Wonder Woman: The Hero DCEU needs
A lot of people are left wondering where Zack Snyder is taking the DC Extended Universe. Well, with Wonder Woman you are left wondering no more. This movie is win for three people : Patty Jenkins, director of the movie, Gal Gadot and then all of us.
This is a first on many records:
- The First Female Superhero movie
- The First Really good DC movie.
Patty Jenkins creates a movie that is ultimately good at heart, one that stays true to the origins and not act as a teaser setup to another big movie. This is what sets Wonder Woman apart. It symbolises hope, courage and power in a way the earlier films failed to. Gal Gadot who drew a lot of flak during casting for being just a calendar girl comes out in flying colors with her role as the iconic amazonian. She is smart, genuine and positive making her the best wonder woman out there. She is vulnerable yet powerful and this is what makes her a breath of fresh air.
To be honest, I was uncertain about this movie as it was being dubbed as feminist. The ones which get those female only screenings, gets special review points for criticising men. (It’s like Dumbledore and Gryffindor all over again) But this one does not make you feel guilty of being born a man, it places Wonder Woman on the same level as the hero of the movie Chris Pine. Chris Pine has done an awazing job in the movie holding the plot together with Gal Gadot.
With Superman being lost most of the time and the Caped Crusader being drawn to the extremes far more than necessary, it is now clear, how important a role Wonder Woman would be playing when the Justice League arrives. The Wonder Woman movie is everything we thought DC had lost in time. It is good at heart, the central character symbolises hope (like you would have like Superman) and is funny when it wants to be. The scenes with Princess Diana coming to terms with London raises most laughs of them all.
The fighting scenes are sometimes filled with slow-mo sequences, they may not be for everyone. But the first two set pieces are made with very good planning and the soundtrack sets the right mood. The final set piece kinda falls flat (with loads of CGI and something about love), but hell yeah! Not everything is perfect. The sight of Diana Prince walking into No Man’s Land defending herself against blazing bullets is sure to raise your heartbeat.
But better than all of them, I think what saves the movie are it’s slow moments. Like when Steve Trevor teaches Diana how to dance or the sequence on the boat where they talk of reproductive biology. They could have just cut out these sequences and made the movie shorter. (At 2:20 the movie is on the long side of things) But then, these moments are what makes the audience care for the characters so much, may be the first time in DCEU.
So how do we win with Wonder Woman? For one, good movies are back on the table. This is one movie we have been waiting for a long time and didn’t realise it. A movie that actually fixes the growth problem in DC Movies. Diana grows from naive to guardian, makes everyone care about her as a character. Being the first female Superhero Film (good time someone made one) Patty Jenkins introduces a tough act to follow. But let’s hope more movies are do come out eventually.
With Jos Whedon (Avengers) now handling the post production of Justice League, the hopes are really high. Like they say, Prepare to be Impressed.
