In the recent flood of superhero movies, several have managed to be quite good — but “Wonder Woman” ranks as one of the few great ones.
Gal Gadot’s turn as Princess Diana of Themyscira was a refreshing standout amidst the sludge of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and she’s as good if not better headlining her own solo adventure. It’s a film that not only improves upon many of the seemingly built-in shortcomings of superhero movies, but also mixes smarts, sentiment and adrenaline in the best Hollywood style. This is a superior popcorn movie, no matter what the genre.
It accomplishes this feat even while being an origin story, although thankfully screenwriter Allan Heinberg (a TV vet making his big-screen debut) never overdoes the introduction of familiar cohorts and gadgets — we don’t even get the invisible plane this time around — nor does he waste narrative real estate on setting up the next six movies in the DC Comics screen universe, outside of the occasional point of juncture.
We open with one, as a Wayne Industries armored car delivers Louvre curator Diana Prince (Gadot) an old photo of Diana in her Wonder Woman garb, looking exactly the same age, but on the front lines of World War I. Cue the flashback to young Diana on Themyscira, defying her mother Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) to train as an Amazon warrior with General Antiope (Robin Wright), who always pushes the girl, telling her that she is more powerful than she knows.
That power comes to the test when American spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash-lands near this paradise island, with a squadron of German sailors in tow. The Amazons know plenty about battle — they once conquered the war god Ares with the help of Zeus — but nothing about gunpowder, and many of their superior archers and horsewomen fall in a hail of bullets.
When the Amazons’ magic lasso compels Steve to tell the truth, and that he’s carrying intel that could help end the war, Diana insists on accompanying him back to the front, so that she may slay Ares and end warfare once and for all. Once back in England, Diana and Steve are forced to go rogue, since Steve’s mission to stop German general Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and the deadly chemical warfare of Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya) would interfere with the pending armistice.
In this rough outline, “Wonder Woman” might sound like any number of other, similar adventures of recent years, but where it shines is in the details. The banter is funny, the romance resonates — Gadot’s deep, dark eyes and Pine’s puppydog blues are a potent combination — and the stakes carry real substance.
It’s often said that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie, since combat is so cinematically exciting, but director Patty Jenkins (“Monster”) gets closer to that goal than most: when we see war here, we see destroyed men who have lost limbs, devastated countryside, and yowling orphans who will never be reunited with their parents. And unlike so many 21st century adventures, the sacrifices here stick; there’s no take-backs in the final minutes.
Diana’s scenes of action are thrilling precisely because they’re meant to stop war, not to foment it; the idea of a demi-god using love to fight war might sound goofy in the abstract, but Jenkins make the concept work. When Diana storms across No Man’s Land — a nomenclature given a whole new meaning in this context — to pacify a German foxhole, I got chills: Not the whoosh of recognition of some moment from the long-running comics or from the iconic TV show, not the amusement of some ironic undercutting of old-fashioned heroism, but the genuine charge that great pop entertainment provides.
“Wonder Woman” most certainly falls in with the other films leading up to “Justice League,” but there’s an inescapable feeling that the creative team and the studio have possibly learned from the shortcomings of movies like “Dawn of Justice” or “Suicide Squad.” For example, there’s still plenty of color manipulation happening here, but the result is a look that’s more in the sepia-and-sunshine end of the spectrum rather than the usual grays and grimness. And for audiences who find the Marvel movies too jokey while the previous DC efforts were too humorless, “Wonder Woman” strikes a balance, finding some amusement in the back-and-forth between Diana and Steve, as well as in the all-too-brief appearances of venerable comic-book supporting character Etta Candy, played here by Lucy Davis (“Shaun of the Dead”).
It’s a great cast overall: Gadot mixes ancient wisdom and gravitas with the delight and, yes, wonder of someone trying ice cream for the first time, and Pine takes the generally thankless role of Steve Trevor and imbues him with both a sense of duty and a sense of humor. And since Anaya starred in “The Skin I Live In,” it’s fitting she plays another character who has suffered extreme plastic surgery; the movie gives her poisons expert a stereotypical villain’s disfigurement — a facial graft that makes her look like the Phantom of the Opera — but she still manages to find a soul inside this despicable war criminal.
Jenkins and Heinberg very cleverly play around with female-character tropes throughout, whether it’s Steve’s reflexive attempts to shield Diana from gunfire (only to be rescued by her famous bullet-deflecting bracelets) or the trying-on-clothes montage (in which Diana rejects any number of 1918 London’s dress options, since they don’t allow her to do windmill kicks.)
For those who wish to pick them, there are certainly nits to be found: The Amazons all speak in a somewhat vaguely accent-y accent to contextualize Gadot’s Israeli-inflected English. (Nielsen and Wright have a lilt that calls to mind the old Kathy Griffin joke about Gwyneth Paltrow hanging out with Stella McCartney and suddenly sounding like she’s from “Europia.”)
The CG isn’t always perfect, and the surfeit of Amazons spinning around in mid-air feels like a holdover from earlier DC movies. Themyscira is concealed by a dome that hides it, but doesn’t keep boats or planes from passing through it. And there’s also a bit of casting that undermines what should have been a late-in-the-film surprise.
None of this got in the way of my enjoyment of “Wonder Woman,” however, a summer movie that raises the bar quite high for the months – and years – to come.
Every DC Comics Movie Ranked, Including 'The Suicide Squad'
Films based on DC properties go back nearly a century to those ancient Batman and Superman serials. That's a lot of history -- how does James Gunn's violent and hilarious "The Suicide Squad" stack up against everything that's come before?
39. "Jonah Hex" (2010)
Despite the efforts of Josh Brolin and Michael Fassbender, this is one of the worst comic book movies of the modern era.
38. "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" (1987)
Christopher Reeve is by far the best Superman. But "Superman IV" is a bomb in every sense -- partly because of its heavy-handedness about bombs. Nuclear bombs. The film finds Superman trying to eliminate the world's nuclear threat, but his best intentions run afoul of a silly, badly dated villain named Nuclear Man.
37. "Supergirl" (1984)
We had a female-superhero movie in 1984, and it was pure cheese. But hey, at least they tried. The best thing I can say about it is there are worse things in life than this movie.
Best known as "the one Shaq was in back when he tried acting," "Steel" is pretty bad. But the fun kind of bad.
34. "Justice League" (2017)
The Joss Whedon cut of "Justice League" is a disaster on so many levels before we even talk about Superman's weird CGI mouth.
33. "Man of Steel" (2013)
Could have been worse, I guess. But it's still morally gross and has a plot that doesn't make sense. That it's very pretty to look at doesn't override those things nearly enough to make it watchable.
32. "Joker" (2019)
This is not a good characterization of the Joker as a human being, and aside from that it's just a soulless, meaningless experience.
31. "Catwoman" (2004)
Thoroughly horrible, but somehow amusing even so. Sad that it's seemingly been swept into the litter box of history.
30. "Batman & Robin" (1997)
Rightly hated, but it's tremendously entertaining here and there. Uma Thurman and Arnold Schwarzeneggar are going so far over the top I can't help but admire them.
29. "Superman III" (1983)
Featured a brilliant corporate rip-off -- one later referenced in "Office Space" -- but the attempt to funny things up with the addition of Richard Pryor didn't gel. There was also a weird bit about a weather satellite creating bad weather, which isn't what weather satellites do. Seeing Clark Kent fight Superman was pretty cool, though.
28. "Green Lantern" (2011)
Overreliance on cartoony visual effects during a period when big blockbusters were moving away from that aesthetic meant this was a movie nobody liked. Not that it was especially horrible. It just looked like a dumb cartoon and is hard to watch.
27. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)
Probably wasn't intended to be a grim and gritty Shumacher Batmovie, but that is indeed what it is. This is Nolan going full Hollywood, smashing plot points into place by sheer force of will rather than because they make sense. An extremely theatrical Tom Hardy as Bane is amusing front to back, and a nuke with a countdown clock on it will never get old.
26. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016)
A total mess that hates Superman and turns Batman into a total maniac. None of those things are good. Ben Affleck can't save the thing, but he's excellent nonetheless and gives it a huge bump it probably doesn't deserve.
25. "Watchmen" (2009)
I have no particular affection for the revered "Watchmen" comic the way a lot of other nerds do, so my distaste for this adaptation isn't personal. It just doesn't add up to nearly as much as it thinks it does.
24. "V for Vendetta" (2006)
Felt nothing watching this. I tried, OK. It's impeccably made, though, and very watchable.
Giving this its own slot because it fundamentally changes the narrative of the movie and the character of Superman in the DC Extended Universe. This version is still not great (especially at three freaking hours), but it's a monumental improvement over the theatrical version.
21. "Red 2" (2013)
Did you even know these were comic book movies? Whatever, it's a great cast in a serviceable action movie and everybody's having a good time. Hard to remember, but fun.
20. "Red" (2010)
Better than its sequel, but they're basically the same.
19. "Batman" (1989)
Fondly remembered mostly because it was the first Batmovie in a couple decades. It isn't actually very good, though. The reveal that a younger version of the Joker killed Bruce Wayne's parents is as hamfistedly dumb as it gets in a "Batman" movie.
18. "Superman Returns" (2006)
Actually a pretty decent attempt by Bryan Singer to do a Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie in the present day, but Brandon Routh couldn't pull off the charisma it takes to be the Man of Steel. It was his first movie, so that's not surprising. But it's a shame, because Routh has gotten much better in the years since.
17. "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)
Remember that time they released a "Batman" cartoon theatrically? It gets lost amongst all the live-action ones, but "Mask of the Phantasm" is better than most of them.
16. "Superman II" (1980)
Made kids everywhere cry as they watched Superman give up his powers for a normal life with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). There are different edits of this movie, and we frankly can't keep them straight. But the sight of a powerless Clark getting beat up in a diner made Superman as sympathetic as he's ever been.
15. "Shazam" (2019)
It’s just so much fun! It’s a blast to watch, and is just a really nice celebration of the good parts of humanity. “Shazam” is a movie that simply feels good to watch.
14. "Wonder Woman" (2017)
Has the standard origin movie problem of "too much story, not enough time." And the standard DC Extended Universe problem of "We gotta have a nonsensical CGI battle at the end." But despite those caveats it's an enormous delight, and a big step forward for the DCEU.
13. "Birds of Prey" (2020)
This film is sensory overload, but (mostly) in all the right ways. And it's got the best action we've ever seen in any DC or Marvel movie. This would be a top 5 DC flick easily if the storytelling wasn't such a huge mess.
12. "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020)
Patty Jenkins' has the same sort of qualities that made "Superman: The Movie" so appealing. It's earnest, sincere and serious, but not silly or gritty or full of irony.
11. "Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021)
It's obnoxiously long and actually makes less sense than the theatrical cut. But this is still the quintessential Zack Snyder experience -- and thus it is just such a cool movie to watch. What it lacks in brains it makes up for with sheer audacity.
10. "Batman Forever" (1995)
Hits just the right tone for what Joel Shumacher was trying to do with the two films he directed. Tommy Lee Jones, as Two Face, is doing stuff in this movie that is hard to believe even today, given his perpetual sour face in nearly every other movie he's been in.
9. "The LEGO Batman Movie" (2017)
Funny, sweet and self-deprecating -- exactly what we needed in the wake of the disaster that was "Batman v Superman."
8. "The Dark Knight" (2008)
Should be way shorter, but Heath Ledger's Joker is far and away the best villain in any of these movies. Ledger elevates what would otherwise be just another self-indulgent Christopher Nolan exercise into an endlessly watchable picture.
7. "Superman: The Movie" (1978)
This is the gold standard of Superman movies, and was the best superhero movie bar none for many, many years. John Williams' score soars, and so does the believable and compelling romance between Superman and Lois Lane. The film convincingly blended camp (in the form of Gene Hackman's wonderful Lex Luthor), an epic origin story that actually felt epic, and funny lines. The scene in which Supes and Lois fly together is one of the most beautiful metaphors for new love ever captured on film.
6. "Batman Returns" (1992)
One of the best of the franchise because it's really just a political thriller. The Penguin emerges from the sewer and runs for mayor of Gotham! It's great stuff, especially as we continue to watch the rise of Trump in our world.
5. "Constantine" (2005)
A happy balance of serious and ridiculous, manages to find exactly the right tone for this weird religious fantasy and a cast led by Keanu Reeves. They all seem to get it.
4. "Batman: The Movie" (1966)
Has a timelessness that none of the other films do, and it's just a delight from beginning to end thanks to Adam West's winking Batman and the coalition of villains who can't stop cackling maniacally. Watching it again recently, I found it functions almost perfectly as a parody of the super-serious Christopher Nolan Batfilms, which is incredible.
3. "Aquaman" (2018)
It's not often that we get a comic book movie that is: full on ridiculous; loves how ridiculous it is; and is made with skill by a legitimately great filmmaker. James Wan's "Aquaman" is all of that, and it's just a wonderful experience.
2. "Batman Begins" (2005)
The most complete film, on its own, in the entire live-action franchise. It's just, like, a regular movie... except it's about Batman. It has actual characters and everything, and Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne even has emotions. It's weird.
1. "The Suicide Squad" (2021)
After Disney caved to a bad faith campaign to have director James Gunn fired, Gunn responded by making one of the best and most raw comic book movies ever. It's gross, funny, mean and heartfelt -- this is the work of a director at the very top of his game.
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James Gunn’s cynical action flick is a blast, but how does it stack up against the other great movies based on DC Comics?
Films based on DC properties go back nearly a century to those ancient Batman and Superman serials. That's a lot of history -- how does James Gunn's violent and hilarious "The Suicide Squad" stack up against everything that's come before?
