Richard Donner's Superman (1978) was the first major big-budget superhero feature film though other variants of superhero films had infiltrated the visual medium in other capacities. While the first superhero film came about in the late 70s, 76 years after her comic book debut, the most famous female superhero in the world, Wonder Woman, finally got her own movie in 2017. It could have come much earlier, unfortunately, the idea was languishing in development hell though mooted as early as the mid-90s.
Wonder Woman royally kicked its sceptics in the gut – men and audiences across took to the film and as the clichéd punchline goes, the proof is in the pudding, the film amassed a massive $822.2 million with particular praise directed towards Gal Gadot’s acting, direction, visuals, action sequences, and the musical score.
Wonder Woman followed the Amazon princess Diana’s efforts to stop the World War I, believing the conflict was started by Ares, the longtime enemy of the Amazons, after American pilot and spy Steve Trevor crash-lands on their island Themyscira and gets her up to speed about the same.
In the sequel where the year ‘1984’ tags along, as superheroes go, we see Diana living a quiet life among mortals until she reunites with Steve (!) and has to fight off the villains - Maxwell Lord, a small-time con man who dreams of taking over the world and the Cheetah, a villainess who possesses superhuman strength and agility, and whose alias happens to be Barbara, Diana’s quiet and inconspicuous colleague.
The film might seem underwhelming compared to its prequel, but it has its moments and Gal Gadot has to be called out for her majestic screen presence and carrying the film on her shoulders. It is thanks to her that we are able to brush off the minor complaints we have – some fight sequences are fine (especially, the desert one), some others could have been crafted well, they are your typical run-of-the-mill rescues and chases– and not feel the film is boring at any point in time. If she’s on the screen, she works her magic.
Some cinematic liberties also find their place. We have Diana and Dr Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), supposed to be engaged in high-profile work at the museum they work for, but trot around in fancy clothes and heels, making us wonder how close would this be to reality in a world where you might have to spend hours staring down microscopes at artefacts.
What hurts the film the most is the absence of a solid villain and well, the story could have been better. The conflict between Diana and Maxwell Lord ain’t there, all the way. Quiet, little girl Barbara transforming into the evil Cheetah since no one seems to notice her presence otherwise is also your typical superhero trope.
As long as Gal Gadot is on the screen, jumping buildings, slaying the bad guys, aiming her lasso, it’s all pure delight. It’s the amateur villains who really ruin the Christmas party with their two-penny reasons.