8 / 10
Wonder Woman is one of the better DC Extended Universe productions and the first major female-led superhero film of the contemporary American superhero cinema era. Patty Jenkins directed. Allan Heinberg wrote the screenplay from a story by Heinberg, Zack Snyder, and Jason Fuchs. The film was released in June 2017. It grossed approximately eight hundred twenty-two million dollars worldwide on a production budget of approximately one hundred forty-nine million dollars. The commercial reception was substantial and exceeded studio expectations. The cultural impact was significant. The 2020 sequel Wonder Woman 1984 substantially damaged the franchise standing the 2017 original had established.
Patty Jenkins had previously directed Monster in 2003, the production that won Charlize Theron her Academy Award for Best Actress. Jenkins had been working primarily on television productions between Monster and Wonder Woman. The fourteen-year gap between her two feature directorial works was substantial. Wonder Woman represented her return to feature direction at substantially larger production scale than her previous work had operated within. The execution validated the production’s confidence in her capability.
The Premise
The film begins in contemporary Paris where Diana Prince works at the Louvre. She receives a photographic plate from 1918 showing her with various American and European soldiers during the First World War. The plate triggers her memory of the events the film depicts. The narrative moves to her childhood on the Amazon island of Themyscira where her mother Queen Hippolyta has raised her among the female warrior society. American pilot Steve Trevor crash-lands his plane near Themyscira while escaping German forces. The contact with Trevor reveals the World War to the previously isolated Amazons. Diana leaves Themyscira to accompany Trevor back to Europe where she believes she will find and kill Ares, the god of war whom she holds responsible for the conflict.
The premise relocates the Wonder Woman comics framework to specifically World War I setting rather than the World War II setting that the comics had used. The choice produces specific dramatic content the World War II framework would not have supported. The World War I trenches, the chemical weapons concerns, and the broader civilian destruction provide visual and thematic material that the production exploits effectively. The historical setting also distinguishes Wonder Woman from the broader contemporary superhero film landscape that other DC and Marvel productions had occupied.
The Cast
Gal Gadot played Diana Prince. The performance brings appropriate physical commitment combined with the kind of theatrical sincerity that the role required. Gadot had been working primarily in the Fast and Furious franchise before Wonder Woman. The character had been introduced briefly in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. The 2017 Wonder Woman delivered the substantive lead performance the character required. Gadot’s specific theatrical earnestness, combined with her actual Israeli military training, provided the foundation for what the role accomplished.
Chris Pine played Steve Trevor. The performance brings appropriate adult masculine register combined with the kind of comic timing that the broader film required. Trevor is not damsel in distress. The character is competent intelligence operative whose specific skills complement Diana’s broader capabilities. Pine plays the character with the kind of theatrical commitment that has supported his broader film career across multiple franchises. The Diana and Steve dynamic provides much of the film’s strongest dramatic content.
Robin Wright played Antiope, Diana’s aunt and the Amazon warrior who trains her. Connie Nielsen played Hippolyta, Diana’s mother and Queen of the Amazons. The two performances bring substantial theatrical authority to the Themyscira sequences that establish Diana’s background. Wright in particular delivers the kind of committed physical performance that the warrior role required. The Amazon training sequences depend substantially on Wright’s specific theatrical commitment to the material.
Danny Huston played General Erich Ludendorff, the German military commander whom Diana initially believes is the secret identity of Ares. Elena Anaya played Dr. Isabel Maru, the German chemical weapons specialist nicknamed Doctor Poison. David Thewlis played Sir Patrick Morgan, the British diplomat. The supporting cast handles the broader material with appropriate professional commitment. Thewlis’s character provides a third-act revelation that the broader film depends on.
For Writers
Wonder Woman demonstrates the value of sincere theatrical commitment in contemporary superhero cinema. The film does not engage in the kind of self-deprecating humor that subsequent Marvel productions have often deployed. The film delivers Diana Prince as genuinely heroic figure whose moral seriousness is the dramatic engine of the broader production. Gal Gadot’s performance choices supported the sincerity rather than undermining it through theatrical winking at the audience. The lesson for writers is that sincerity can produce stronger work than ironic distance when the source material supports earnest engagement. Most contemporary superhero productions have moved toward ironic register that allows audiences to engage with the material without committing to its dramatic stakes. The Wonder Woman approach demonstrated that audiences will accept earnest superhero material when productions commit to delivering it. The 2017 production’s commercial success validated the approach. Subsequent superhero productions have often returned to the ironic register at the expense of the sincere engagement that the Wonder Woman approach had demonstrated audiences would accept.
The No Man’s Land Sequence
The No Man’s Land sequence in the second act is the film’s most distinctive achievement and one of the great single sequences in 2010s superhero cinema. Diana, Steve, and their assembled team have arrived at the Western Front. They encounter a village trapped between German and British lines. Steve explains that no man’s land is the contested area where no army has been able to advance. Diana refuses to accept that the soldiers cannot help the villagers. She climbs out of the trench in full Wonder Woman costume and walks across no man’s land while deflecting machine gun fire with her shield and bracelets.
The sequence works because of its specific construction. Diana’s emergence from the trench provides the moment when the film fully commits to its superhero identity. The character has been operating in mortal disguise across the previous scenes. The trench sequence delivers her transformation into the full theatrical superhero presentation. The sequence has been studied as the example of how superhero films can deliver character revelation through specific dramatic action rather than through expository dialogue.
The sequence also works because of its specific historical context. The No Man’s Land of World War I had been one of the most lethal environments in modern warfare. The position of soldiers trapped between hostile trench systems without effective means of advance was historically documented horror. Wonder Woman’s emergence into this environment delivered specific dramatic content that other historical settings would not have supported. The choice to set the film in World War I produced this specific sequence’s dramatic power.
Gal Gadot’s specific physical commitment to the sequence is one of the production’s central craft achievements. The sustained walking pace, the steady defensive posture with the shield and bracelets, and the broader theatrical commitment to delivering the moment without theatrical excess all combine into one of the most distinctive superhero performance moments of the decade. The sequence has become permanent reference for what character-driven superhero action can accomplish.
The First Major Female Superhero Lead
Wonder Woman was the first major female-led contemporary superhero film. Various earlier female-led superhero productions had appeared with limited commercial reception. Catwoman in 2004 had been commercial and critical disaster. Elektra in 2005 had similarly failed commercially. The 1980s and 1990s had produced various lower-budget female-led superhero productions that had not established the commercial viability of the broader subgenre. The Wonder Woman 2017 success demonstrated that female-led superhero films could deliver substantial commercial returns when production resources supported the broader creative vision.
The commercial success enabled subsequent female-led superhero productions including Captain Marvel in 2019 and Black Widow in 2021. The aggregate Marvel and DC female-led superhero film catalog has expanded substantially across the years following Wonder Woman. The 2017 film therefore carries historical significance beyond its specific creative achievements. The production demonstrated viability that subsequent female-led superhero productions have continued building on.
The cultural significance of the production extended beyond commercial demonstration. Audiences responded specifically to seeing Wonder Woman as Diana Prince at substantive production scale. Various reports documented female audiences in particular responding to the No Man’s Land sequence and broader characterization. The cultural moment surrounding the film’s release was one of the more significant superhero cinema cultural moments of the past decade.
The Wonder Woman 1984 Disaster
The 2020 sequel Wonder Woman 1984 represented substantial creative regression from the 2017 original. Patty Jenkins returned to direct. Gal Gadot returned as Diana. The film was released in December 2020 during the COVID pandemic. The commercial reception was substantially weaker than the 2017 original. The critical reception was substantially negative. The cultural standing has remained limited across the years following the release.
The sequel’s problems are structural. The premise involves a wishing stone that grants character desires with substantial consequences. The mechanism produces dramatic content that does not integrate with the broader Wonder Woman framework. The Steve Trevor resurrection through possession of an innocent man’s body produced substantial ethical complications that the screenplay did not adequately address. The Maxwell Lord character provides confused antagonist content rather than coherent dramatic opposition. The Cheetah character is severely underdeveloped despite substantial Kristen Wiig performance.
The sequel demonstrates the difficulty of following successful superhero productions with substantively ambitious sequels. The 2017 original had delivered specific creative vision that the 2020 sequel could not adequately extend. The 1984 setting provided visual variation without supporting the dramatic content the screenplay attempted. The aggregate is one of the more visible recent examples of how superhero franchise extension can damage previously substantial creative achievement.
Audiences interested in the Wonder Woman property should pursue the 2017 original and consider the 2020 sequel optional viewing. The Wonder Woman 1984 commercial disappointment effectively concluded the broader DC Extended Universe Wonder Woman franchise. Subsequent DC Wonder Woman productions remain undetermined as the broader DC film universe has been restructured under new creative leadership.
The DC Extended Universe Context
The 2017 Wonder Woman appeared within the broader DC Extended Universe that Zack Snyder had been developing across multiple productions. Man of Steel in 2013, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, and Suicide Squad in 2016 had established the broader cinematic universe framework. Wonder Woman delivered substantial improvement over the previous DC Extended Universe productions and demonstrated that the broader franchise could support successful individual installments despite the broader franchise’s mixed creative reception.
The DC Extended Universe has continued through multiple subsequent productions with varying creative and commercial success. The 2017 Justice League release. The 2021 Zack Snyder’s Justice League re-release. The various Aquaman, Shazam, and Suicide Squad productions. The aggregate DC Extended Universe has not consistently matched what Wonder Woman had achieved. The 2023 broader restructuring under James Gunn has produced ongoing changes to the franchise direction.
Wonder Woman therefore occupies specific position within the broader DC cinematic history. The 2017 production is one of the high points of the DC Extended Universe creative output. The 2020 sequel disappointment damaged the franchise’s broader trajectory. The subsequent restructuring has made the Wonder Woman franchise’s specific future uncertain. The 2017 production remains essential viewing despite the broader franchise complications.
For Writers
The Wonder Woman No Man’s Land sequence demonstrates how superhero films can deliver character revelation through specific dramatic action rather than through expository dialogue. Diana climbs out of the trench in full Wonder Woman costume and walks across no man’s land while deflecting machine gun fire. The sequence delivers the character’s full theatrical identity through sustained physical action that supports the broader narrative. The lesson for writers is that character revelation typically produces stronger work through specific dramatic action than through explanatory dialogue. Audiences receive character development more powerfully through observation of action than through verbal description. The No Man’s Land sequence has been studied as canonical example of action-driven character revelation in contemporary superhero cinema.
For Writers
The Wonder Woman World War I setting demonstrates how period selection can produce specific dramatic content that conventional period choices would not have supported. The 2017 production selected World War I rather than the World War II setting that the comics had traditionally used. The choice produced trench warfare, chemical weapons, and broader civilian destruction content that World War II framework would not have delivered. The lesson for writers handling adaptation is that setting decisions matter substantially for what subsequent productions can accomplish. Period choices should be evaluated based on what dramatic content they support rather than on conventional expectations from the source material.
Craft Note
Craft Note
Wonder Woman is the example case for how contemporary superhero cinema can deliver substantive dramatic content when productions commit to specific creative vision rather than to broader franchise obligations. Patty Jenkins directed within the DC Extended Universe framework while delivering a film that operates effectively as standalone production. Gal Gadot delivered sincere theatrical commitment that the role required. The World War I historical setting provided specific dramatic content that broader contemporary superhero productions had not engaged. The aggregate combination produced a film that satisfies both as standalone entertainment and as franchise installment. The lesson for writers and producers is that franchise productions benefit from creative vision that exceeds simple franchise extension. Productions that operate primarily as franchise installments typically deliver weaker work than productions that pursue specific creative ambitions within franchise frameworks. The Wonder Woman 2017 production demonstrates the value of the latter approach. The 2020 sequel demonstrates what happens when productions return to simpler franchise installment frameworks without comparable creative commitment.
The Verdict
An 8/10. Wonder Woman is one of the better DC Extended Universe productions and the first major female-led contemporary superhero film. Patty Jenkins’s direction handles the substantial production resources with appropriate creative commitment. Gal Gadot’s performance establishes Diana Prince at the substantial scale the character required. The Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, and supporting cast contributions provide consistent professional commitment across the runtime. The No Man’s Land sequence is one of the great single sequences in 2010s superhero cinema.
The 2020 Wonder Woman 1984 sequel represents substantial creative regression. Audiences interested in the Wonder Woman property should pursue the 2017 original and consider the 2020 sequel optional viewing. The cultural significance of the 2017 production extends beyond its specific creative achievements. The film demonstrated that female-led superhero productions could deliver substantial commercial returns at the highest production scale. Subsequent female-led superhero productions have continued building on what Wonder Woman established. The aggregate is essential viewing for anyone interested in contemporary superhero cinema, in the DC Extended Universe, or in the cultural history of female representation in mainstream superhero film production.
FAQ
Is the film actually good?
Yes. The 2017 production delivers substantial dramatic content within superhero cinema framework. Patty Jenkins’s direction, Gal Gadot’s lead performance, the Chris Pine supporting work, and the No Man’s Land sequence combine into one of the better DC Extended Universe productions. The 8/10 reflects honest assessment of a film that succeeds at what it attempts within the broader superhero genre.
How is Gal Gadot in the role?
Strong. Gadot brings appropriate physical commitment combined with theatrical sincerity that the role required. Her specific theatrical earnestness, combined with her actual Israeli military training, provided the foundation for what the role accomplished. The performance choices supported the broader film’s earnest tone rather than undermining it through ironic distance.
What is the No Man’s Land sequence?
The second-act sequence where Diana climbs out of the trench in full Wonder Woman costume and walks across no man’s land while deflecting machine gun fire with her shield and bracelets. The sequence has been studied as the example of how superhero films can deliver character revelation through specific dramatic action. The sustained physical commitment and theatrical presentation combine into one of the great superhero performance moments of the decade.
Why is the World War I setting important?
The choice produces specific dramatic content the World War II framework would not have supported. The World War I trenches, the chemical weapons concerns, and the broader civilian destruction provide visual and thematic material that the production exploits effectively. The historical setting also distinguishes Wonder Woman from the broader contemporary superhero film landscape that other DC and Marvel productions had occupied.
Should I watch Wonder Woman 1984?
Optional. The 2020 sequel represents substantial creative regression from the 2017 original. The wishing stone premise produces dramatic content that does not integrate with the broader Wonder Woman framework. The Steve Trevor resurrection through possession of an innocent man’s body produced substantial ethical complications that the screenplay did not adequately address. Audiences should prioritize the 2017 original and consider the 2020 sequel optional viewing.
How important is this film historically?
Substantial. Wonder Woman was the first major female-led contemporary superhero film. The commercial success enabled subsequent female-led superhero productions including Captain Marvel and Black Widow. The aggregate Marvel and DC female-led superhero film catalog has expanded substantially across the years following Wonder Woman. The 2017 production carries historical significance beyond its specific creative achievements.
Who is Patty Jenkins?
Patty Jenkins had previously directed Monster in 2003, the production that won Charlize Theron her Academy Award for Best Actress. Jenkins had been working primarily on television productions between Monster and Wonder Woman. The fourteen-year gap between her two feature directorial works was substantial. Wonder Woman represented her return to feature direction at substantially larger production scale.
How does this compare to Marvel female-led films?
Wonder Woman appeared before the major Marvel female-led productions. The 2017 release predated Captain Marvel from 2019 and Black Widow from 2021. Marvel had been producing male-led superhero productions across the previous decade without comparable female-led commercial scale. The Wonder Woman success demonstrated viability that Marvel subsequently exploited at increasing scale.
Is Chris Pine good as Steve Trevor?
Yes. Pine brings appropriate adult masculine register combined with comic timing that the broader film required. The Diana and Steve dynamic provides much of the film’s strongest dramatic content. Trevor is not damsel in distress. The character is competent intelligence operative whose specific skills complement Diana’s broader capabilities.
What is the Ares plot twist?
The third-act revelation that the German military commander General Ludendorff is not the secret identity of Ares as Diana had believed. Sir Patrick Morgan, the British diplomat played by David Thewlis, is revealed as the actual Ares. The twist provides the climactic confrontation while complicating the broader thematic content about the nature of human violence. The execution is competent without quite reaching the level the broader film had established.
What is the future of the franchise?
Uncertain. The Wonder Woman 1984 commercial disappointment effectively concluded the broader DC Extended Universe Wonder Woman franchise. The 2023 broader DC restructuring under James Gunn has produced ongoing changes to the franchise direction. Subsequent Wonder Woman productions remain undetermined. The 2017 production remains essential viewing despite the broader franchise complications.
Should children watch this film?
Generally yes with parental discretion. The PG-13 rating accurately reflects the broader content. The film contains substantial war violence and some intense action sequences. The sexual content is minimal. The aggregate is appropriate family viewing for older children. The thematic content about war, sacrifice, and moral responsibility supports family discussion. Parents should preview the film and assess specific children’s readiness for the war violence.