Wonder Woman: Tiny Doom Reviews
Hopefully, you already saw Wonder Woman if you are reading this. If not, you may want to bookmark this for later because - spoilers.
Before I even get into the movie itself, it’s almost impossible not to talk about the discussion leading up to Wonder Woman. For women in Hollywood and women characters, there was a lot riding on this one film. That’s largely because the reality is that women don't get the chance to fail like men do. One dude does a bad thing and it’s #notallmen, but women don't get that luxury. If WW is considered a failure by the industry it's “women heroes can't carry a movie”, or “women can't direct superhero movies.” Never mind the sub-par records of some other male-centric superhero movies (Batman v Superman, Daredevil, Punisher), these directors and characters all got second chances. I know I don't feel confident that women are afforded the same luxury, so Diana and Patty Jenkins carried a lot of their shoulders. Thankfully I don't think we have to test this theory with Wonder Woman. While I didn't feel it was the best movie (I'm not sure anything can dethrone Fury Road for me), it was a good movie - you know, for a movie about a woman hero written entirely by men.
I haven’t been shy about the fact that largely the DC movies haven’t been for me. It's a stylistic opinion, but I have generally felt these movies lack joy and color. Wonder Woman tries to buck that trend...at least at the beginning. Themyscira is beautiful, full of cool blues, crisp green, and shining gold. It’s the world of man that is drab, and drags us back into that standard DC color palette. The movie is essentially an origin story. As WW’s origin is less known than her male counterparts this makes sense. And as a character more steeped in traditional myth, this gives an opportunity to explore another part of the DC Universe, especially for those WW fans who don't read comics.
There was a lot that was good with this movie. First, the Amazons. My main disappointment with them was that they were only in a small part of the movie! While there could have been some more diversity, as someone who will soon be part of the over 40 set, it was nice to see that Themyscira was not filled with young waifs. Nor were the older women covered in overflowing gowns or caftans that hid their bodies. The Amazons were shown as strong, with scars, or marks out in the open.
Diana herself is very much a fish out of water for the majority of the film but remains self-assured and formidable. I'm not gonna lie, the No Man's Land scene was powerful, and that's because Diana looks powerful. I believed she was unmovable, and then able to move forward despite what was being hurled at her. It's maybe a little heavy-handed in terms of metaphor, but I don't care. For me, it worked. There were some other interesting takes on common tropes. As The Red Menace overheard two women in the bathroom discussing, the typical make-over scene was flipped on its head as Etta Candy (MORE ETTA!) is tasked with making a beautiful woman more dowdy, less distracting to men. You know, so they can continue planning the war and whatever. Thank God she wasn't wearing yoga pants or leggings, society would have come to a standstill.
My biggest disappointment is the reveal that Diana’s strength is based in the power of love - here's a trope I would like to see a lot less of! While I get what they are trying to say, having this reveal of her ultimate strength comes right on the heels of Steve Trevor’s death (yeah, he was totally fridged) made it feel more like romantic love, and an utter cliché. I felt the initial scene where Diana first reveals herself as an Amazon and crosses No Man’s Land (I see what you did there), is a much better characterization of her values. Diana’s strength lies in compassion and despite being a god, in her humanity. Compassion, of course, is a type of love, yes, and we see this play out in how Diana rescues a village no one else thinks is worth the time. But the moment where she "seizes the sword" of her own power was too wrapped up in her feelings for Steve, and given the romance angle, that he could be seen as an avatar for the human race gets overshadowed. Diana’s story and origin shouldn’t be based on her love for Steve, but rather in the fact that her compassion is what drives her decisions.
All that said, I think this movie is doing what it needs to do. It is proving that women heroes and directors (let's get some women writers in there too) can carry a big budget movie. And more importantly how exciting is it for kids of all genders to have Diana be one of their first exposures to heroes? It's pretty dang great.