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Hello, everyone. Yesterday I saw DC's latest superhero movie, Wonder Woman, and decided I should create a thread talking about it.
First I will talk about it in general, saying what I thought about it as a movie. And then I will move onto a spoiler discussion, and will bring up the feats that the movie has. So let's begin.
General Thoughts:
The movie is freaking incredible.
I may be suspect to be saying this, as I am an unapologetic DC fan, but I truly think this is one of the genre's greats. And judging by both the critical and audience receptions, the vast majority seems to agree as well. Personally, I would put this alongside The Dark Knight, Watchmen, Spider-Man 2, Logan and Batman v Superman (Ultimate Edition) as one of the best comicbook movies ever made.
Gal Gadot is perfect as Wonder Woman. She's incredibly charismatic and has a sincere charm to her, and in action scenes she has a powerful presence. You never once see her as an actress playing a role, rather you truly believe in the character. I'd say she's up there with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Robert Downey Junior's Iron Man and Christopher Reeves' Superman as performances that will go down in time as iconic.
Everyone who doubted her potential when Zack Snyder cast her for the role in 2015 should now feel ashamed.
The rest of the cast is also very good. Chris Pine does a fine job as Captain Steve Trevor, and he and Gadot have an excellent chemistry together. The other Amazons don't have much screen time, but Connie Nielsen's Queen Hippolyta is good. Etta Candy is a functional comic-relief, and the writers are smart not to let her steal the focus away from the plot. And the villains are all excellent.
The story is also very good. It's straightforward and simple, but very functional. And while lighter than previous DCEU installments, Wonder Woman is still a mostly serious story with actual stakes, drama and consequences. The humor is always kept in check, never being allowed to overtake the storyline, and as a result the movie manages to have real tension throughout. It's also very well directed, hitting on all the right notes and channeling all the needed emotions from the audience.
Finally, I have to give credit that in an age of Shared Universes, Spin-Offs and Sequels, the makers of Wonder Woman chose to create an entirely self-contained film. You don't need to watch any of the prior DCEU movie to follow the plot, nor does the movie set-up any sequel, nor are there any Post-Credits scenes in it. It's quite something.
If this is the direction the DCEU is headed, I'm even more excited for all that is to come.
Now, a more in-depth analysis.
Feats / Spoilers:
- According to the movie's backstory, the Gods of Olympus once ruled the land with Zeus as their king. Zeus created humanity in the gods' image, and imbued with many virtues such as righteousness, wisdom and compassion.
- Ares, the God of War, despised Zeus' creation and sought to corrupt it. He cursed men with violence, wrath and blood-thirst, bringing war to the world.
- Zeus then responded by creation another race, which would have the duty to protect man while spreading love and understanding: The Amazons. And for a time there was peace.
- It's said the Hippolyta led a rebellion, freeing the amazons from slavery (Presumably from Heracles, the movie is unclear) and becoming their Queen.
- Animosity between Zeus and Ares grew, and eventually Ares started a war of the gods, personally slaying them one by one until only Zeus remained
- Zeus and Ares fought in single combat, with Zeus winning and destroying Ares with his thunderbolt. However, he was left mortally wounded.
- Thus, with the last of his strength, Zeus created the Island of Themyscira where the Amazons would remain hidden, always preparing in the case of Ares' return. With them he left a weapon that could kill Ares: The God-Killer Sword.
- Diana grew in Themyscira being taught combat by the older Amazon warriors with a training 10 times harder than normal. By the time the movie begins she already has thousands of years worth of training
- Diana is also a cultured genius. She knows hundreds of languages and has read countless books over her lifetime, most notably the Greek Classics such as Plato, Homer and Hesiod.
- The normal Amazons aren't exactly that impressive power wise. They are definitely superhuman, being capable of leaping many feet in the air, displaying superhuman accuracy, agility, etc. But they are susceptible to bullets and things of the like.
- There is a slow-motion scene that should be calced that could put Amazons at Subsonic speed, tho.
- As we already know, Wonder Woman isn't an ordinary Amazon: She's the daughter of Zeus. Throughout most of the movie she is unaware of her origins and thus has mental blocks restraining herself from her full potential. More on that later.
- Throughout most of the movie the main villains are General Erich Ludendorff and Doctor Isabel Maru, aka Doctor Poison.
- The former is a psychopath warmonger who wants to prolong the Great War and plans to do so by bombing London to the ground. The later is a mad scientist who invents incredibly powerful chemicals.
- She creates a Hydrogen-Based Upgrade to the Mustard Gas, so potent is melts breathing masks and shatters glass. And she also creates a gas that boosts you to superhuman levels of strength.
- Ares is the main villain of the movie, and he is insanely powerful for a superhero movie villain.
- It's all but stated that Ares has been behind all major conflicts of human history. He whispers into the hearts of key figures of mankind, corrupting them to evil and bloodlust, and granting them inspiration for battle strategies and weapon creation.
- Oh, and he can create illusions / mindscapes as well. To try and convince Wonder Woman to join his side, he shows her the paradise Earth would become if they rid it of humanity.
- He showcases a large range of divine powers during the movie, such as: Flight, Teleportation, Shapeshifting, Telekinesis, Weather Manipulation (Influences the air, channels lightning from the skies), Earth Manipulation (Produces quakes), etc.
- He can also manipulate matter. He materializes weapons from nothing and transforms surrounding rubble into his divine armor. He also controls metals Magneto style.
- Finally, let's talk about something really neat: Wonder Woman's power progression.
- In the beginning of the movie, she's a standard Amazon. That is until she produces an energy shockwaves (Like the ones in BvS, but smaller in scale) out of stress and begins to realize she's something more.
- When the Amazons fight invading german soldiers on Themyscira, Diana is the only one who can follow the trajectory of the bullets, albeit she gets grazed by one and bleeds.
- Later during the movie she becomes capable of blocking bullets from point-blank range.
- She then leads a small army against the Germans, and blocks numerous bullets with ease. As the fight escalates, she becomes capable of lifting tanks around and even blows up the top-half of a church by ramming into it.
- This Wonder Woman during the end of the movie gets casually stomped by Ares, and it's then that she learns the truth: The "God-Killer" left in Themyscira isn't the sword she carries, it's herself. Diana is the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, and thus a being capable of killing a god.
- When she finally embraces her divinity, Wonder Woman is capable of fighting Ares on even terms, and even starts demonstrating various godly powers, like some degree of telekinesis, hovering in the air, and energy absorption / reflection. And she also blocks the lightning he shoots at her twice, further cementing her MHS+ speed.
- This means that Wonder Woman and those who scale to her should be upgraded to "At least Island level, likely higher"
