Film Review: Wonder Woman Shows Superheroes Greatest Power Is Love

By now, the reviews of Wonder Woman have been stellar and you are pretty much convinced that you NEED to see this film. So thank you for entertaining, my brief addition into why Wonder Woman is the best film out the current DC Universe Warner Brothers is building. In terms of special effects, yes, the film is unsurprisingly stunning .When you have the much money and power going into production, and a secret axe to grind in competition with Marvel’s cinematic universe, you are going to go big. Thus, Wonder Woman does not do much to shake/ innovate the cinematic world of big-budgeted action sequences, although they are all enjoyable. The success of Wonder Woman rides on its testifying power of compassion, and one of the best comic book films to capture that superheroes find their greatest power source is love. 

Gal Gadot’s performance as Wonder Woman is sweet, loving, kind, and unbelievably generous. These are not the usual terms associated with a kick-ass warrior who can break the truth out of you with just a lasso. (YES! she uses the Lasso Of Truth A Lot!) Yet, Gadot shows that Wonder Woman has become an intergenerational icon because she proves that being good is being strong. The bad guys can be loud, rowdy, and unbelievably vicious, which you will see in the film’s triumvirate of villains and its backdrop of WWI. Yet, good guys have something that bad guys can never have, and, ultimately, makes their plans, eventually, combust; good guys have love. This may seem sappy, but as Diana grows from a spitfire child with hopeful ambitions pouring out of her into a radiantly perseverant woman, you realize that love is the foundation of this warrior. It gives her perseverance and peace, when the human world is, seemingly, concaving on itself. Gadot’s ability to etch out love and the purity of this virtue helps you understand and be deeply moved by Diana’s inability to quit on humanity. Moreover, Diana’s charming relationship with Steve Trevor becomes an emblem/ good reason to fight for us. 

Chris Pine is also generous, brave, and charismatic as Diana’s earthly guide/ love interest. Their scenes together drip in humor, beauty, and ferocity, as you cannot help but want to ship these two in battle and the dance-floor. Clearly, the casting department knew they had found a chemistry jack-pot, and, despite the ending, I sincerely hope Chris Pine returns for future films. As a comic book fan, I do ship Batman and Wonder Woman, BUT Chris Pine as Stever Trevor is the epitome of a cool gentleman. He supports Diana though honesty and tenderness, and displays that being powerless partners to a superhero means you have to find  “powers” in virtue. Yes, Wonder Woman is unavoidably a display of female power and empowerment as equal to men, but it is also a display that such power/empowerment comes from women’s ability to use compassion and care as the spiritual armor needed to fight life’s darkest battles. Director Patty Jenkins has done a unique and wonderful take on the humanism of super- humanism.  For More Information On Wonder Woman, which comes out June 2,  Click Here.