Movie Review: Wonder Woman

My brother, sister, and I grew up watching Wonder Woman on Network Television.  It was such a great, campy show and for us Linda Carter was the perfect actress to portray the title heroine.

Chris and I had read some mixed reviews of the new movie, but thought we'd go ahead and see it for ourselves. For a comic book-brainless fun-popcorn flick, we really enjoyed it.

This is an origin story and which begins with Diana as a young girl among the Amazons.  Diana's adoptive mother Hippolyta, played by Connie Nielsen, attempts to prevent young Diana from training as a warrior with Hippolyta's sister Antiope, played by Robin Wright.  Antiope, hinting at a dark secret which Diana must not learn, trains the girl on the sly.  Fast forward several years and Diana's training comes to light and is finally approved by Hippolyta.  As her training progresses, Diana begins to realize she has hidden strengths and powers her Amazon sisters do not.

Soon after Diana discovers her new talents she rescues a pilot from drowning after his plane is shot down just off the coast of the mysterious island the Amazons occupy.  After questioning the pilot Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, it is revealed he is a spy fighting against the Germans during WWI.  The Amazons, having isolated themselves from the world, are reluctant to let Steve return to the war and are set against interfering in the war, much to Diana's disappointment. Diana refuses to back down from her desire to help bring an end to the war and helps Steve escape and travels with him to London. In London they are joined by several side characters and embark on a quest to stop an evil German general, a mad scientist, and the war.

Visually, this movie was stunning and I loved the decision to place the origin story during WWI instead of the traditional WWII of the comic book series.  The costumes were amazing and Gal Gadot was absolutely, gorgeously, perfect as the new Wonder Woman.  I enjoyed the plot, but like so many other comic book movies, it did get a tad outrageous toward the end.  Many of the fight sequences were enhanced digitally in post production and I found the use of CGI to be overdone and distracting.  Wonder Woman/Diana Prince was a wonderfully done character.  She was strong, beautiful, heroic, and idealistic. Unfortunately, there is a fairly lengthy scene in which Chris Pine is apparently completely nude (important anatomy is basically covered), some sexual innuendo in the dialogue, and a scene in which the viewer is left with the perception that the two main characters have slept together.  For these reasons, I will not be allowing our teenage daughters or little guys to see this movie, which is a real shame because it was truly fun to see such a strong and virtuous heroine in a contemporary film.


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