NO MAN'S LAND
You’d be hard-pressed some ten or so years ago to convince a comic book fan that the DC cinematic universe would’ve be redeemed by a Wonder Woman movie. Though considering the myriad of other seemingly improbable events that have happened in 2017, maybe this isn’t such a stretch of the imagination.
To the relief of DC studio execs everywhere, 2017’s “Wonder Woman” has moulded from the clay of a failing film series into what is a tremendously great-looking and well-oiled work from director Patty Jenkins. Jenkins, who had been absent from film-making since 2003’s masterpiece “Monster”, returns to the silver screen to breathe life to superhero’s most well-known, yet most unappreciated character when it comes to live-action adaptations. This year’s “Wonder Woman” hits screens in the midst of a tumultuous year for female and gender equalities around the year, particularly in the hero’s adopted home of the USA. But, thankfully, the film doesn’t regurgitate a pandered-out, pretentious response to this current zeitgeist, and instead lets it’s quality do the talking.
In a sheer deviation from other members of the DCEU, “Wonder Woman” sports a delightfully lighter tone, even amongst the terrible backdrop of a war-torn Western Front amongst the dying days of WW1. Where 2015’s “Batman v Superman” was gloomy, brooding and glum, “Wonder Woman” boasts a fantastically brighter lease on life, with a color grading that is close to magical, even among the polluted pavements of London or the battlefields of Belgium. Seeing a well-coloured world such as Wonder Woman/Diana’s (Gadot) homeland of Themyscira is a honestly refreshing break from the excruciatingly dull colors seen across the Marvel and DC filmography these past ten years.
In terms of cast performance, it proves difficult to separate Gadot from her execution of a beloved DC character in Diana. The pressing issue is that Gadot is Diana. She comes to encapsulate the character in all it’s glory, history and worth and it is great for an audience. While it may not be the most technically brilliant performance, it is hard not to enjoy her time in the role. Think the impossibility of separating Robert Downey Jr from Iron Man since his inception of the character back in 2007. Support come in great performances from Steve Trevor (Pine) who shares some of the best chemistry seen in a superhero that the author can recall. He adds some serious magnitude to the story, both complementing the performance of Gadot whilst also grounding us in the reality that is a war story, and perhaps not a happy one either.
The film’s narrative does however get bogged down in the trenches of backstory, sometimes too often yanking the audience out of the tease of a big action scene, only to be hit with exposition. On the contrary, the film excellently leverages the milieu of WWI in Western Europe as a legitimate and authentic tension for the characters. Where many other superhero films feel contrived in their apocalyptic or apathetic end-games, the use of WWI as a period piece for Wonder Woman’s origin story reals far more real, where the stakes feel much closer to characters and audiences alike. This author does have issues with how quickly Diana turns from a warrior/pacifist of sorts with belief in the good of humanity to cutting down ze Germans once she beholds the Western Front. But the trend of superhero movies having a strong first-half with a iffy second seems like a facet any critique needs to just accept in the modern day.
While not a perfect piece of cinema, “Wonder Woman” is nicely crafted redemption for fans of the DC cinema series. Jenkins builds a believable universe that feels more inherently authentic than most superhero films before it, and is blessed with a strong showing from her leads in Gadot and Pine. You don’t need a Lasso of Truth to want to exclaim that this is a good next step in the future direction of the DCEU.
3 ½ stars.