She Is Wonder (Spoiler Free Review)

Wonder Woman is taking the world by storm right now, and once you’ve seen the film, it’s not difficult to see why. She has arrived at a particularly poignant moment in the social consciousness, through a very creatively driven film during an era where most films are laughingly noted for their lack of creativity.

She is a powerful anomaly.

The movie is constructed in such a way where it’s digestible for first time viewers, or for fans harking back to the Lynda Carter days and beyond. Wonder Woman, Diana, is an Amazon- the warrior race of women created by Zeus himself amid an ambient pantheon that most of us know loosely by name if nothing else. Hera, Athena, Aries, Hades, Mercury… all gods from your everyday mythology, all part of the dynamic legacy that is Wonder Woman.

And they delivered it to us!

It wasn’t stuffy like a librarian dissertation, it wasn’t skewed to the erudite, it wasn’t dumbed down for the uninformed; it hit that sweet spot of enticing engagement and then only stayed there long enough to get the job done. Too many films have lost the critical art of timing; you’ve got to know what your moment is that you’re creating, and then know when to get out of it.

A common guideline in the comicbook writing world is “Get into a scene late, and then get out early.” The point here, of course, is to catch what is essential and then move on before you find yourself doing the work of your viewer’s imagination. If you’re doing what their imagination is supposed to be doing, then that means that their imagination isn’t doing anything… which means they’re disengaged. And the absolute worst thing that can happen in a movie (or any work of art really) is for the audience to be disengaged.

Disengaged means they don’t care.

Patty Jenkins made sure we cared about Wonder Woman.

We glimpse the innocent yet fierce nature of young Diana all the way through the evolution into her formidable adulthood. We see the inevitable clash of the resolute Queen Hippolyta and her equally stubborn daughter (Diana); yet beneath that we can’t help but sense the overwhelming love and respect they bear towards one another. The reason they’re so at odds is because they are both exorbitantly committed to the same ideals.

Into their world comes the charming rogue Steve Trevor. Let me say here that I’ve never really cared much for the character. For me, Steve has always been merely the catalyst sending Diana on her epic journey. But Chris Pine did a remarkable job of making this character worth something. A veritable necessity seeing as how Pine stars opposite Gal’s powerful rendering of Diana for the duration of the film; a lame Steve would’ve been a garish offense in so beautiful a movie.

Without uncorking any spoilers, the journey Diana takes into Man’s world via Steve Trevor is iconic and endearing because Patty and her team actually treated this cinematic experience like an ART form.

It wasn’t just a bunch of sequences strung together with explosions, pounding music, and high faluting feminist quotes. The entire movie- though starring a mythical warrior, a spy from World War 1, and a friendly group of rebels- felt unswervingly present in its humanity. We got to peek in on humorous conversations, thoughtful conversations; we got to be close up during very REAL personal clashes and conflicts.

Feelings. We were invited to feel the feelings, not just expected to simply because it was a DC Comics movie.

The emotion was raw and real and an organic part of the tightly wrapped story; Gal gave us the gift of a seamless performance as Diana/Wonder Woman. There were several times during the movie where I momentarily forgot that this experience wasn’t real. This wasn’t a documentary of true history. Diana doesn’t really exist.

But it felt like she did.

And that, above all, is why the movie is killing the box office and garnering rave reviews. That is why you should see it, and take someone with you.

Because it’s truly an experience. From the slippery clay of hollywood fiction, they sculpted something irrevocable. Something that you can carry with you in your heart once you leave. Something authentic. Something true.

Of course, if you go in with the sole purpose of criticizing, you can walk away with a litany of material. The ability to be critical is no great feat; synthesis is the real skill. That rare talent to understand what something is supposed to be, recognize what it is, and bear sufficient psycho-emotional prowess to identify whether the resulting product is good.

I’m here to tell you that it is.

Wonder Woman is a movie in harmony with itself; it’s what it was supposed to be.

 And it’s good.

Wonder Woman now playing in theatres everywhere.

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Joshua Evans is a prolific writer and sci-fi/fantasy enthusiast who believes story is central to everything and that mythology can change the world. He currently hosts two youtube shows- The Truth About Superheroes and Comic of the Week. He is also known to frequent the sphere of short story writing as The Story Junkie. If you would like to further be a part of his cosmic psyche, you can join him on Twitter and Instagram (@comicsinspire) or simply subscribe to this blog… and remember- sharing is caring! Cheers!