Wonder Woman has made almost $500 million dollars domestically and some say it’s well on it’s way to the $600M mark. If you haven’t seen it yet, get a sitter, call grandma, call out sick. Do whatever you need to do to get to the theater to see this film because DC has upped the ante with this one.
If you didn’t know already it stars Gal Gadot (Keeping Up With The Joneses) as Wonder Woman, Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Steve Trevor, and Robin Wright (House of Cards) as Antiope. It was also directed by Patty Jenkins (Monster) who is now at the helm of the biggest blockbuster ever directed by a woman. And frankly, it’s about time.
Wonder Woman is a comic book icon right up there with Batman and Superman and it’s still unbelievable that she hasn’t had a live action feature film yet. I’d love to know why it took so long but that’s not what we’re here for. As you know DC has struggled a bit to win over fans with their first few films with this story line but they seem to be on their way to redemption.
Here’s 14 Things DC and Warner Brothers Got Right With Wonder Woman:
- The Lore. Wonder Woman was actually born Princess Diana of Themyscira. She has a rich and complicated history that needs to be told. Out of all the origin movies we’ve seen so far, this one tells the most comprehensive backstory but without a bunch of narrative bogging it down.
- We get to see Paradise Island! Wonder Woman hails from Paradise Island, later dubbed Themyscira, which is home to the Amazons and it’s brought to life beautifully in WW.
- Greek heritage. As a theater nerd I love anything and everything about Greek mythology. Seeing how Princess Diana was created by Zeus and is actually a goddess makes her even more intriguing as a character.
- Robin Wright is everything. As if I couldn’t love her more, Robin Wright completely crushes it as Princess Diana’s aunt Antiope. Watching her fight I suddenly questioned my sexuality and thought, I would switch teams if I knew for certain she would be on mine. Her combat skills rival any man half her age, which by the way, is 51.
- Hero Humor. Thank God someone got the memo to add some levity to this franchise. One of the biggest bummers about Batman vs Superman was how sad everyone was. Superman isn’t emo, he’s freaking Superman! But in that movie he bummed everyone out. In this movie we gently glided between joy, excitement, pride and humor and it was magical.
- The costume. The internet freaked out a bit when pictures first leaked of Gal Gadot in her WW costume last year. Some said it was too sexy while others thought it didn’t look like she could believably fight in it. Calm down, internet. Calm down. The costume was perfect. It fit the mood of the film and the goddess who was wearing it perfectly.
- Chris Pine. He gets his own number because besides being my boyfriend, he might be the most charming man on film. Pine brought swagger to this character but not so much that it felt like he was the hero. His heroics never out-shined the star and I was so grateful for that. But mostly, I was grateful for the charm and humor he brought to the film.
- Etta Candy. Speaking of humor the addition of Etta Candy (Lucy Davis) to the movie was brilliant. She was like the best friend sitting next to you in the theater whispering all the things you’re thinking about Wonder Woman which makes sense because in the comics she actually was Wonder Woman’s best friend. Her chubby, candy loving friend. Why didn’t I get cast in this role??
- Dark, but not evil. Sometimes superhero movies get a little dark and evil. And that’s great if that’s your thing, it’s just not my thing. Or a thing I want my daughter to watch. When Diana is fighting the bad guys it feels like she’s fighting for mankind, not our souls which I appreciate.
- It’s inspiring AF! How many people applauded when you saw the movie? I’ll tell you the entire theater applauded on multiple occasions when I saw it. You’ve heard several people say this is the hero we’ve been waiting for. That’s true, but this is also the STORY we’ve been waiting for. She cares about human beings, even the ones that don’t deserve it, and she wants to save them.
- The weapons are real! Literally got chills when she first uses the Bracelets of Submission and we see the Lasso of Truth. Who geeked out a bit? This gal right here!
- Casting. I remember there was some scuttlebutt online from the nerd sector about casting Gal Gadot. I think it was mostly because she was a model with little acting or action experience. But as Hollywood sometimes proves to us, they know what they’re doing when it comes to casting. I thought she was perfect in this film. She played it with just the right amount of naivety, confidence, and a sense of justice. I can’t wait to see more of her in this role.
- The action scenes were actually believable. I admit I love a good comic book action sequence. But lately it seems like some of the out of this world action is ridiculous even for a comic book movie. How many times are we going to see a city like New York get obliterated with seemingly no aftermath or impact on the people? And the superheroes just go about their business of fighting the next bad guy. But in WW the London street fight was perfectly badass without destroying the entire city. And I LOVE that they had the final battle on a basically empty air base. It still had a ton of action and destruction but I didn’t groan when they took down a skyscraper or wiped out a city block.
- Genuine secondary characters. The WW back squad was made of awesome character actors that added a believability to this unbelievable world. Eugene Brave Rock as the “Indian Chief”, Ewen Bremmer as “Charlie”, and Saïd Taghmaoui as “Sameer” played their parts beautifully.
Honestly I could go on and on about this movie and what I loved about it. But I want to hear from you! What did you love about Wonder Woman? What did you want more of in the second film? Let’s hear it!
