Wonder Woman
Released: June 2nd, 2017
Runtime: 2 hours, 21 minutes
Directed by: Patty Jenkins
Writers: Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, David Thewlis, Said Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, Eugene Brave Rock, Ann Wolf
Significant characters introduced: Hippolyta, Antiope, Steve Trevor, Ares, Etta Candy, Artemis, Menalippe, Philippus, Senator Acantha, Epione, Mnemosyne, Venelia, Aelia, Euboea, Penthiselea, Niobe, Egeria, Trigona, Senator Timandra
Notable universe developments: Diana, Princess of Themyscira, travels to Man’s World to kill Ares in an attempt to stop World War I; In contemporary France, Bruce Wayne returns to her a picture of Steve Trevor, his colleagues, and Diana, taken after they liberated the town of Veld.
In modern day Paris, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) works at the Louvre Gallery and receives a case from Bruce Wayne. Upon opening it, she finds a print of the photograph contained in the digital file stolen from Lex Luthor in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The sight of the photo prompts her to recollect the story of how it came to be taken.
She recalls her childhood on the island of Themyscira and details the history of the Amazons, and their relationship with the other Gods. The destiny of the Amazons was largely shaped by Ares, who waged war against Zeus and the Gods after becoming jealous of the privileges afforded mankind. Having been given a hidden island, the Amazonian Army trains for combat, though the all-woman Themyscira is entirely at peace. Diana is the only daughter of Hippolyta, Queen Of The Amazons (Connie Nielsen) – and the only child on the island – and longs to train with the Generals, so that she might become a great warrior like her mother. But Hippolyta forbids it, because something about Diana is different to the other Amazons.
Eventually, she’s persuaded, however, and Diana begins to train. As she grows into adulthood, she’s even able to best General Antiope (Robin Wright) – sister of Hippolyta and leader of the Amazon Army. After a troubling incident involving her wrist-cuffs, Diana heads to the clifftops to clear her head and witnesses a small plane crash into the ocean nearby. A man is trapped in the wreckage and she dives in to rescue him. As she pulls him on to the beach, German forces that were in pursuit also burst through the magical cloak that hides Themyscira from the world and they invade the beach. The Amazon Army arrive, though, and engage in an epic battle – during which Antiope is killed.
naThe Amazons question the rescued man, who identifies himself as Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) – an American working for British Intelligence and who’s trying to bring an end to World War I. The Amazons are unaware of world affairs and are disturbed to hear of the carnage happening on a global scale. Diana’s convinced that Ares’s to blame, and that if she kills him, the war will end. She argues with her mother and the Amazonian senators that she should be allowed to travel to Man’s World to kill Ares and save humanity. After failing to receive permission, Diana decides to go anyway, and steals a battle suit, shield, lasso of truth, and a sword from the Amazon armoury. She says goodbye to her mother, and sets sail with Steve Trevor – headed for London. Trevor stole plans from the German scientist, Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya), and they indicate an intention to commit mass murder with poison gas. He seeks to prevent this atrocity.
In London, Diana struggles to understand life in Man’s World. Having been raised on Themyscira, an unequal society makes no sense to her, and she cannot understand why anyone would allow patriarchy to flourish. She rails against military commanders who would sit safely in offices, hundreds of miles from the conflict, and make life or death decisions about other people. She also inspires Steve Trevor and his colleagues – Etta Candy (Lucy Davis), Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), Charlie (Ewen Bremner), and The Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) – to come together to try to foil the plan of Dr. Maru and her superior, Ludendorff (Danny Huston).
As the team reaches the frontline of the war, Diana becomes increasingly frustrated at Steve Trevor’s refusal to deviate from his narrow mission and defies him to lead troops across No Man’s Land – liberating the occupied town of Veld. This is where the photograph is taken. As Diana and Steve acknowledge their growing affection for one another, they press on to find Dr. Maru and Ludendorff – who Diana is convinced is actually Ares in disguise.
When the Nazis test their poison gas on the town of Veld, killing everyone that the team just rescued, Diana experiences an existential crisis. She rails against humanity, frustrated by the nonsensical nature of war and conflict, and the ease with which people can kill each other. Incensed, she races to the airfield where the poison gas is being loaded onto an airplane and finds Ludendorff. She kills him, but quickly realizes that he’s not Ares at all and that men are not all inherently ‘good.’ This causes even more consternation for her and the real Ares tries to manipulate her to join him.
She seems to be outmatched by the power of Ares, until she witnesses the sacrifice willingly made by Steve Trevor and the friendship and love shared by the rest of the team. Filling her mind with love rather than anger, Diana achieves her full potential as Wonder Woman and defeats Ares with a final, devastating, powerful bolt of energy. The defeat of Ludendorff and Dr. Maru turns the tide of the war and it comes to an end – but Diana grieves for Steve Trevor amid the celebrations. Back in modern day Paris, Diana emails Bruce Wayne and thanks him for returning the photograph. She then dons her Wonder Woman battle suit and heads off to fight evil once again.
