I couldn’t not write about Wonder Woman. On a personal
level, this film has been a revelation, a relief and an antidote. We’ve waited
so long for this and it’s a huge moment, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
In terms of reading, the Greg Rucka return and run on the series this year has
really reinvigorated my love for the character and I would definitely recommend
the DC Rebirth Wonder Woman as a great place to jump on and learn about this
character and see what she really is.
I was emotional from the second they announced the Wonder
Woman film. I was emotional from the first trailer and the first reviews when I
felt an enormous sense of relief and a huge weight lifted. Like many, I did not
like Batman vs Superman. There were very few redeeming features in it (Wonder
Woman was one of the only ones) and I do not like Snyder’s interpretation of
Superman. There’s been very little heart, very little joy and substance to be
found in the DC cinematic universe for a while.
In the 12 months leading up to the release of Wonder Woman,
I felt a lot of fear and trepidation. This was also partly due to the response
to Ghostbusters last year, a film which I actually enjoyed. In the
comic book world, over the last few years, there have definitely been some moments of
extreme antipathy towards new female characters and feminist messages and
campaigns led against a few creators. So a lot felt like it was at stake,
approaching this movie and the emergence of a female hero, one of the trinity,
into the mainstream cinematic universe. If it failed, we could very
realistically not have had another chance at a female-led superhero movie for
decades, and the stigma around them may have evolved into this amorphous thing
that few would be brave enough to back or tackle.
I grew up obsessed with Star Wars, obsessed with football,
with Lord of the Rings and superhero stories too. I always knew they were
male-dominated, but I think I didn’t quite realise what I’d missed until this
moment. Until I came out of Wonder Woman and burst into tears. I am so happy
that there will be a generation of little girls growing up now, who get to see
this and grow up with this too – to have both. But this film is so important,
not just for those little girls, but for the little boys. The little boys who
can also grow up in awe of a woman and see a different hero who they can also
aspire to be like. I know my younger self needed this movie so much.
I felt something similar about 18 months ago, when Rey wields the lightsabre in The Force Awakens, and here I got to feel it through
140 minutes of a feature-length film devoted to it. I left feeling so lucky,
and then also a bit uncomfortable that I had to feel lucky in the first place.
I’m so happy that Wonder Woman has had such a brilliant
critical response. Critics have overwhelmingly picked up on the ground-breaking
positives in the film and it scored 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is stunning
after the DC films of recent years. On top of that, it’s done brilliantly at
the box office and hopefully brought a whole new audience to the character and
the comics. But, it’s so much more than all this to me. 
This is the most colour, saturation and vibrance that we’ve
had in a DC film for a very long time. Some of the shots, both the colouring
and composition, are jaw-dropping. The palette is full of variety and contrast
and there are scenes that you will just find yourself gazing at and getting
lost in. This is a film that needs to be appreciated on the big screen and I wish
I’d seen it in IMAX too. It’s not CGI heavy until the end (and the CGI is
slightly over the top in that sequence), but the light and colour that cuts
through the DC darkness is such a relief.
Chris Pine completely won me over as Steve Trevor. The movie
presents one of the nicer versions of Steve from the comics. The chemistry
between Diana and Steve was magnetic and the romance element never overpowers
the plot or individual character arcs, and doesn’t impact Diana’s growth. They
both learn from each other, and neither compromises anything about their
character in the process. They are partners doing their own thing. The movie shows how men and women who respect each other, balance each other and work well as partners and individuals. With the
world as it is right now, and some of the worrying backwards steps in the last
year, this film and Diana’s message and character was just what I needed. It’s
a reminder of how we should all aspire to be; how we should think about everyone,
love everyone, and never stop trying to help, and empathise with, every single
living being. Diana’s empathy, which Steve and others first cannot understand,
is one of her most unique and wonderful characteristics as a hero.
Gal Gadot plays this perfectly. While watching this film, it
feels like she was born to play Wonder Woman. She IS Diana in these moments.
She nails her naivety, her reactions to mankind, her horror, her joy, her
passion, her flaws, her limitless care and determination. It’s a stunning
performance in every way and an iconic one. I’ve seen it compared to
Christopher Reeve as Superman, and there are some wonderful parallels, particularly
in the glasses, her goofiness in negotiating London society at first, and
shielding Steve from a bullet with her wrist (notice also the little tribute to
Rosie the Riveter posters in this scene). Wonder Woman was the ‘badass’
highlight of the travesty that was Batman vs Superman, but thank goodness she’s
a million times more than that here. 
Patty Jenkins directed this film brilliantly and it’s a
breakthrough of incredible magnitude. It’s the first female-led superhero film,
which didn’t have to change for anyone or anything or compromise any of its
heart and soul. It’s here now for little girls, and boys, to grow up and enjoy
and aspire to and that hopefully will get them reading and creating stories of
their own, and not being afraid to tell them.
Yes, there are some narrative clichés and the villains are probably the weakest element of the film. More could perhaps have been done to not solely vilify the Germans, and to illustrate the point that both sides used hideous poisons and gases, and that both were culpable in so many ways. It also went down The Book Thief route of having German accents, but not the language, which I always find a bit weird. For me though, this film gets so much more so very right than it gets wrong. It didn’t have to be perfect, it had to be sincere and it had to be good – and it is. Patty Jenkins has made what they said was impossible and I feel so much gratitude towards her and Gal, to the scriptwriters, the composers, the costume-makers, and those of the comic writers and artists who really properly captured Diana over the years – who helped bring the heart and soul and the art to this movie and made it more than just ‘another superhero movie’.
I want to relive this experience again and again. I want to
take everyone I know, of every age and gender. I hope they’ll feel it too, and
understand. Take your daughters and your mothers but also your sons, brothers
and fathers and show them this is also for them.
It has been so wonderful to witness the outpouring of love
and solidarity from other directors, actors, writers and artists. They know
what it means, and it’s such a tremendous show of unity and togetherness – and
also so deeply individual and personal. I loved Greg Rucka’s tweet: ‘So much I love
about #wonderwomanmovie but it comes down to this: @PattyJenks was sincere
throughout. @GalGadot was sincere throughout. It’s a beautiful statement. It is
an inspiring statement…’. And Gail Simone too – one of the most incredible
comic writers to work on the book (and so many others) over the years: ‘I apologize for raving, but
honestly, this is what I have been fighting for for years and I kinda feel like
crying’ and ‘I get to go to bed knowing the Wonder Woman movie is in the world
and is going to inspire kids for decades. BUT HOW DO I SLEEP NOW’. And so many
wonderful people outside of the world of comics – who all found something in
this movie too.
There’s over 7 billion people on this planet, people with
different lives, different DNA, different circumstances and experiences. We
can and should do our best to represent – but so much is so intensely
individual that there will never be a perfect or fully satisfactory single representation.
It doesn’t mean we can’t try to be sincere and still use imagination and
empathy in fiction. There will always be faults, and things missed, but we can and
should strive to acknowledge the beauty of a sincere creative effort, while
always aspiring to do more and be better each time. The important thing is to keep creating and encouraging art and provoking thought and discussion. We can have hope and we can dream and do better and
we can definitely stand up and applaud all those who aim to do the same.
Update:
I’ve now seen the film twice and just sat back and revelled
in every frame the second time. I definitely appreciated things like the soundtrack
even more and I bought it immediately after. The music is so powerful and deeply
evocative in every scene. It’s beautifully composed and performed, to capture
every nuance and flicker of emotion.
On second-viewing that no-man’s land scene absolutely stood
out even more. It’s flawlessly done and in the trailer it was the bit that I thought
might make me cringe, but the editing, the photography, the pacing and the
performance is pitch-perfect. I sat there in wonder and awe. That and the
village scenes are the pinnacle of the film. I grew to love the characters of Sameer, Charlie and the Chief - again all had their flaws but all also had their individual stories and experiences which gave little insights into history and different experiences of war. I also loved Themyscira and the
Amazons, the comedic moments as Diana encounters London are so much fun, and
then the emergence of her and Steve’s partnership and the way everyone around her grows to respect her difference. The third act becomes a bit
more like a standard Snyder-verse DC movie, and the CGI battle at the end has
some weaker moments, but there are still moments in it with so much heart,
beauty and power that had me in tears.
I really hope there’s a substantial featurette on the DVD about
the Amazons and the incredible women who play them. Watching it the second
time, I revelled in Robin Wright’s performance even more. She is immense as
Antiope and her scenes are breath-taking. She exudes power, wisdom, experience
and beauty and I love that they show her scars, muscles and lines proudly.
Sadly there isn’t enough time in the story to give enough to
the incredible Amazon women, but I appreciated every second we had with every
one of them. Ann Wolfe as Artemis is a great example. She looks incredible;
proud and strong, and I hope it shows young girls that strength, power and
athleticism are beautiful and aspirational too. Wolfe is widely acknowledged as
the best female boxer in history. I love that they didn’t necessarily choose
actors to play the Amazons, they chose extraordinary people who embody their
spirit already.
This incredible cast excelled at everything that
traditionally has always been ‘male-dominated’ – women with spears, arrows,
wrestling, kickboxing – and the camera worked to show it all in its glory (slow-motion was used so well in this film, and not enough to feel too gimmicky). Here are women being completely natural as warriors. These aren’t girls dreaming of
being the next Hollywood star on the cover of a magazine, they’re athletes,
fighters, horsewomen, there’s even a published scientist – champions and, above
all, hard-workers - all with different body types (see http://thenerdybird.com/who-is-she-meet-wonder-womans-amazon-warriors/
for more about all these women!). Take notice, because no matter their
screen-time, these women are such an important part of this film and what it’s
about.
All that's left is just to say how glad I am that this film exists and just thank you to Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins especially, but also to all the creatives who played their part in this journey and who were, in the words of Rucka, sincere.
