Wonder Woman was an experience which both relieved and reassured through its success. I walked away feeling completely satisfied with the production value, and overall end product. They wove the story cleverly, though simple at times, and managed to find a rhythm to their storytelling, which both allowed them to take time to explain what needed explaining and to build a believable world for them to interact in.
DC has had a rough run of things with its superhero universe, and whilst I tend to lean on the side of liking what they have put out, nothing has been good enough to not tear apart over what appeared to be silly choices. Then I watched Wonder Woman. This film went away from the realism which has been my love of the DC movie universe, but still gave me a world I wanted more of. Not that DC nailed creating a world that felt real before, but just that I appreciated that making it feel real was a part of their goal.
I love Marvel and their movies are hard to compete with, but never once have they wanted to make their world feel more real. They wanted it to feel like its own thing, whereas DC attempted to bring the heroes to our world. I can’t say which way is better, only which movies felt more successful to me. I love them both for the experience they bring me, when done well.
After Batman v Superman, the studio seemed to get really confused on what the movie’s issues were. Their seriousness has never been the issue. Forgetting they have an adult audience, in the large majority, has been the most constant mistake I have seen through the years, whether they are doing television or film. If they want us to take their filmed media seriously, then they have to take the characters and their worlds seriously first.
Yes children will watch these films, but these characters have been around long enough to be relevant to several generations of fans. The children make up a small part of the fan base. They are essential for the longevity of the property, but studios need to begin to comprehend just how many more of the fans are adults now. Make stuff for both, or make stuff for adults and then other stuff for kids, but it feels like an insult to our intelligence, like someone speaking down to us in “baby voice”, when they over “kid-ify” their ONLY properties put out with these characters.
Wonder Woman while stepping away from the realism, didn’t lose its seriousness. It found its humor in the world it painted, rather than forcing it into moments destroyed by its unwelcome presence. It found the ugliness in our world, and illustrated the beauty of hers. Tactfully utilizing her naivete to not only make us laugh, but also to see how nasty and cruel our world can be.
I believe that in the end, the greatest success wrought from the Wonder Woman movie, is that it was directed by a female, in addition to its main hero being female. It may not seem like a big thing, but until the huge reception of this film, getting a superhero movie, led by a female, especially directed by one, was incredibly difficult to sell any studio on. This wonderful movie should hopefully put an end to the sexist assumptions studios make, about both their material and its audience. If nothing else this is a step in the right direction. I would definitely recommend seeing this film.
