Wonder Woman Review

No Man’s Land?

Let’s Start By Showing Y’all The Trailers Shall We?

When Wonder Woman came out back in 2017, DC really needed a win. And I mean they really needed one. At this point, the DCEU had already become one of the most chaotic superhero universes around. Man of Steel split audiences. Batman v Superman turned the internet into a battlefield. Suicide Squad came out and felt like a movie edited by someone throwing darts at a wall while listening to trailer music. So when Wonder Woman finally arrived, there was a lot of pressure on this film. This could not just be another loud DC movie where characters stand around looking miserable in gray lighting while everyone argues about gods and destiny. This movie needed to actually work.

And somehow, it did.

Not only did Wonder Woman work, but it ended up becoming one of my favorite DCEU films. It has heart, it has great chemistry, it has a strong lead, it has a fun fish-out-of-water story, and it has one of the best superhero scenes DC has ever put on screen. I do not think the movie is perfect, and trust me, we will absolutely get to that third act because oof, that thing takes a dive straight into CGI soup. But even with those issues, this is still a great film and one of the few DCEU movies I can recommend without needing to add a giant list of warnings afterward.

Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

The movie opens on Themyscira, the hidden island of the Amazons. It is this secret paradise protected from the outside world, filled entirely with warrior women who have trained for generations. This is where we meet Diana as a child, and right away the movie establishes who she is. She is curious, brave, stubborn, and desperate to understand the world beyond the one her mother wants to keep her inside. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, wants to protect her, while Antiope believes Diana must be trained because one day she may need to fight. That conflict gives the opening a nice emotional pull because Diana is not just some chosen hero waiting around for the plot to happen. She wants to become stronger, she wants to know the truth, and she wants to do something meaningful.

The Amazons believe in Ares, the God of War, and they believe he corrupted mankind and brought violence into the world. Diana grows up hearing this story, so when a plane crashes through the magical barrier surrounding Themyscira and brings Steve Trevor into her life, she immediately connects the war outside to Ares. Steve tells them about World War I, about millions dying, about humanity tearing itself apart, and Diana believes this must be the work of the God of War. So she leaves Themyscira with Steve, believing that if she finds and kills Ares, she can end the war.

That premise works because Diana’s worldview is simple, but not stupid. She is naive because she has never seen the world of men before, but she is not foolish. She believes people are good because she wants to believe they are good. She believes evil has a source because that is the story she was raised with. The movie then sends her into a world that is far more complicated than anything she was prepared for, and that is where the film really finds its strength.

Character Rundown

Gal Gadot is really good as Diana. I know people have had their criticisms of her acting over the years, but in this movie she works incredibly well because Diana is supposed to feel sincere, innocent, determined, and compassionate. She is not a cynical superhero. She is not someone who rolls her eyes at helping people. She sees suffering and immediately wants to do something about it. That is what makes her such a strong character here. She does not need someone to convince her to care. She already cares. The entire world is trying to tell her that things are complicated, that wars cannot be solved so easily, that sometimes people are cruel because they choose to be, and Diana keeps pushing back against that because she refuses to accept that doing nothing is the answer.

Chris Pine as Steve Trevor is also fantastic. He brings so much charm to this movie, and his chemistry with Gal Gadot is one of the biggest reasons the film works as well as it does. Steve could have easily been written as just the guy who explains the human world to Diana, but Chris Pine makes him funny, likable, brave, and emotionally grounded. He has seen the worst of mankind, but he still wants to stop the war. He does not have Diana’s idealism, but he is not heartless either. He is basically the bridge between Diana’s innocence and the harsh reality of the world she enters.

The fish-out-of-water material in the second act is one of the best parts of the movie. Diana arriving in London and being confused by human customs, clothing, politics, and social rules could have been annoying if handled badly, but here it is actually charming. She does not understand why women are treated the way they are. She does not understand why people are standing around talking while others are dying. She does not understand why Steve keeps telling her they cannot just walk into enemy territory and kill the person she believes is Ares. And honestly, that frustration makes sense. From Diana’s perspective, everyone around her is overcomplicating something that should be simple: people are suffering, so help them.

The villains are where the movie starts to get weaker. General Ludendorff, played by Danny Huston, is fine as the obvious bad guy Diana assumes must be Ares. He is not terrible, and honestly, after seeing him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as William Stryker, it is nice to be reminded that the actor is not the problem. Sometimes a bad script just drags everyone down with it. Here, he is serviceable. He is threatening enough, he works for the story’s misdirection, and he gives Diana someone to focus on. Doctor Poison is visually memorable and creepy enough, but the movie does not do much with her beyond making her the person behind the deadly gas.

Then we get Ares, and that is where my problems really begin. David Thewlis is a good actor. I like him. He was great as Lupin in Harry Potter. But the reveal that this random British politician guy from earlier is actually Ares never fully works for me. The movie wants this to be a massive reveal, but it feels more like the script suddenly remembered it needed a final boss.

Pacing / Episode Flow

For most of its runtime, Wonder Woman is paced extremely well. The Themyscira opening gives us mythology, character, action, and emotional stakes without feeling overloaded. We understand Diana’s home, her people, her training, and her mother’s fear. Then Steve arrives, the island is invaded, and the movie suddenly crashes the outside world into Diana’s protected life. The beach battle is strong because it shows the Amazons as powerful warriors, but also shows that the war outside is more dangerous than Diana understands. Bullets, guns, and modern warfare enter this mythological paradise, and the contrast works.

The second act is where the movie becomes more of a fish-out-of-water adventure, and I really enjoy that stretch. Diana and Steve traveling to London, assembling a small team, and heading into the war gives the movie an old-school adventure feeling. The humor works, the character dynamics work, and the movie never loses sight of Diana’s main motivation. She believes she is on a mission to save mankind by killing Ares, while Steve understands the war is far more complicated than that.

Then we get the No Man’s Land sequence, and honestly, this is the movie at its absolute peak. This scene is not just good. It is one of the best scenes in the entire DCEU. Diana hears about a village being enslaved and civilians suffering, and everyone tells her they cannot help. The battlefield is impossible to cross. Soldiers have been stuck there for ages. No one can move forward. And Diana basically decides that she has heard enough. She steps out of the trench, raises her shield, and walks directly into gunfire. That moment is everything Wonder Woman should be. She is not doing it because it is easy. She is doing it because it is right. The music swells, the soldiers follow her, and for a few minutes the movie becomes exactly the kind of superhero film DC needed.

The problem is that the third act does not live up to the rest of the movie. Once the Ares reveal happens, the film slowly turns into a big CGI final battle, and that is frustrating because the movie had been more interesting when it was challenging Diana’s worldview. The idea that killing one bad guy would not stop the war was great. Diana kills Ludendorff, expects the fighting to end, and nothing changes. That should have been the point. That should have been the big lesson. Humanity is not corrupted by one single villain hiding behind the curtain. People are complicated. War is created by fear, hatred, power, greed, and human choices. But then the movie goes, “Actually, Ares is real and now we need a boss fight.” Lovely.

Pros

The biggest strength of Wonder Woman is Diana herself. The movie understands her compassion, her courage, and her belief in people. She is powerful, yes, but the movie never makes her power the only reason she matters. What makes Diana heroic is that she chooses to act when everyone else says it is impossible. That is why No Man’s Land works so well. It is not just an action scene. It is a character statement.

The chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine is also excellent. Their relationship gives the movie a lot of warmth, and Steve’s eventual role in Diana’s journey feels earned because the movie spends enough time building their connection. They are funny together, they challenge each other, and they bring out different sides of each other. Diana gives Steve hope, and Steve helps Diana understand the complexity of mankind.

The World War I setting also helps the movie stand out from other superhero films. Instead of another modern city being destroyed by a sky beam, we are placed in a historical war setting that gives Diana’s mission more weight. The trenches, the battlefield, the suffering civilians, the soldiers who are exhausted and traumatized — all of that gives the movie a texture that many superhero films do not have.

And again, No Man’s Land. I do not care how many times people praise that scene. It deserves it. It is epic, emotional, visually memorable, and perfectly captures the character.

Cons

The third act is easily the biggest issue. The Ares reveal just does not work as well as the movie wants it to. David Thewlis is a good actor, but suddenly turning him into the final boss feels clunky. The movie spends so much time building an interesting moral question about whether mankind is worth saving, then it turns around and gives us a giant CGI battle between Diana and Ares. It is not awful enough to ruin the movie, but it is a noticeable drop in quality.

The villains in general are not that strong. Ludendorff works as a red herring, but he is not especially deep. Doctor Poison has an interesting look and concept, but she does not get enough development. Ares should be the thematic heart of the villain side, but his reveal comes too late and feels too sudden. For a movie this strong emotionally, the villains are definitely the weakest piece.

The final fight is also visually messy compared to the cleaner, more grounded action earlier in the movie. I would much rather rewatch Diana crossing No Man’s Land than watch her throw lightning and debris around in a CGI explosion-fest. The movie was at its best when the action felt tied to people and places. The final battle feels like the studio remembered superhero movies need a big ending and cranked everything up too far.

Final Thoughts

Even with the weak third act, I still really love Wonder Woman. This is one of those movies where the good heavily outweighs the bad for me. The first two acts are strong enough, the characters are likable enough, and the emotional core works well enough that the messy ending does not destroy the experience. It hurts the movie, absolutely, but it does not erase everything that came before it.

This movie reminded people that DC superheroes could be hopeful without being boring. Diana is not interesting because she is dark and brooding. She is interesting because she believes in doing the right thing even when the world gives her every reason to stop believing. That is powerful. That is the kind of superhero story I want from Wonder Woman.

Would the movie have been better if Ares had remained more symbolic or if the final lesson had been that humanity’s darkness comes from humanity itself? Absolutely. That would have been a stronger, braver ending. But even with the movie choosing the safer CGI villain route, the emotional journey still works for me.

So yes, I highly recommend this movie. It is one of the best DCEU films, one of the strongest superhero origin movies of the 2010s, and still contains one of the most iconic scenes DC has ever filmed. It is not perfect, but it is great.

Rating

9/10

Spoiler Warning

Everything past this point contains spoilers for Wonder Woman.

If you have not seen the movie yet, I do recommend checking it out first because this is one of the DCEU films that is actually worth watching. From here on, I will be talking about Steve Trevor’s death, the Ares reveal, the third act, and why the movie starts to lose some of its magic near the end.

You have been warned.

Spoilers

Diana killing Ludendorff and realizing the war does not end is one of the best ideas in the entire movie. That moment should shatter her worldview. She has spent the entire story believing that if she kills Ares, mankind will be freed from corruption and the war will stop. So when she kills the man she believes is Ares and nothing changes, the movie suddenly becomes much more interesting. Diana has to confront the possibility that mankind is not being controlled. They are choosing this. They are choosing violence. They are choosing cruelty. That is a much more mature idea than simply having a secret god behind everything.

Unfortunately, the movie does not fully commit to that. Instead, Ares reveals himself, and he is the British politician guy played by David Thewlis. Again, I like David Thewlis. He is not the problem. The problem is that the reveal feels like it comes out of nowhere and turns a more interesting moral conflict into a more traditional superhero final battle. The movie tries to have both ideas at once by saying Ares influences mankind but does not control them, which is better than nothing, but the second the giant CGI armor and lightning show up, the subtlety starts leaving the building.

Steve Trevor’s sacrifice is still genuinely emotional. He steals the plane carrying the deadly gas and flies it high enough to destroy it, knowing he will die in the explosion. Chris Pine sells the moment beautifully, especially because Steve knows Diana may not fully understand what he is saying in the moment. His death hurts because the relationship worked. The movie earned that loss. It is not just a random heroic sacrifice. It is Steve choosing to save people because, despite everything he has seen, he still believes saving them matters.

Diana’s grief turning into rage during the final battle makes sense, but again, the fight itself is not my favorite. I like the emotional idea behind it. I like that Diana ultimately rejects Ares’ view of humanity. She sees the worst of mankind, but she also sees Steve’s sacrifice, and she chooses love over hatred. That is a strong ending thematically. I just wish the actual execution had been less CGI-heavy and more emotionally focused.

The final message still works, though. Diana learns that people are flawed, cruel, selfish, brave, loving, cowardly, heroic, and terrible all at once. They are not purely good, but they are not beyond saving either. That is why she chooses to protect them. Not because they deserve it every second of every day, but because she believes they can be better.

And honestly, that is Wonder Woman.