As a means to contrast the enduring sense of dread I had in
the lead-up to the release of Baywatch (you know, before I ended up liking it), today’s film has been a long and
steady process of chanting “please don’t suck” over and over again every time I
saw the marketing for this film. Knowing what DC is capable of in terms of
stories, and how much their recent efforts have been underwhelming (I didn’t
give nearly enough flack for the whole Granny’s Peach Tea insanity from BvS:
Dawn Of Justice when I first reviewed it), I seriously wish that they would
stop falling under their own strain and just make the DC Extended Universe
worth watching. The closest we’ve gotten so far is Suicide Squad, and even then
it ranks up there in terms of the most bewildering fanboy rage quits in recent
years; it honestly seems like I’m one of the few people who was willing to give
that film a chance.
So, in the wake of this film’s alarmingly warm reception,
am I going to join the crowd for once or am I going to be the lone jackass
wondering what the hell everyone else is seeing? Only one way to find out.
The plot: Diana (Gal Gadot), an Amazon warrior who lives on
the hidden island of Themyscira, has her life shaken up when American soldier
Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes onto the island. As he details the World War
that is tearing Man’s World apart, Diana decides to leave her home and help
Trevor put an end to this war, in particular the actions of Nazi general
Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and chemical specialist Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya).
However, as she discovers more about life outside of her home, her faith in
humanity will be tested.
Back in my Dawn Of Justice review, I mentioned that Gadot
still had a fair ways to go before completely convincing me that she is Wonder
Woman. Well, consider me convinced. It’s hard to really put into words but the
sheer conviction she puts into the character’s mindset and want to make the
world a better place makes it at once inspirational and weirdly relatable.
Pine, while his presence in the story does make me slightly annoyed that we still absolutely have to give a female
main character a love interest, not only has terrific chemistry with Gadot but
feels like a true character in his own right. Nielsen only manages to bring out
the worried parent side of the queen of the Amazons, but thankfully, she’s not
in nearly enough of the film for that to be an issue.
Casting Danny Huston, one
of the best villain actors working today, as a Nazi general is the kind of
decision that would make even Marvel kick themselves that they didn’t think of
it first, and he unsurprisingly fills in that role very nicely. Opposite him,
Elena Anaya makes for a very unsettling presence as the deliciously-named
Doctor Poison, coupled with a face mask that never stops being creepy. From
there, it’s basically a who’s who of recognisable British actors from Lucy
“Dawn from The Office” Davis to Ewen “Spud from Trainspotting” Bremner to David
“Lupin from Harry Potter” Thewlis, all of whom go beyond simply being recognisable into fitting their roles remarkably well.
This has the best pacing of any DC film thus far… by which I
mean that it has any sense of pacing
to begin with. As a result of the ungodly game of catch-up DC has had to do to
meet Marvel’s level of presence and world-building, every DC cinematic universe
offering we’ve gotten so far has largely felt like films that know they are in
a rush to get everything set up and it shows. That feeling of exasperation is
nowhere to be found here, sticking to a deceptively simple origin story to fill
out the film’s run time. Basically, think of Man Of Steel, Dawn Of Justice and
even Suicide Squad as a construction crew trying to build an entire apartment
complex in a single day’s work, whereas this film is the smarter crew that
takes its time and puts everything in place brick-by-brick. And yet, “taking
its time” isn’t even the first phrase that comes to mind here, as this film
manages to breeze through its most crucial moments in a way that allows for
very natural character interaction and even humour. Yeah, actual humour in a DC
film; this is what happens when you stop taking yourself so friggin’ seriously.
But what about establishing Wonder Woman’s place in the DC
universe? After all, the 70’s TV show is all but a blip on the pop culture
radar and the less said about the unaired pilot for a new Wonder Woman show,
the better. It is at this point that I’d like to mention that the executive
producer behind that pilot, where Wonder Woman is shown as a bloodthirsty Frank
Miller-inspired vigilante that sees no problem with torturing people in
hospital beds to get what she needs, is also the writer for this film. Before
we all start panicking, I should also
mention that the writer in question, Allan Heinberg, has his share of
experience writing for the character in comic books and that kind of
familiarity shows.
Without it feeling forced down our throats, we get the
origin of Themiscyra and the Amazons (in a beautifully animated picture-book
sequence), a vivid picture of their society and culture and a feel for the legends that they hold dear. Not only that, we
also get an understanding of how they exist parallel to the rest of the world,
making them a part of the larger picture and a few steps to the left of it at
the same time. As for Diana herself, while the fish-out-of-water jokes at her
expense get truly cringey at times, along with the enfant terrible in her conversation
about sex with Trevor, she fits in not only with DC’s general approach to
superheroes but also with what makes for a compelling superhero in their own
right. Strong, capable, caring and willing to lead the charge against evil;
sign me up for a place in that army.
Amidst the DC universe’s rather muddled ideas of what makes
a good superhero story, there have been a lot of noteworthy questions brought
up within their narratives: What makes a person want to save people; what
happens if they decide not to save
people; who exactly made the rules on who should be saving people in the first
place; etc. This film, however, asks a different question: Do people deserve to
be saved in the first place? Initially, Diana’s attitude towards the larger
world comes across as naïve, innocent, dangerously close to precious in how she
doesn’t seem able to understand why the world is the way that it is in terms of attitudes (yeah, it’s
set during WWII, but let’s be honest: We still have a long way to go yet). However,
as the film presses on and Diana’s point-of-view starts to truly take shape,
that feeling starts to fall away and become something far more vital: Purity.
Diana’s view of humanity is pure, untouched and the way that she keeps putting
the blame on Ares for Man’s follies at war just shows how much she cannot bear
to believe that Man is capable of such evil on its own.
But here’s the thing: Judgement is easy. Aggression is easy.
Hate is easy. I’ve talked about
mankind’s innate fear of The Other in previous reviews, and in a groan-worthy
quote, fear leads to anger which in turn leads to hate. Wonder Woman, at her
very core, is a spirit of truth and compassion; she is part of DC’s legendary
triumvirate with Superman and Batman for a reason, as she embodies the very
ideals at the heart of every superhero. Wonder Woman isn’t strong because she
can deflect bullets or toss a tank across a field like so many schoolroom
tables. Wonder Woman is strong because she can see Man’s destructive nature,
witness the atrocities of war with her own eyes, and say “No. These people still
deserve to be saved.” When this ideal is wielded by both Heinberg’s learned
scripting and Gadot’s powerful delivery, it shows a message that the world will
never not need to hear but in a way that takes war films, superhero films and
just good films in general and shows the one uniting point between them all and
shines that light as bright as it can. Hell. Yes.
All in all… okay, rather than do my usual round-up, I want
to quickly go over how I qualify ‘good’ superhero media, not just films.
‘Good’ superhero stories, ones involving characters that are depicted as being
emblems of justice and peace, are meant to make you feel inspired; meant to
make you want to be a better person, go out into the world and do some good.
This film, far more so than any other superhero or even comic book-related film I have covered thus far,
does exactly that.
DC, now without a single shred of doubt, has a film that it
can be proud of, taking all of its former musings about the nature of heroes
and what they represent for the rest of humanity, and hitting the nail on the
head in such a way that I left the cinema with goose bumps all the way up my
arms. I still defend Suicide Squad as the first film DC has produced where I
wouldn’t mind seeing an Extended Cut, this film does so much right in such a
(relatively) small space that it doesn’t even need an Extended Cut. With how
these films have been steadily improving with each installment, I am honestly
looking forward to how Justice League is going to turn out. Believe me, a
couple short years ago, you would have never
caught me saying that.
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