Directed by: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Danny Huston, Robin Wright
Rated PG-13, 141 minutes
No movie this year has been glorified quite like “Wonder Woman.” The politics surrounding the movie—female director! female superhero!—have positioned it as a pivotal moment in filmmaking history, and in turn, the movie has broken box-office records and ignited hopes of opening doors for female filmmakers. If opening those doors is its only accomplishment, it will have done a great service for film.
That said, as a movie, it does relatively little of note. As far as I’m concerned, this is another by-the-books superhero (well, superheroine) movie, replete with special effects, boring characters, and enormous battles to determine the fate of humanity. While no more egregious a melodrama than any other superhero movie of late, “Wonder Woman” is also no more impressive.
The movie begins on the hidden, idyllic island of Themyscira, where a tribe of Amazon warriors lives sheltered from the rest of the world, awaiting the day when Ares, the god of war, comes to attack. Their princess, Diana (Gal Gadot, “Fast & Furious”), is forbidden to train for combat, but her Aunt Antiope (Robin Wright, “House of Cards”) trains her in secret. When an airplane crashes near the island and its pilot, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine, “Star Trek”), tells the Amazons of a war destroying the world outside their sheltered haven, Diana sees this as a sign of the return of Ares, so she goes with Steve out into a world she’s never seen to fight an evil she’s never faced. Soon she finds herself on the front lines of World War I, helping Steve chase down German General Ludendorff (Danny Huston, “21 Grams”), whose plans for chemical warfare threaten the impending armistice.
Of course, having never seen cruelty and ruin firsthand, Diana takes a while to get used to her surroundings. Every wounded soldier, every wailing child, every bomb in the distance is a distraction to her, and thus to Steve, who needs Diana to focus if they’re going to catch Ludendorff. This only distracts Diana more, since she thought Steve was one of the good guys, so why would he ignore people in distress?
Her quandary makes sense as a complication to the plot, but it clouds the movie’s direction, frequently leaving us unsure of whose side to take. Which, it’s worth noting, is exactly the point. The confusion that threads through the movie, the questions of what doing the right thing means and who the good guys are, is a buildup to a climactic realization that every person contains multitudes, that everyone is both good and evil.
If only that message were as profound as it desperately wants to be. “Wonder Woman” doesn’t say anything that isn’t already obvious: Anger is destructive; people are complicated; try to see things from your opponent’s perspective. These aren’t bad messages, they’re just hackneyed.
That’s not to say the movie is completely lacking in novelty. Beyond the obvious—a female director in Patty Jenkins (“Monster”), and a female protagonist—the film also has a refreshing sense of humor, touching on sex and gender politics without shyness. In various scenes, Diana’s amusing bluntness and skepticism are unexpectedly funny, and Steve is charming in his stuttering defense of Western civilization. Surrounding characters also offer pointed reactions to Diana’s unusual presence in their world, unaccustomed as it is to women who offer opinions on war and carry swords and protect their male companions from attackers.
But these intriguing moments are just that—moments. And while they comment in no uncertain terms on our cultural progress (or lack thereof), social relevance isn’t the same as interesting filmmaking. This is a fun movie, and hopefully an inspiring one for people who don’t mind a little well-intentioned didacticism with their popcorn, but it’s not a great movie.
Of course, if we want equality in filmmaking, we can’t place a burden on one female-led movie, on one female director, to represent the quality of films that can come from women in general. It’s easy to pin a lot of expectations on “Wonder Woman,” but the movie really only tells us that a woman can make a blockbuster just as well as a man. It’s a stepping stone, and a significant achievement, but better days and better movies lie ahead.
Originally published in The Harvard Press on 6/23/17.