman

Review by brian eggert june 2, 2017.

In their ongoing attempt to ape what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has achieved in superhero crossovers, Warner Bros. Pictures has rushed their DC Extended Universe and made some underwhelming blockbusters: Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (2013) removed the joy and pluck from Superman, delivering a dour experience informed by Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy; Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) existed as mere setup, introducing more dour heroes and unintelligible plot elements; and speaking of unintelligible nonsense, David Ayer’s hectic Suicide Squad (2016) was a familiar yarn (think Guardians of the Galaxy meets Deadpool ) about good-bad guys who nonetheless end up saving the world. With Wonder Woman , the fourth entry in this universe, Warner Bros. finally offers a DC Comics superhero film worthy of its hero’s iconography. Skeptical viewers will be relieved to learn that, unlike Snyder’s conception for the DCEU, Wonder Woman features an optimistic, brave, compassionate, and relatively well-adjusted character—a refreshing change of pace from the moody bunch that preceded her.

Even better, the film seems to be the right film at the right time; it will undoubtedly incite plenty of extratextual discussion about feminism and politics. Though it follows a basic narrative structure audiences are accustomed to, the film marks a rare occasion where a large-scale production invests in a story mostly about women. Wonder Woman first appeared in the pages of All Star Comics in 1941. Psychologist William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G. Peter created her, intending to inspire young women with a strong feminist hero. A demigoddess and Amazonian, Princess Diana of Themyscira’s strength and power equal those of Superman, while her signature Lasso of Truth comes from Marston, who, as an inventor, also helped fashion an early lie detector machine. Despite the character’s intentions, Wonder Woman soon became relegated to lesser heroics, eventually turning into a full-fledged sex symbol by the time Lynda Carter played her on the 1975-1979 television show. Meanwhile, Hollywood has tried and failed for years to develop several television and feature film adaptations—from directors like Ivan Reitman and Joss Whedon helming performers like Sandra Bullock and Megan Fox. Also, Warner Bros. Animation succeeded in a feature-length animated film called Wonder Woman in 2009, which is fantastic.

In the first feature film of Wonder Woman, Israeli actress Gal Gadot stars as Diana, reprising her underdeveloped role from Dawn of Justice , except with an elevated degree of ethos here. Patty Jenkins ( Monster ) directs Allan Heinberg’s script that places Diana, and the Amazonian culture itself, at the center, making everything outside of that fascinating world seem strange. Where Jenkins excels are the more human sections in the first two acts, particularly in the opening scenes inside Themyscira. A richly conceived cityscape informed by Greek architecture, the island paradise is populated by warrior women with a strong bond between them, and headed by Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), Diana’s mother. Early on, the young Diana wants to learn about the art of war from her aunt, Antiope (Robin Wright, superb, inspiring, onscreen far too little). She eventually grows into a hero fated to duel with her sworn nemesis, the war god Ares. Getting to experience Themyscira may be Wonder Woman ‘s finest treasure; it’s a fully conceived world that seems to revolve around Diana in ways she does not understand. All the while, Gadot demonstrates her talent when given more to do in her role.

For the larger set-pieces, Jenkins uses a film grammar not dissimilar from Snyder’s, with slow-downs and speed-ups during the action, corny-looking explosions, and an overblown third act teeming with too much CGI. The film’s villains include a dastardly German officer (Danny Huston) and his facially mangled cohort Dr. Poison (Elena Anaya). Together, they plot to keep the war going by unleashing a deadly new gas on an armistice summit. By the final battle in which Diana and an armored Ares throw CGI debris, tanks, and random energies at one another, the viewer stops caring that these heroes and villains’ powers are never satisfactorily explained. “I’m fighting for love,” announces Diana. “Then I will destroy you!” replies Ares. Fortunately, mind-numbing dialogue such as this doesn’t spoil the character development and goodwill established in the previous two hours. Still, it reminds us that Wonder Woman does indeed hail from lesser superhero cinema.

Regardless, there’s plenty to savor. Diana’s integration into then-contemporary London plays, quite delightfully, like scenes from Elf (when Buddy becomes distracted by cotton balls and revolving doors), as our hero asks questions inappropriate in a male-dominated society and must learn, but never accept, the etiquette of the day. Even so, when Diana’s entry into a British war room is met with guffaws from walrus-mustachioed Col. Blimps, the sexism then and now becomes apparent. These moments might almost be funny if they weren’t so frustrating for someone of her power and intelligence (she’s very well-read, speaks dozens of languages, and is generally the bee’s knees). The most appealing quality about Wonder Woman is how, despite its banal devotion to superhero tropes and third-act bloat, it has managed to awaken germane discussions for today’s sociopolitical climate. Whether it’s drawing attention to the underrepresented presence of women in cinema in front of and behind the camera, the generally marginalized status of women today, or even the relevance of female-only screenings (and the anger such showings bring some mal-adjusted people), Wonder Woman may finally etch a place in viewers’ minds for its symbolic significance and ability to create discussion, which can only be healthy.

Of course, this assigns a lofty (perhaps misplaced) degree of import to a comic book film that perhaps does not have such grand significance within the film’s narrative. From a certain point of view, Wonder Woman could be seen as nothing more than the DCEU’s version of Captain America: The First Avenger — a commercial bid for competition and further establishment of the Justice League franchise (“The Future of Justice Begins with Her” reads the film’s tagline, even though Justice already had a Dawn ). After all, both scenarios involve past wars, lovers lost, larger-than-life villains, and ultimately prove to be nothing more than a puzzle piece into the forthcoming crossover. Admittedly, if Wonder Woman ‘s connective tissues to the surrounding DCEU were not clinging to lesser material, the outcome as a whole might be worthy of more enthusiasm. And getting excited about another character mashup, Justice League , later this year seems much less compelling than another stand-alone film for Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Jenkins’ considerate direction, and a possible return to Themyscira. All that aside, Wonder Woman proves to be an important film for developing other female-centric intellectual properties and female audiences who finally have a noble hero to admire.

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Wonder Woman (2017)

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‘Wonder Woman’ Review: A Superhero, and a Superhero Movie, Worth Waiting For

Wonder Woman rises to the challenge.

Diana Prince ( Gal Gadot ) may be a crime-fighter by night, but her days are spent working in Paris’ most famous museum, the Louvre. It’s there where she receives a package from her friend Bruce Wayne containing the original glass plate photograph showing her and four friends during World War I. The image sends her into her memories to a childhood spent on the Amazon island of Themyscira and her entry into the real world during the war to end all wars.

After a brief animated intro detailing the creation of the Amazons and their island as well as the actions of Zeus and Ares the god of war, we’re introduced to Diana as a child yearning to learn combat skills but forbidden by her mother, Hippolyta ( Connie Nielsen ). Instead her people’s greatest warrior, Antiope ( Robin Wright ), trains the girl in secret. She grows up to become the best of the fighters, and when an American pilot named Steve Trevor ( Chris Pine ) crashes his plane within their protected sea with German soldiers in fast pursuit she learns quickly about the dangers of mankind. She decides that her place is out in the world fighting the violent and destructive influence of Ares, and with Steve at her side she makes her way to London and to the front line of the war.

“Be careful in the world of men,” says Diana’s mother. “They do not deserve you.” That theme sits at the front of Patty Jenkins ‘ triumphant and at times somber Wonder Woman , and it lends this hero an arc entirely her own and apart from other big screen superheroes. Her optimism and positivity extends beyond Captain America’s “aw shucks” and apple pie to become something of a surprising and fragile naivete. Her belief that Ares is behind the global carnage and that men are slaves to the god’s terrible whims is tested throughout the film, and it’s a slow realization that weighs heavily on Diana to great effect on the audience.

Wonder Woman’s faith and disappointment in humanity are our own.

Credit here goes equally to Jenkins, writer Allan Heinberg , and Gadot herself who balances the Amazon’s looks of curiosity and wonder with observations and realizations about the reality of the world and of mankind. One exchange of many sees all three talents working beautifully in perfect unison and with a brevity too many other superhero films could take a lesson from. Diana is learning about good guys and bad guys when Steve’s Native American friend known only as the Chief ( Eugene Brave Rock ) mentions that his own people were wiped out. She asks by who, and he points at Steve’s sleeping form saying simply “by his people.” There are no further exchanges, no verbalized outrage, and instead we just watch as Gadot’s expression reveals one more ideal in her understanding of man crumble into the dirt.

It builds to some dramatic payoff later on, but lest you think this is some kind of bleak affair know that Jenkins and company capture the rousing, cheer-worthy action every bit as well. The halfway mark sees the first full-fledged action sequence with Wonder Woman strolling onto the battlefield, and it’s a gloriously exciting experience. It’s immensely satisfying visually, dramatically, and in the pure pleasure of seeing this character make her presence known in a big way.

Gadot is the heart and soul of the film and this character now, and she’s aided by a strong supporting cast. Wright is as stunning as you’d expect even with limited screen time, and while Pine is Captain Kirk mode — serious but not really all that serious — his comedic timing and skills remain impeccable. Danny Huston does his Danny Huston thing as the big bad, while David Thewlis , Ewan Bremner , Saïd Taghmaoui , and Lucy Davis all bring personality to various degrees of sidekicks and compatriots.

There are some pacing problems early on as it simultaneously rushes Diana’s youth and drags at times in the build up to her debut as Wonder Woman. The latter in particular sees maybe a bit too much time spent following Steve around and manufacturing minor laughs out of Diana’s trouble with revolving doors. I mean, it’s a revolving door, not a microwave. She’s not an idiot. The film’s two biggest issues though both come down to an apparent lack of confidence.

First and foremost is the repeated presence of shoddy CG effects. Either WB is contractually bound to work with second-rate effects houses or they simply didn’t want to spend the money necessary to lift it out of the early 2000s. It’s especially egregious during the early scenes on Themyscira as both landscapes and action beats sometimes look unfinished at best. Luckily some of the film’s best acting is there as well meaning Wright’s stellar supporting performance helps distract us from the visuals.

Second, the film at times feels too beholden to Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger . Some similarities are to be expected from the period setting to the evil Germans, but others aren’t. A certain third-act scenario involving a plane feels familiar as does the team of international oddballs that Trevor pulls around him along the lines of the Howling Commandos. These beats don’t hurt the film necessarily, and the performers are solid, but they suggest a desire to play things more safe than necessary.

These are relevant but ultimately bearable problems as by the time the credits roll you’ll most likely be excited for Wonder Woman’s next standalone adventure. She’s an exciting character, and Gadot makes her an engaging and memorable one as well. It’s taken entirely too long for one of the two comics giants to deliver a true big-screen solo feature for one of their female heroes, but happily the day is finally here. And she does not disappoint.

Related Topics: DC Comics , Wonder Woman

Movie Review – Wonder Woman (2017)

May 31, 2017 by Luke Owen

Wonder Woman , 2017

Directed by Patty Jenkins Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewan Bremner, Lucy Davis, Eugene Brave Rock, Emily Carey, Lilly Aspell, and Saïd Taghmaoui.

SYNOPSIS: Before she was Wonder Woman she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war to end all wars, discovering her full powers and true destiny.

There’s a popular phrase used in football analysis here in the UK (or soccer for our American friends), which is to describe a match as “a game of two halves”. It’s used when one side plays very poorly in the first half, allowing several goals to be put past them, but then pull it back in the second to either draw or win the game. The DCEU’s latest outing Wonder Woman is just that, a game of two halves.

While this site has been lambasted in the past for being “anti-DC”, it is fair to say that the DCEU hasn’t got off to the best of starts. Man of Steel , Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad have their fans and supporters, but none have been universally praised by either fans or critics. Early reports and rumours coming from the set and production of Wonder Woman seemed to echo the issues many had with the first three entries, with one “source” claiming it was “a mess”. And if that source had only seen the first hour and a half of the movie, it would be easy to see why they made that mistake.

At a stonking two hours and twenty minutes, Wonder Woman takes a long time to get out of second gear with the movie’s first half hour being nothing but clunky exposition and rushed sequences. We’re introduced to Diana in present day Paris, where she receives a package from Bruce Wayne, asking her to tell him her true story. The film then plays out as a flashback to Diana’s time as a child, her training on Themyscira and eventually joining the First World War in her hunt to take down Ares, whom she believes is behind the Germans’ actions. The problem is that the explanation of Diana’s origins and her subsequent training are done in the quickest manner possible which means nothing is given time to settle in. Just when we see teases of her discovering her powers, Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor suddenly arrives and a new plot kicks in.

Which does lead to one of the film’s other issues: the chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. While both are mostly fine separately, they never truly click together and are given some woefully bad dialogue and attempts at humour in order to form a relationship. Director Patty Jenkins, Gadot and Pine all try their best to make their way through Allan Heinberg’s script, which features an extended (and unfunny) gag about Diana asking a naked Trevor if he represents the “average male”, but they never really get past it. On the whole, Wonder Woman is full of plot threads that are started but never finished.

The film’s runtime is perhaps the biggest hindrance. Running around ten minutes shorter than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , there isn’t enough in Wonder Woman ‘s butt-numbing length to warrant it. You feel every minute of the movie, and not always for the right reasons. The plot is fairly basic and the character interactions (for the most part) are solid, but the two hours and twenty minutes of screentime feels rather unnecessary. However if you took out all of the slow-motion, Wonder Woman would probably be around ninety minutes long. Wonder Woman also keeps up the grand and proud Warner Bros. tradition – alongside The Legend of Tarzan , Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and the rest of the DCEU – by having some embarrassingly bad CGI for 2017 standards. I’m not sure what is that Warner Bros. are doing wrong, but none of their films marry the relationship between practical and computer effects effectively like the other studios can. Wonder Woman is by far the least egregious of this phenomena, but it’s still very noticeable – especially when the film is slowed down so often.

But as this review said at the start, Wonder Woman is a game of two halves. By the time Diana and Trevor get out of London (which features more cringe-worthy humour that evokes the scenes in Escape From the Planet of the Apes where Cornelius and Zira try on “human clothes”) and into The Great War, the film suddenly becomes great. Like, seriously great. Wonder Woman finds its feet and the film becomes a complete joy to watch. Jenkins directs action with incredible flair and grace, and Gadot looks like a complete and total badass when she’s in full costume kicking the crap out of bad men. This is the Wonder Woman movie we’ve been waiting for. They even manage of overcome the divisive Wonder Woman theme created for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , using it sparingly in these first true action sequences. It’s clear what Jenkins thinks of the theme, as it’s only even used here and not in the film’s climax.

It’s quite amazing how different the two halves of Wonder Woman are, from the slow and plodding (yet incredibly still rushed) opening ninety minutes to this rip-roaring superhero movie with plenty of fist-pumping action. The action beats in Wonder Woman are unmatched, and will likely be the best a comic book movie has to offer in 2017. Even the interplay with characters improves, thanks in part to a supporting cast including Ewen Bremner and Saïd Taghmaoui, and the film raises some interesting themes. They discuss the concept of war and who Ares really controls, actors of colour struggling for roles in films and PTSD among other topics. In these real-world times where the fear of war breaking out seems inevitable, Wonder Woman is a beacon of hope promising us a world of love and happiness. Naive? Perhaps. But it’s the message we need right now, and with previous DCEU entries being rather drab and dreary this is a refreshing change of pace.

So, Wonder Woman is a game of two halves. The first half is a bit of a slog and pretty uninspiring, but that’s followed up with sublime comic book movie joy. Gadot is also a mixed bag, struggling with dialogue but shining brighter than any action star when it’s time to fight. There could have been a better emphasis on the villain, the CGI needed to be tightened up throughout the picture and stories and themes should have been further explored or at least finished, but Wonder Woman is a welcome success – from an action point of view, anyway. If you can manage to get through the tripe exposition on Themyscira and the awful attempts at comedy in London, you will find easily the best comic book movie DC and Warner Bros. have put out since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight . Now given the DC movies that have come out since The Dark Knight that is an extremely low bar to step over, but Wonder Woman leaps over it and sets a brand new standard. Justice League and Aquaman will have to work very hard to not only follow it, but also keep up.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth, the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast and the author of Lights, Camera, GAME OVER!: How Video Game Movies Get Made (which you can pre-order from Amazon UK and Amazon US). You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen.

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Wonder Woman (United States, 2017)

In comic book parlance, this is Wonder Woman’s “origin story.” Although the character was awkwardly inserted into Batman v. Superman , this outing provides context to her appearances in that film. The character is arguably the third best-known member of the DC superhero family (after Superman and Batman). Like Hulk, Wonder Woman’s profile was enhanced as a result of a 1970s Prime Time TV show and, as campy as the Lynda Carter-fronted program was, it nevertheless made Wonder Woman a household name. As a result, this movie arrives in theaters with more buzz and anticipation that it might otherwise have.

Wonder Woman ’s central premise – that the main character, Diana (Gal Gadot), is the demigod daughter of the immortal Zeus and the amazon Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) – is absurd (although no more than Marvel’s Thor) but the screenplay, credited to Allan Heinberg, develops this fantasy-flavored alternate reality in such a way that we buy into it. After some early getting-to-know-you scenes that illustrate aspects of life on the island of Themyscira, which is populated exclusively by adult warrior women, the story is propelled forward by the crash-landing of American intelligence officer Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). After speaking passionately about the evils of war, Steve inadvertently convinces Diana that she must accompany him back to “Man’s World” to find and do battle with Ares, the God of War. Only with his defeat can the human race have a chance to find peace.

As was evident in the glimpses we saw of her performance in Batman v. Superman , Gal Gadot is an inspired choice for Wonder Woman – the perfect package of beauty, strength, and elegance. Although Gadot may not erase hormone-addled memories of Lynda Carter from the minds of those of a certain age, her screen presence is such that one never thinks of her as an imposter. Chris Pine has the rather thankless job of playing the “love interest” (it’s fascinating to see that label applied to a male in a comic book movie). He develops enough of a personality for there to be tension when he is imperiled. He and Godot interact forcefully; their chemistry is palpable beginning with the scene where he stands before her naked and tries to explain that he’s “above average.”

One open question is whether Marvel die-hards will warm to Wonder Woman even though it’s from rival DC. The average movie-goer won’t care about the long-standing feud, but for comic book fans, loving and appreciating Marvel shouldn’t be an impediment to enjoying something from DC (and vice versa). If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Marvel should be delighted by Wonder Woman , which appropriates many of its stylistic markers. (It also borrows heavily from Return of the Jedi , but that’s another, spoiler-filled discussion.) Regardless of how Marvel’s true believers react to Wonder Woman , the rest of the viewing audience can be assured that, with the release of this film, the summer of 2017 will have at least one memorable motion picture spectacle.

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In 10 Years, Superman Will Be in the Public Domain. That May Not Mean What You Think It Does

Yes, you'll be able to put your justice league iphone fan film on youtube... eventually..

“When Superman and Batman Copyrights Expire in a Decade, Will It Be Kryptonite for DC?” asked a headline in Variety earlier this year. As dictated by Betteridge’s Law , the answer in a broad sense is no. But in the wake of Steamboat Willie-era Mickey Mouse going public domain at the beginning of this year — here he is promoting the new season of Last Week Tonight for HBO, a division of Disney rival Warner Bros. Discovery — an inkling that the sky may soon start falling has been creeping around a Hollywood staking its value on IP portfolios.

With several of DC’s major copyrights set to lift in the ‘30s (Superman and Lois Lane in 2034, Batman in 2035, the Joker in 2036, and Wonder Woman in 2037), the Variety item imagines a future flooded with unauthorized comic books featuring these household names. A quoted comics expert predicts that “100 of them” will be “ready to go” as soon as the law allows, and the article carries that logic over to the silver screen, suggesting that studios may be eager to mint their own versions of characters as they’ve previously done for public domain characters like Robin Hood or Dracula. The mind pictures a dystopian marquee advertising a given weekend’s offerings as a choice between Warner’s Superman Rising, Universal’s Tale of the Superman, and Disney’s Superman and Friends.

That's one way to bring back the movie theater business.

The likelier outcome, as some legal scholars are countering, won’t be so dire for DC nor so flattening for the multiplex. The law will leave a handful of important guardrails in place to prevent a market clogged with indistinguishable duplicates of the same icons, the intended function being specifically to avoid consumer confusion among identical rip-offs. In the best-case scenario, in fact, these developments could usher in an era of legally mandated creative refreshment.

“That Superman is entering public domain doesn’t mean you can go and write your own Superman comic,” says Brian Frye, a professor at University of Kentucky’s Rosenberg College of Law. (He’s also the producer of the documentary Our Nixon, which flexed quite a few fair-use muscles in sampling footage of Tricky Dick.) “It means that you might be able to use the Superman character in your own story without infringing on anything that belongs to DC.”

In theory, copyright law serves a just and useful purpose, ensuring that the labor of artists can’t be sold by some other entity as their own. For the duration of the author’s life and then another 70 years (or, for corporate works, 95 years after publication), they own the rights to their work; to cite perhaps the most well-known example, this is why DC can’t get in the Spider-Man business. A significant difference separates Amazing Fantasy #15 itself from the character of Spidey as he’s known and loved, however.

“Copyright law protects things that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression, so traditionally, that’ll mean a photo, a painting, a sculpture, an episode of TV, a comic book, a novel,” explains Alexandra Jane Roberts, a professor of law and media at Northeastern University. “The idea of protection for characters comes out of that, but it can be a bit nebulous. We have some case law saying that characters who are well-defined over the course of numerous works can become protectable, things like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Rocky. James Bond likes his drink a certain way, he dresses a certain way, he says certain lines, and from this, we get a recognizable character that can be protected by copyright.”

Because this is a cumulative process that happens over time, these copyrights expire piecemeal. Superman as a concept becomes available long before his weakness to kryptonite or ability to fly, Wonder Woman will be fair game one year prior to her Lasso of Truth, etc. So with each intellectual property dealt with on a case-by-case basis and strewn with grey areas, the question becomes, rather, what is allowed? And in terms of studio protocol, what’s likely to actually happen?

Will it be good for characters like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to fall into the public domain?

Any answer hinges in large part on the difference between a copyright (which protects a creative work) and a trademark (which protects phrases or iconography that makes up a business’ brand). A trademark has no expiration date, in essence meant to preclude companies from passing off their products as another’s. “It’s one thing to use a character in a copyrighted way, for example, Mickey Mouse or Superman or Wonder Woman in another story,” says Frye. “It’s another thing entirely to use these characters in a way that communicates something to consumers about the source of what’s being produced. The closer you get to making consumers think that the source of whatever you’re producing is Disney or DC, the more likely it is you’re moving into trademark rather than copyright territory.”

For a studio hoping to make the next big blockbuster, this poses an obstacle: Anyone attempting to capitalize on the familiarity of Superman would have to sand off a lot of what makes him familiar. The law encourages use of an idea’s broadest contours, its general outline more than the particulars contained within. This can start to create wiggle room for characters identified less by their biography than their image. Dracula, for one, is understood as a vampire of exceptional power; everything beyond that is up to filmmakers, who have translated the character across genres , settings , and even racial lines .

“People have been behaving as though the later versions of Mickey Mouse included in works not yet part of the public domain are off-limits, when I’m not 100% confident that that’s what the law requires,” says Roberts.

"It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman... in a plane, because he can't fly yet!"

“The way copyright law works says that you can only claim copyright ownership insofar as what you’re claiming is an original element, in a significant aspect,” Frye adds. “Are subsequent Mickey characters different from Steamboat Willie? Yes. But are they that different, that you wouldn’t recognize the new one? The big differences are he’s in color, he has gloves and a red shirt — those aren’t really copyright-worthy elements. These are trivial, I think. Mickey in specific is kind of one-dimensional. Wonder Woman and Superman, they have a fair amount of backstory, additional elements added over the years.”

Frye charts one possible path forward through a case study from 1978, when Disney brought legal action against the underground comix collective known as the Air Pirates. They’d used Mickey Mouse for satirical purposes, corrupting the icon of wholesome pop culture Americana with drug use and foul language, and Disney argued that this had damaged the reputation of the company. The courts ruled that the Air Pirates had infringed on the then-active copyright of Mickey Mouse, and that Disney’s points about trademark were moot. But today, with copyright no longer an issue, this case would’ve fallen in favor of the Air Pirates, because they’d used solely the appearance of Mickey in a context that was a clear, drastic departure from the established character.

“Now, could you do something similar with Superman or Wonder Woman?” Frye asks. “Probably! If you make them look like the old characters, or draw them in your own way.” What would Wonder Woman be like as a government peacekeeper in an alternate America? How about Superman as a hardboiled noir detective? The characters we know can supply a jumping-off point for an infinite galaxy of revisions, remixes, and deconstructions.

Copyright law is intended to benefit the artists as well as the public, the people who enjoy their work and want to see them compensated fairly for it. It’s by design that these impending copyright expirations will do the most good for smaller, independent outfits, those looking to do something radically revisionist or even heretical with our graven idols. For the big corporate studios, avoiding trademark infringement means putting enough distance between themselves and Superman as we know him that the commercial appeal may not be as built-in as they’d hope. But creators with a sincere interest in using these narrative building blocks — in actually turning superheroes into the modern-day myth figures they’re so often described as — to construct something wholly novel will gain bracing new freedoms.

“The speculation is that these things will look and feel fake or knockoff-y,” Roberts says. “But what we’ve seen with Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey and Mickey Mouse is that there’s almost a hunger for that; people have a curiosity about it. People get excited about the possibility of off-beat things being done with a character they know, so my guess — and maybe hope — is that studios do some more creative things here, make some more interesting choices. Change things up, less like a knockoff and more like a sly wink.”

Illustrations by Danielle Jones

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When Did Wonder Woman Learn Superman's Secret Identity?

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Wonder Woman showed she knew Superman's secret identity in World’s Finest Comics #204
After revealing her secret identity to the Justice League, Wonder Woman was aware of Superman's identity.
Around the time Wonder Woman became a reserve member, the League decided to share their secret identities with each other for precautionary purposes

"Provide Some Answers," is a feature spotlighting when long unresolved plot points are eventually resolved. Today, we look at how Wonder Woman was retroactively revealed to have discovered Superman's secret identity.

Recently, I did an article about the time (in 1971's World's Finest Comics #204, by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella) that Clark Kent and Diana Prince were paired together by a computer dating service (as it turned out, it was actually a computer from the distant future who had the ability to access help from the past to try to avert the terrible tragedy that would lead to the computer's "present day"), and when they met up with each other, it sure seemed obvious that they knew each other, right?

Clark and Diana are shocked to see they are each other's dates

And the interesting thing to me, as I noted then , was that while it was pretty clear when Superman discovered what Wonder Woman's secret identity was, I didn't recall any comic book before this one that established that the reverse was true, and as it turned out, that was because this was the first time that it WAS established that Wonder Woman knew Superman's secret identity!

Of course, now that it was revealed that she DID know, there were a few comic book writers who decided that they needed to explain when and HOW she knew, which is the point of this specific article.

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When did Superman discover Wonder Woman's secret identity?

Superman's discovery of Wonder Woman's secret identity was not that long before the dating issue occurred, as she revealed her identity to her Justice League teammates in Justice League of America #69 (by O'Neil, Dillin and Sid Greene), where Diana Prince, while headed to see the Justice League, discovers that someone has been murdered in such a manner as to make it look like Green Arrow committed the crime...

Diana learns Green Arrow is being framed for murder

Diana makes a beeline to the Justice League's headquarters to fill her teammates in on this news, while also revealing some major news of her own.

She tells the group that she has to resign from the League because she has lost her powers ...

Wonder Woman resigns from the Justice League

The whole scene is bizarre, especially Batman acting like it makes perfect sense for Wonder Woman to retire now, as she no longer has superpowers, which, of course, NEITHER DOES HE. Also, she walks in clearly looking like Wonder Woman, and yet they can't recognize her without her costume on. Too, too silly.

In any event, this was the first time that Diana Prince's teammates learned her secret identity. Note, though, that the others weren't rushing to tell her THEIR secret identities! So it was a bit strange that, soon after this issue, that O'Neil believed that Wonder Woman DID know Superman's secret identity.

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When did Wonder Woman retroactively learn Superman's secret identity?

My pal, Commander Benson , wrote me to take the challenge I left of "When did Wonder Woman learn Superman 's secret identity?," and he also had a handy dandy list of when the various Justice League members learned each other's secret identities during the Silver Age:

The Atom 's secret ID was known to Hawkman ( Hawkman # 9 [Aug.-Sep., 1965]) and revealed to the Batman, the Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Superman, in JLA # 60.
The Batman 's secret ID was known to Hawkman ( JLA # 41 [Dec., 1965]) and Superman ( Superman # 76 [May-Jun., 1952]).
The Flash 's secret ID was known to Green Lantern ( Green Lantern # 13 [Jun., 1962]), Hawkman ( op. cit .), and Superman ( Superman # 220 [Oct., 1969]).
Green Arrow 's secret ID was revealed to the entire JLA in JLA # 61.
Green Lantern 's secret ID was known to the Flash ( op.cit .) and revealed to the Atom, Batman, J'onn J'onzz, and Wonder Woman in JLA # 54.
Hawkman 's secret ID was known to the Atom ( op. cit .), Batman ( The Brave and the Bold # 70 [Feb.-Mar., 1967]), and revealed to the Flash and Superman in JLA # 53 (May, 1967).
J'onn J'onzz 's secret ID was known to Green Arrow ( The Brave and the Bold # 50 [Nov., 1963]) and Hawkman ( op. cit .).
Superman 's secret ID was known to Batman ( op. cit .), the Flash ( op. cit .), and Hawkman ( op. cit .).
Wonder Woman 's secret ID was known to Hawkman ( op. cit .), then after she lost her powers, to the Atom, Batman, the Flash, Green Arrow, and Superman in JLA # 69 (Feb., 1969).

Awesome work, Commander!

He also noted that in Justice League of America #122 (by Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, and Frank McLaughlin), Doctor Light discovered the League's secret identities, and then first erased those memories from their minds, and then swapped their identities in their respective minds (so Batman thought he was Oliver Queen, Green Arrow thought he was Ray Palmer, etc.)...

Luckily, Aquaman figured out the scheme, and filled everyone in on what their actual identities were...

At the end of the issue, after first erasing Doctor Light's memory, the rest of the League decides that all League members will share their secret identities with each other (as Commander Benson notes, that wasn't really necessary, as this group really pretty much knew each other's identities ANYways).

The League agrees to share their secret ids with each other

This story was set around the time of Justice League of America #75, and since the League wouldn't accept Wonder Woman's resignation in Justice League of America #69, it stands to reason that she was considered a member for the purpose of learning all of her teammates' secret identities, leading to her knowing Superman's identity on their computer date.

Great logic, Commander!

If anyone has a suggestion for a comic book plot that got resolved after a few years (I tend to use two years as the minimum, as otherwise, you're probably just in the middle of the actual initial reveal of the storyline, ya know? But I'll allow exceptions where a new writer takes over a storyline and has to resolve the previous writer's unresolved plots), drop me a line at [email protected]!

COMMENTS

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It is a sincerely good film in which no qualifiers are needed. It's inspiring, evocative, and, unfortunately, a bit infuriating for the chances it doesn't take. Written by Allan Heinberg, with a story also by Zack Snyder and Jason Fuchs, the story uses a variety of inspiration culled from Wonder Woman's 76-year history.
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When Did Wonder Woman Learn Superman's Secret Identity?
"Provide Some Answers," is a feature spotlighting when long unresolved plot points are eventually resolved. Today, we look at how Wonder Woman was retroactively revealed to have discovered Superman's secret identity. Recently, I did an article about the time (in 1971's World's Finest Comics #204, by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella) that Clark Kent and Diana Prince were paired ...

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