Wonder Woman: Review by a Cinephile

I know you too must be a little nauseous by comic hero movies released every month and DC and Marvel taking their turns to give a chance to their fans to cheer. Being not really a ‘fan’ of either one, trying to write an unbiased review on recently released DC movie, WONDER WOMAN.

Let me be very clear at the beginning itself. Not going to tell you the entire story of the movie here, nor going into too technical details of the animation. I’m going to evaluate the movie as a cinephile who longs for memorable dialogues and acting scenes.

At first, I was reluctant to spend time on this one as the recent releases by both DC and Marvel were not really living up to their own high standards. But due to whooping 8.1 IMDB rating (and of course the charming look of the wonder woman 🙂 ), I decided to give it a shot.

And let me tell you friends, I am not at all disappointed. Wonder Woman has made wonders and gets ready to dive with me into the stupendous story-line and incredible action scenes. Don’t worry, I won’t disclose any real secrets during this review as I am certain that you would be watching the movie after reading this.

The movie starts with a little super cute girl, Diana is living on the Themyscira, a hidden island which is home to the ‘Amazons’, a warrior race of women created by the God of the Gods, Zeus.

This immortal demigoddess differs with all the superheroes we have watched for years. She doesn’t hide her emotions. She is compassionate, vulnerable and at the same time courageous to stand up for what she believes in.

Half-sister of the god of war, Ares, who is the main antagonist in the movie, Diana, doesn’t know her strength and powers until she finds them out in an intense training session. Naive and brave warrior Diana knows that someday Ares is going to return. She knows her duty to protect the world from the ultimate destruction as an ‘Amazon’.

Accidentally, she comes across a British pilot, Steve, who tells her about absolute carnage the world is subjected to due to this ‘war to end all wars’ in which millions have already died. Diana senses the presence of the Ares in this war and though Completely unaware of the world outside Themyscira, Diana goes out to take on the force of evil.

The ancient mythology of Greek gods and the evil of modern warfare, director Patty Jenkins coalesces a mesmerizing story-line. A fantastic dialogue writing by Allan Heinberg takes the movie to another level.

Patty doesn’t miss a chance to show the hypocrisy of our lives by the way Diana perceives the modern world. When Diana knows about a watch she asks “You let this tiny thing tell you what to do ?” and Steve, an ‘above-average’ man doesn’t know what to say. In another memorable scene, Etta, Steve’s secretary introduces her work as “I do what he asks me to do, I go where he asks me to go..” and unaware of modern world’s work culture, Diana says, ” Well, where I’m from that’s called SLAVERY.” (Ouchh !!)

Diana has a heart that is as pure and transparent as the water of Themyscira and she has the face of a Greek goddess. ( Well, she IS a Greek goddess 😀 ). On the first look, she calls London ‘Hideous’ and after eating ice-cream for the first time, she asks the vendor to be proud of himself. ( We know that divine feeling after the first bite, don’t we ? )

This long story sums upon the ultimate showdown between the wonder woman and the Ares. However, Patty refuses it to make all supernatural power animation battle. The valour of people is an integral part of the story.

The climax is as expected spectacular, and after over 2 hours of thrilling drama, the Princess of Amazons, daughter of Zeus, the one who vows to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves, Diana triumphs.

The casting of the movie is perfect, everyone has done their part aptly. Gal Gadot is born to play wonder woman. She has lived the role of Diana. Her depiction of this iconic comic protagonist would be long remembered. Her agony when she sees the destruction of the war can be empathized by every moderate person on this planet. A stand of wonder woman on this chaotic bloodbath is clear. “I can not stand by while innocent lives are lost!”. (And so shouldn’t we.)

The verdict is clear. This movie is a must-watch. Go, Wander in the world of wonder woman.

Rating: 8.2/10.

– Gaurav Pande