Yesterday, my brother and I went to see Wonder Woman with one of our friends as a kind of belated birthday celebration/catch-up session. (Yup, my brother and I are friends and have a few friends in common.) Being the superhero nerd trio that we are, we'd originally planned to go see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 because she hadn't seen it yet, but ultimately decided to see Wonder Woman since it was the one superhero movie we'd all be going into with no prior knowledge of the movie's plot.
Our friend is a big DC hero fan and my brother is a fan of superheroes in general. As for me, I was excited to check it out for two reasons: To see what the screening audiences had rated so highly and because I freaking love me some Wonder Woman. I mean, c'mon, she's a bada** warrior from an entire island of super boss warriors based on the ancient Greek myths! What's not cool about that?!
But I digress. And not a moment too soon, either. Otherwise, you would've been subject to an essay about my love of mythology. (Ya dodged a bullet with that one, trust me.)
So without further ado, here are 5 of the great things about the Wonder Woman movie!
Attention to details about Diana's character itself. For example, all of the Amazons speak English with an accent that makes sense. Other DC incarnations of Wonder Woman, even my favorite DCAU version in Justice League, always spoke with unexplained American accents.
The other female characters weren't made weak--not to emphasize Diana's strength or otherwise. (Thank you, Wonder Woman screenwriters and script editors!)
Morality's gray areas are explored. Diana finds herself constantly learning and questioning the moral compasses of the bad guys...and the good guys' as well.
The main villain is extremely calculating. Trust me when I say that you really won't see half of what happens coming. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for an intelligent, strategic villain.)
The humor! I wasn't expecting that much humor in this movie, but they delivered it and it was brilliantly done.
Unfortunately, as we all know...nothing's perfect. Even Wonder Woman. And these, in my opinion, are 5 of the not-so-great things that are preventing its perfection:
The Amazons are all thin, with little to no noticeable muscle tone. Remember, they're warriors, so they do serious athletic training--DAILY. Muscle tone comes with that naturally. That said, fit does not equal thin, but even the Amazons' toughest "big girl" can barely be described as solid.
The racial injustices against Native Americans are brought up briefly, but then quickly dismissed in the next line. My question to the writers is this: If it made you uncomfortable to include that in the story, why include it at all?
Because of the lines in certain scenes, the romance between Diana and Steve feels artificial at times...despite the great screen chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. 'Nuff said.
Diana names a trite, simplistic, ultimately unrealistic feel-good answer as the solution to all of the issues. Sometimes feel-good works, but in this case, it doesn't because of the specific kinds of lessons Diana had to learn.
The main battle. You'll have to watch the movie to see why. (Can't really say anything about this one without giving some serious spoilers. Sorry!)
Overall, I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to Wonder Woman's Justice League movie debut. Still, as I like to say, don't take my word for it! Watch Wonder Woman for yourself and then see if you agree (or disagree) with my thoughts.