Now, there was something I noticed when I watched Batman v Superman. I thought Gal Gadot did a good job with her performance as WONDER WOMAN. Now, before I start talking about the movie version, let me say that throughout the years, Wonder Woman has been an icon towards many female readers and viewers, with an TV Show starring Linda Carter, a few animated appearances with Susan Eisenberg being one of my favorite incarnations of the animated version of the character. Wonder Woman has also been in video games, with INJUSTICE 2 being her most recent appearance in the video gaming realm.
Now with that introduction out of the way, let’s start listing the reasons why I liked WONDER WOMAN (2017). Be aware that this will have spoilers.
1) The Characters
What many superhero movies need is a good ensemble of characters and WONDER WOMAN certainly delivered. We have Gal Gadot portraying Wonder Woman/Diana Prince, who rescues Steve Trevor (as portrayed by Chris Pine) after he crash lands near Themyscira. The chemistry between Diana and Steve here is certainly accurate to the comics and they both have good comedic timing as well. There were also other good characters as well, such as Hippolyta, Etta Candy, Antiope, General Ludendorff, and the main villain of the entire film, Ares. While these characters have had some good motivations, we don’t know some of their backstories, but that’s ok, because this is clearly focused on Diana’s story. The actors also makes their characters believable as well, while also making their characters more human.
2) The Story
The story for this film is simple, since it is an origin story for our beloved character, but the other storylines are good as well. The story arc for Steve Trevor was certainly good, and Ares’ backstory helped to make you not like the character, but there are some storylines that I believe were dropped, but I am not going to list them all here. The main setting for the film was also handled pretty well while the present day storyline was left to the side, which I thought was a good idea. Although, I feel like some of the characters doesn’t have that much good storylines or backstories. At the end of the day though, this is mainly Wonder Woman’s storyline and I’m proud of that.
3) The Direction
Now, the direction. I think Patty Jenkins made sure that this film relied heavily on the female characters and that was handled pretty well. Patty had an amazing direction for this movie and let’s say that it was… different. Patty didn’t over saturate with the clichés found in most films about female characters or superhero movies, and that was more likely a good choice. I also liked that Patty made this film have beautiful moments and colourful moments as well, blending them into the World War I setting perfectly. Patty did have an amazing direction for this film and that is why I 100% supported her from the start when she was announced as the director of this movie.
4) The Music
Before we start praising the music, I think that Warner Bros. had a missed opportunity here. I think that a female composer would have done the same thing as Rupert Gregson-Williams did with the score, but that is just a minor criticism. But for real, Rupert Gregson-Williams did have a good role in the music department, adapting a good soundtrack for an already good movie. Rupert also did the soundtracks for Hacksaw Ridge, Hotel Rwanda, and the critically acclaimed Netflix series The Crown, and Wonder Woman had a different musical tone from those movies. Out of Hans Zimmer and Rupert’s scores for Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman and this movie, I think that both themes were good, even though they were similar. Now, let’s hope that Rupert signs the score for Wonder Woman 2.
VERDICT
WONDER WOMAN (2017) had great characters, music, direction, and a good storyline, and most likely, is my favorite movie of 2017 so far. Wonder Woman receives a 10/10 and gold stars for all of the people involved in production.
Article by Zac (@speedingahead on Twitter) for DISCUSSING FILM.
