Talkie Tuesday: Wonder Woman

"I will fight for those who cannot fight for themselves."

Hello everyone!

So after that impromptu break which I took without announcing anything, I figured I might as well come back with a big bang. Right? Right. 

There I was, minding my own business at the seaside, when I stumbled upon Wonder Woman quite by accident. As in, I had known there was a movie being made and that it was just about to drop in theatres by the time I hightailed it to the coast, but I wasn't paying too much attention to the actual dates.

And here and now, let me tell you: boy, am I glad I paid attention later!

DC has sort of been lagging behind Marvel in terms of their superhero movies, only just coming into their own with Man of Steel and the following Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (which a lot of people complained about and I, personally, only really checked the ending of), but they now seem to be on the right track.

Let's begin our journey then, shall we? With the one, the only, Wonder Woman.

I will freely admit that when the internet exploded over news that Wonder Woman would be making an appearance in BvS, I wasn't really that into it. Especially not when they announced Gal Gadot would be playing the female superhero.

Not that I have anything against Gadot! I just never saw her as Diana.

As a former model, I suppose that makes sense because Gadot always struck me as very willowy and sort of dainty, but DAYUM, does she SLAY this role! I take back every single thing I ever said against her along with a formal apology.

Ms Gadot, you have done a FANTASTIC job. Thank you.

We begin our story in modern-day France, Louvre to be exact, where we see who we can guess is Diana Prince, working for the museum as she receives a suitcase from someone we know quite well, or his company at last (hey Bruce Wayne, cameo much?). Inside there's an old photo taken during what looks to be some sort of war, with Diana in the middle and a group of others surrounding her.

That's when things really kickstart.

Diana was born a princess of Themyscira, an island that no one can find and which Zeus had given to the Amazon queen, Hyppolyta, to keep them all safe and hidden from Mankind until such a time when they would be needed. The Amazons train fiercely and without pause, but for some inexplicable reason Diana is forbidden from training herself. Instead, she's told the story of how Zeus created mankind way back when, but Ares corrupted them and killed the other gods. In his last, desperate act, Zeus left God Killer with the Amazons, making them the sacred guardians of Mankind against Ares should he rise again.

Growing up learning these stories, Diana secretly does in fact train with her aunt, the general of the Queen's army, until the day she's caught and her mother decides she needs to be trained ten times harder than any other Amazon.

Diana starts showing strange powers for an Amazon, however, and we get a glimpse of things not being quite what they seem, but nothing definite, until one Steve Trevor crash lands into the sea.

Behind him are some very angry Germans, who steamroll onto the island and face off with the Amazon warriros, who don't really have the armour to withstand actual bullets from guns, which causes the death of the general. Steve then tells the Amazons about the Great War raging outside, like nothing he had ever seen before, of man killing man, and Diana stresses this is the work and return of Ares, not that her mother seems inclined to do anything about it.

So, taking matters into her own hands, the princess takes the sword, God Killer, and the Lasso of Truth, and goes with Steve to single-handedly find Ares and kill him. With her, she also takes the headdress of the fallen general, a last gift ffrom her mother who correctly deduces Diana will never again return to Themyscira.

London, their destination, is a new world for Diana who honestly doesn't know what to make of it. Still, what she DOES know is that fmale fashion of the time is impossible to fight in (you tell them, girl!) and that, according to Steve, this insane doctor working for the German general, doctor Maru, is concocting a new type of gas to use in the trenches.

However, the war is just about to end with the signing of the Armistice, and so any mission into enemy lands would be unsanctioned and denied, so Steve and Diana are left hanging, until one man, Sir Patrick, gives them his blessing and sends them up into the trenches.

Diana gets her first look at the horrors of war, something she could never have imagined, but armed with her idealism, she single-handedlymoves the Allied trench line and ensures the liberation of a tiny town called Veld. As for the audiences, we get to see Wonder Woman kick some serious ass as literally nothing and no one can stand in her way when she's pissed off and on the warpath.

But she's also still a young woman searching for her own identity, and falling for the dashing captain who teaches her how to dance. Can we say aw?

Anyway, the German general isn't having the Armistice whatsoever (plus he's high on some sort of pills Maru had made for him which give him almost invincible strength) so he's plotting on unleashing the gas sooner rather than later. Diana & Co head to the gala he's throwing at the near-by chateau, because Diana is convinced the general is Ares, and if she kills him, then the war will end.

None of the men challenge her statement, but they're all pretty sceptical, Steve especially, who finally prevents her from killing the general at the actual gala.

This results in Veld being destroyed as the gas is tested on the town (fun fact: apparently, Diana is immune to that kind of thing), throwing Diana into a rage in which she blames Steve for what happened and heads after the general.

She reaches him, and fights him, and kills him - but the war doesn't stop.

Why?

Because he was never Ares.

Sir Patrick is Ares.

Which is a kick in the gut for her since he had been the one to initially send them over to try and stop the general, but Patrick shares a few other truths: no, he had not actually corrupted Mankind. The gods were simply too blind to see that Man would always find something or other to fight over, that it was in their very nature since they were made in the image of the gods, and the gods quarrel quite a bit (Rick Riordan, I'm looking at you here). He also says he wants to destroy Man to bring the world back to the paradise it was prior to Man's creation - and Diana can help him.

Because, see, while Diana's mother originally said she fashioned the child from clay and prayed to Zeus to give her life, Ares imparts the knowledge that Diana is actually Zeus and Hyppolita's daughter, born out of the relationship the two had, and that SHE is in fact Godkiller: the child of Zeus powerful enough to stand up to her half-brother.

But also one who could help him rebuild the world.

A disilusioned Diana might have even done so, if not for the fact that Steve and the rest of his gaggle managed to nab the plane which should have gone to London with all the gas on board, but Steve hijacks it and flies it up into the skies, sacrificing himself so that others might live (especially Diana, the woman he's fallen in love with - what IS it with heroes and their mortal soulmates? They all seem to die!).

This enrages Diana so much that she finally frees herself from the last bonds holding her back and furiously defeats Ares, but tells him that she knows Man can be treacherous, and horrible, and evil, but that Man is also good, and kind, and compassionate. Steve Trevor taught her that.

After which she blasts Ares into oblivion.

With that, World War I comes to an end, and as London celebrates, Diana and the others gather at the memorial for all the fallen, mourning the loss of the American who had sacrificed everything to give them their tomorrow. For Diana, especially, this moment is bittersweet as she contemplates what ifs and possibilities had the fates been kinder.

In 2017, her memories coming to a close, Diana Prince (which, as we learn, is actually the name Steve gave Diana as she was trying to introduce herself as Princess of Themyscira) responds to Bruce Wayne that her eternal mission is to protect the world - and Mankind.

Which, combined with what we know from BvS, is a good introduction to Justice League!

It was a fantastic origin movie for a beloved character that so many people have looked up to over the years. For me, personally, it cleared up some childhood misconceptions (for some reason I thought Superman and Wonder Woman were a thing) and given me a strong female character to look up to in a movie. Gal Gadot brings everything and more to the table, and looking back I can definitely see now that she was perfect for this role. This is the ultimate breakthrough she's been waiting for in her acting career. Chris Pine counterparts her nicely as Steve Trevor, and David Thewlis acually surprised me as Ares, but hey, it was a good kind of surprise!

Now I can't wait to see more of the warrior princess who really doesn't need a man to kick butt - but as Pine signed up for at least three movies, I have high hopes Miss Prince will get some sort of happiness somewhere, somehow.

xx

*images and video not mine