Review of “Wonder Woman”
- Jim
- Aug 18, 2017
- 1 min read
* * * B
I liked Wonder Woman a lot, but didn’t find it deserving of the high praise it received from critics. Perhaps it’s because I saw it on the small screen. The film has three acts: the discovery of the hidden island of the Amazons by Steve Trevor (Chris “Kirk” Pine), the bringing of Diana (Gal Gadot) to the modern (well, 1920’s) world, and the climactic conflict, which I won’t spoil.
The first act is a bit corny, with the all female amazons somehow having survived since ancient times without dying. If you know your Greek mythology, Queen Hyppolyta fought (and lost to) Achilles in the Trojan war, imagined by the ancient Greeks to have occurred around 1200 BC. The Amazon’s weren’t considered immortals. So how, without men, did they survive?
The second act is fun. There is a fish out of water trope, as Diana’s incredible upbringing clashes with 20’s English culture. Finally, she, Trevor and a rag tag band of misfits head to the front to stop a plan by the nefarious General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) that would give the German’s the definitive advantage in the Great War using a new poison gas agent.
Diana becomes convinced that Ludendorff is the incarnation of the Greek god Ares, whom she believes it is her destiny to kill. Meanwhile, Trevor believes that men are the cause of the war, and will do anything to stop Ludendorff. As I said, I won’t spoil the third act. I found it very over the top, but it did bring the film to a satisfying conclusion. This film was far better than Batman vs. Superman, but possibly not as good as Man of Steel. Still, definitely worth seeing.
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