My Thoughts on: Wonder Woman (2017)

It only took three years but I have finally seen Wonder Woman (in my defense, I was neck-deep in my dissertation at the time the movie came out, so I wasn’t exactly in the mood to go to the movies at the time). And the first thought that came to mind is: this is AMAZING!! You see, part of the reason I avoided this film for so long is I have an instinctive dislike of origin films. Even with a character as iconic as Wonder Woman, I have this thing where I don’t like seeing how the character gets started because they have the bad habit of being awkward (I suffer heavily from second-hand embarrassment). Imagine my delight then, when I sat down to watch Wonder Woman and found…practically no awkwardness at all! We do in fact get plenty of Diana’s early years on Themyscira, but it’s all layered in so much badass action that there’s no chance for early awkwardness to develop.

The bulk of the story is set in the closing days of World War I (1918), and sees Diana leave Themyscira with Steve Trevor to confront and kill Ares (which she believes will end the war on the spot). The story goes from London, to the trenches on the Western Front, to deep behind enemy lines. Patty Jenkins does not hold back from showing you the horrors of the “the war to end all wars” and it only serves to drive Diana even more to fulfill her self-proclaimed quest to kill Ares. Diana’s naïveté regarding Ares is almost painful to watch at times (because you know it can’t be THAT easy), but it’s also endearing because it highlights how sincere the princess of the Amazons is with her intentions.

And speaking of Ares…it’s brilliant how the god of war’s presence is teased throughout the film. For most of the story in fact, it seems patently obvious who the god of war is masquerading as (in hindsight it’s too obvious). In fact, it’s so obvious it makes the actual reveal of Ares’ identity all the more shocking (I did NOT see that coming). Jenkins does a phenomenal job of weaving into the story how Ares has been present all this time and yet is NOT (directly) responsible for all the wars and death that have been going on. Furthermore, his final confrontation with Diana is amazing to watch, it’s everything you could ever want in a clash between a god and an Amazon.

I was also blown away by the revelation of what Diana really is (something teased throughout the film). I’m a little disappointed the story didn’t go with the traditional “made from clay and brought to life” story, but really this works too.

Steve Trevor is also the perfect complement to Diana by the way. It’s funny how at first he tries to fulfill the stereotypical “alpha male protecting the weak female” role only to very quickly realize Diana does not need ANY help in that regard. And once he realizes it, he just goes with it, which is awesome to see. I love stories that turn the male/female dynamic on its head like this film does.

As far as superhero origin films goes, Wonder Woman is one of the best films I’ve ever seen. I do regret not seeing it sooner, but I’m glad I finally got around to watching it before Wonder Woman 1984 comes out (whenever that happens to be).

There’s so much more I want to say about how amazing Wonder Woman is, but I think this gets the basic point across: Wonder Woman is one of the best films I’ve ever seen, it gives Diana an awesome origin story, and lays the foundation for many stories to come (hopefully).

Let me know what you think about Wonder Woman in the comments below and have a great day!