Seeing a sold-out summer blockbuster on opening day is not something that would have crossed my mind before I retired. But now I love having outings to put on my calendar that don’t have anything to do with doctors, financial planners or the grocery store, so when my daughter and I saw the massive Wonder Woman promo billboard in Times Square a couple of weeks ago we immediately made a date.
Superheroes have never been my thing. Well, practically never. I did have a mad crush on Superman many years ago – specifically the 1950’s TV character played by George Reeves. I remember wearing t-shirts with the Superman logo as a teenager and I think I even had a poster or two. Come to think of it, Superman was my go-to Halloween party costume for a few years in my early twenties when I had the body to rock the belted unitard look.
So, I’m a superhero neophyte and Stephanie, my daughter, is more princess than warrior but somehow, we convinced ourselves that a Girl Power day was the perfect complement to our increasing emphasis on fitness. I was vaguely familiar with Wonder Woman from the late 70’s TV show, but my impression of Linda Carter’s version of the Amazon princess was aligned more with Charlie’s Angles than Batman or Superman. I never really watched the show so I apologize to the DC Comics fanatics that most likely adore her.
The theater filled up mostly with families: moms, dads, brothers and sisters. I don’t know why it surprised me to see so many dads at this Friday matinee showing, but it did, and in a good way. And then just before show time, in walked some more interesting sorts; the likes of which I haven’t seen since a few years ago when I was staying at the Atlanta Marquis during a buying trip the same weekend they were hosting a Comic-con event. Dressed in bizarre costumes, I had no idea if they represented good guys or villains, but it was pretty obvious they’re a half bubble off plumb so it made for some interesting people watching.
I’m not much of a movie critic, so I won’t try to dazzle you with my review of the movie. The truth is I usually like TV better than movies, and both are easily eclipsed by a good book. I think it’s incredibly hard to build the backstory, develop the characters and do any justice to the plot line in a couple of hours. Maybe that’s why there are so many sequels these days, some stories need more time to be told. I think that may be true of Wonder Woman. Thirty minutes in and you got the impression that they took a little more time than was comfortable to explain her beginnings, clearly establishing a character they intend to exploit for as long as the theaters fill up.
The movie was entertaining enough: well-acted, often clever and a director that delivered the range of emotions and action you’d expect. So, I guess I liked it, but fell short of loving it – some plot issues bothered me, but maybe that’s typical of this genre. Nevertheless, since I doubt a 61-year-old grandma was their target market, I suspect it will do quite well at the box office.
What I did love was Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman; they have their franchise super chick. And most importantly, little girls have a new face that defines strength and courage; and she looks a little more like mom than dad. She’s a superhero with heart. More heart than her male counterparts could ever get away with; but let’s face it, coming off as super studs in head-to-toe brightly colored spandex is probably challenge enough. Wonder Woman’s all about love and kindness, with a healthy dose of the requisite truth and justice thrown in. Her cause is a noble one: world peace. But when reason doesn’t prevail and the fight arrives, she’s the fierce warrior you want on your side. I kind of liked that she reveled in the battle; she was no reluctant hero, you got the sense she enjoyed kicking ass.
There were several worthy messages beyond the lofty peace on earth theme that prevailed throughout. At one point when her accomplice and love interest, Steve Trevor, was concerned for her safety and tried to discourage her from taking on too big of a challenge, she quickly fired back, “What I do is not up to you.” And she proceeded to single handedly take on hundreds of heavily armed Germans forcing him and their merry band of misfit mercenaries to join her or look like total wimps. Loved that scene, but wasn’t quite as crazy about the one that followed. They stood surveying the celebration after they defeated the Germans to liberate a Belgium village, and Steve Trevor said reverently to Diana, “You did this.” She looked at him and said, “We did this.” Hmm. I’m having trouble imagining Superman being that generous in giving up some of his glory to Lois Lane. I guess they were being realistic…even women with amazing super powers probably have difficulty taking the credit they deserve.
One of my favorite lines was: “Not everyone gets to be what they want to be all the time.” I can’t remember who said it or the scene it came from, but it stuck with me. Sometimes we all must do stuff we don’t want to do; play a role we don’t like playing. I know it’s a phrase I’ll be using on my “born to lead” grandson that frequently needs to be reminded it’s his turn to take a back seat.
The romance angle was done well. I’m not sure how they usually handle these things with the male superheroes, but typically in chick-flicks the woman falls in love and saving the world becomes yesterday’s news. But not for the wondrous Diana Prince. Despite falling in love with the first man she’s ever laid eyes on, she seems to balance it all quite well. Even losing him. Their humorous flirting – they highlighted her naïveté well – started soon after they met on her home island of Themyscria. But it wasn’t until after their German Army beat-down in that little village in Brussels that they kissed and suddenly they were out of the friend-zone. The kiss wasn’t quite the iconic Spiderman kiss – you remember the one where Toby Maguire snags the upside-down kiss with Kirsten Dunst– but it was nice.
Most impressively, her night of romance didn’t deter this amazing Amazon from pulling on her armor the next morning and continuing her pursuit of world peace. Later when they’re immersed in the inevitable epic battle, it becomes clear a suicide mission was required to beat the Germans. Steve to his credit knew he was the dispensable one, so he offered a simple acknowledgement of their relative contributions: “I can save today, but you can save the world.” She paused for a moment to say goodbye to her love, and watched as the plane filled with deadly chemicals he flew away on exploded. She turned back to her arch enemy, and as her super powers kicked in she made quick work of annihilating Ares, god of war, and bringing his reign of terror to an end. She had her coveted world peace, at least for the moment.
Comments were favorable as the crowd filed out of the theater; who doesn’t enjoy bearing witness to the elimination of evil, even if it’s only mythical. But then I heard them – two women whining about her costume. Really? This woman just saved the world and we’re going to bitch about what she was wearing? It seemed she wasn’t red, white and blue enough for these proud flag-wavers. First, the Amazonian warrior hadn’t made her way to America yet, so the Linda Carter cheesy patriotic look had not yet been introduced to her… thankfully. Secondly, I love…love…loved her look. The muted metallic tones – and hello, did they not see the ruby and blue emphasis – were perfection on this seeker of peace, protector of the world. And thirdly, those responsible for launching a world-wide release of this movie were wise to put a little distance between their superhero and the American flag. I say that with sadness, but we all know it’s true.
Just as I started to engage those shallow-minded women who seemed to have missed completely the more significant messages delivered by our superhero, a little girl caught my attention. She stood before her older brother, forearms crossed in her new Wonder Woman power pose and with determined eyes said, “You’re not the boss of me anymore.” I couldn’t help but smile. She got it, and isn’t that the more important mind to influence?
