DC has been far behind, with the MCU releasing a movie almost every year in recent years. After Nolan’s Batman, DC, which set out to gather all the heroes like Marvel in a single film, started to bring all the heroes to the big screen, respectively, with their solo films. We partially opened this marathon with Man of Steel, namely Superman. Continuing with Batman v Superman, the DC cinema world, unfortunately, stopped due to the fact that the film could not reach the desired level and was exposed to criticism. On top of that, they went down with the Suicide Squad flop. The most significant factor in this sinking was Marvel-like choreographic fights and endless jokes. But they did something different with Wonder Woman.
DC gave us all hope by giving the good news of the following two projects after Batman v Superman. This is the first time we will meet a Wonder Woman after Lynda Carter and, of course, Justice League. Although I was hopeless about Justice League, Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot, was my only hope for DC. I would be very upset if it was a bad movie, but thanks to Zeus, it turned out to be one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen.
Let’s briefly touch on its subject… In the film, where we focus on the true story of the Wonder Woman photograph that appeared in Batman v Superman, we watch Wonder Woman leave her own paradise and join the First World War. By chance, Steve Trevor, who enters the hidden paradise of the Amazons from everyone where they live, drags a vast German army behind him. Thus, the Amazons, who learn that there is a war in the outside world, must decide. But because they do not believe in men’s world, they prefer not to interfere. Yet The Queen’s daughter Diana wants to go to war because she believes in Steve. According to mythology: Ares, son of Zeus, is the cause of all wars. If Ares dies, people will fall out of his influence, and the war will end. Thus, Steve embarks on an irreversible journey to the front to stop a deadly weapon that the Germans are preparing, and Diana to find Ares and end the war.
I’ll have a hard time making an objective comment. I’ve been waiting for a long time, being very hopeful, and admiring Gal Gadot’s magnificent entry in Batman v Superman, but Wonder Woman was a top-tier movie. Except for a few fictional problems, it is top-notch. Director Patty Jenkins has done a great job in a Hollywood world where almost no woman other than Kathryn Bigelow can make a blockbuster movie. And she brought up a truth that I constantly repeat: Women can do great things if they won’t be discriminated against. Except for the sharp and disjointed plot transitions in some scenes and the hero jump cliché from the 80s in some places, Patty Jenkins is an excellent director.
Compared to DC’s other films, the story is very successful and progresses logically in itself. I was inquisitive about how they would take Wonder Woman to the front. This would perhaps be the breaking moment of the movie, but they did not make a cheap choice as in other films, and it connected the subject significantly. As I said, DC has been struggling lately with setting the story and creating a “dark” theme that we haven’t seen again after Nolan. On the other hand, Wonder Woman successfully reflects the ugly face of war, bringing back that realism we’ve been waiting for for a long time. At the same time, the film, which is very important to me, does not slow down the pace by keeping the humor low. Likewise, since it is a period film, the pastoral color preferences were also a good choice visually. Steam-Punk-like environment, which we have not seen in movies for a long time, was added to the movie (London scenes) to create an exquisite visuality.
Unlike Marvel, DC likes to constantly surprise those who come to the cinema by watching the trailer by hiding its villains. The main antagonist always reveals themselves at the end of the movie. With Doomsday in Batman v Superman and Enchantress in Suicide Squad, I have to give them justice, they pull a good twist in the film. By doing the same tactic in Justice League, they didn’t show the main villain. Wonder Woman likewise doesn’t show the main villain and makes a solid twist in the end.
Especially Gal Gadot, who was pregnant during a part of the shoot, shows wonderful acting. Perfectly suited to portray the character of Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot has done a fantastic job in the early inner-city scenes. It seems that we will see more of the actress who did a great job in the battle scenes because the Wonder Woman series is planned to be a trilogy. Likewise, it is likely to appear in the Justice League and possibly Solo Batman movies a lot.
Long story short… Wonder Woman has been one of the most successful films of 2017, at least in my opinion. Presenting a great story with successful acting and high-level battle scenes. Especially the sequence in which Diana dived into the German front alone was one of the greatest works of recent times. DC, which remained in the background because of its unsuccessful stories and Marvel wannabe shots and jokes, made a movie with Wonder Woman that we can say “yes” after a long time. In the year that a great film like Logan was released, Wonder Woman was like a drug, and we were happy that our expectations were finally met. Definitely don’t miss it.
Cast & Crew
director: Patty Jenkins
writers: Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs, Allan Heinberg
starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Saïd Taghmaoui
USA | 2017 | 141 MINUTES |