NOT WONDERFUL, BUT WORTHY
Newest DC comic film gets a pass
There is much pleasure to be had in this latest chapter of DC Comics’ late-breaking rival to the Marvel-verse, probably more than in the last three DC outings — Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad — combined. Then again, you could fit all the fun of those movies into the glovebox of the Batmobile, without even taking out the insurance papers or the Zagat Guide to Gotham.
The danger for critics, therefore, is to lavish too much love on Wonder Woman, when in fact there are quite a few flaws beneath its fine cheekbones and kick-ass costume, which has evolved from Lynda Carter’s ’70s hot pants and bustier into something a little more dangerous. (One character admits to being both frightened and aroused.)
For starters, the screenplay plays fast and loose with Greek mythology — pretty sure no one else has ever claimed Zeus was an all-around great guy — as well as the more recent history of the Great War, which it appropriates as a backdrop. And it tosses in casual, throwaway anachronisms, most of them falling from the lips of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), a U.S. soldier seconded to British intelligence, which is Hollywood’s go-to way of getting around the fact that America was late to both World Wars.
Add to this a bloated running time of two hours and 20 minutes, and too many slowmotion battle sequences — the solution to both of which is the same thing, by the way — and you have a movie that still needs a little work. Were I director Patty Jenkins, six months ago, I’d have been insisting on double shifts for editor Martin Walsh.
So what’s good about it? Let’s start with Israeli actress Gal Gadot as Diana, Princess of Themyscira and daughter of Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), whom no one in the film ever actually refers to as Wonder Woman. A little flat in her Batman v Superman cameo, she has now settled nicely into the role, not taking herself too seriously, and even allowing the odd raised eyebrow or smirk when the comic-book goofiness of it all becomes too much.
She and Pine’s character have a marvellous, awkward (for him) conversation in which she says she’s read a 12-book treatise on sensuality, with the conclusion that while men are essential for reproduction, they are unnecessary when it comes to physical pleasure.
This takes place not long after Steve has crash-landed just off the coast of Diana’s island home, with a bunch of German ships on his tail. (Although how you send ships in pursuit of an airplane is a mystery to me.) The Amazons of Themyscira manage to best the Germans in a pitched battle that makes it clear neither side has ever seen the likes of the other.
Diana is convinced the conflict is the work of Ares, god of war, and she vows to accompany Steve back to Europe with the aim of destroying said deity. Steve is more concerned about stopping the spread of a new poison gas that’s been developed by “Dr. Poison” (Elena Anaya), whose scarred face is covered by what looks like a Phantom of the Opera mask made of Silly Putty. He hires some soldiers of fortune (Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewan Bremner and Eugene Brave Rock) and heads for the front.
You’d think, without the obligatory Stan Lee cameo demanded by that other franchise, plus the running time, there’d be oodles of opportunity for character development. And you’d be wrong. Diana’s history is kept deliberately vague, with a lot of whispering among the other Amazons about not letting her know. Steve comes across as a bundle of tics and stammers, while his mercenary friends get even less backstory. One wants to be an actor, but claims he’s the “wrong colour.” For this you head into battle? That’s like a failed accountant taking up lion taming.
And I haven’t even touched on Danny Huston as Ludendorff, chief baddie on the German side, though not the most careful one: Steve manages to talk his way past a guard and into a gala reception in enemy territory by speaking English in a thick German accent.
So on the one hand we have a litany of lazy screenwriting, some simple resolutions and occasionally atrocious CGI. (I’m looking at the scene where Steve escapes with Poison’s recipe book.) On the other, nice chemistry between the leads and a solid turn by Gadot, who more than holds her own amid the testosteroneladen cast. (Lucy Davis livens up the female side a little as Steve’s sharp-tongued secretary, funny if a touch anachronistic.)
The balance is tipped toward the positive by the fact that the plot rattles along merrily, taking us from the wilds of Themyscira (Paradise Island, for us old-timers) to wartime London, the trenches of Europe and more. It’s just enough entertainment to hold our attention. You may even wonder where those two-plus hours have gone.