It was only a matter of time before Wonder Woman got her own movie. It’s a shame it didn't happen earlier, but at least we had the Lynda Carter series back in the ‘70s right? Given that she’s one of the most enduring comic book characters in history, her live action treatment has been completely poor (aside from Lynda Carter). We had a failed TV pilot starring Adrianne Palicki, a quick costume worn by Lois on Smallville, a few failed movie pitches -- and that’s been it until now. Luckily, she’s featured heavily in the animation side of DC Entertainment.
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But now that the DC Extended Universe is finally branching out, we’ve gotten our first female solo superhero film that doesn’t suck. Wonder Woman took the box office and critics by storm -- warranting a sequel and even talks of her spearheading the Justice League once fans praised the film globally. But let’s not pretend that it’s a pitch perfect film, it might be ramping up a campaign for the Oscars, but it’s definitely not a flawless film. We’ve picked out the moments across the film that just don’t flow right. Here are 15 issues with the Wonder Woman movie we all choose to ignore.
There are major spoilers for Wonder Woman throughout this article.
15 HIPPOLYTA NOT TELLING DIANA SHE'S THE GODKILLER
We did warn you about spoilers. Look, one of our biggest problems with Wonder Woman, is her own mother doesn’t warn her about what her true purpose is. Fair enough, she doesn’t want to reveal her godly parentage, got to leave something for the sequel right? But since she may never see Diana again -- surely it would be good to warn her about what’s to come?
Hippolyta knew that she would end up crossing paths with Ares at some point -- so why not just warn her and let her prepare for the fight that she’d have to go through anyway. Get rid of the big reveal at the end, and just get Diana ready. Yes, she beat Ares anyway, but that fight might’ve lasted a few minutes less AND THEN she could’ve saved Steve Trevor. We’re not happy, Hippolyta.
14 THE COSTUME
Gal Gadot looks incredible in the Wonder Woman outfit, there’s no two ways about it. Her figure suits it perfectly, the colors were fantastic, and the way that it was armor and not spandex was great. But, since this is a film being made in the 21st century, it would have been a great opportunity to bring in a costume a bit more sensible. If she’s going into battle surely having more protective armor across her shoulders, arms and legs would be useful.
Don’t get us wrong, we know the armor was made on an island with a warmer climate. But did she not think she might need extra protection for any pesky bullets that she can’t deflect? Better safe than sorry after all. Maybe we’re just being picky, but there are plenty of comics that feature Diana in more armor that could be handy against Ares.
13 WONDER WOMAN'S POWERS
Once Diana discovers that she’s actually the daughter of Zeus, Ares engages her in a vicious fight that destroys an airfield in a fiery CGI battle (yawn). During this fight, she is able to redirect lightning and control it in some way. But during Batman v Superman during the fight with Doomsday she doesn’t think to use those powers as a way of helping the other two heroes.
That would’ve probably helped Clark when he was about to die by being impaled on the monster’s spiky arm. It just seems like a handy power that she forgets to use when there’s lightning flying about the place from the ship and Doomsday. Maybe it’s because the writers didn’t want to give her origin away too quickly. But still, the consistency doesn’t work on that one.
12 DOES EVERYONE ON THEMISCYRA KNOW ABOUT DIANA?
All the women on Themiscyra were obviously well aware that Diana was the only child living on the island. And in that way, it meant that Diana had many role models growing up. But did none of them stop and ask where she came from? Sure, Hippolyta could have just given them the old "I made her out of clay" spiel -- but some of them must have been incredibly intelligent and put it together.
Since they’re immortal and remembered the Gods anyway, did no one notice when Hippolyta and Zeus were alone for a while and then all of a sudden, Hippolyta has a daughter? Nope, just a coincidence. We know that Antiope (Robin Wright) knew about it, we just don’t get why it was a huge secret if Wonder Woman could kill Ares. That’s a good thing, Hippolyta.
11 DOCTOR POISON'S DISAPPEARANCE
During Diana’s fight with Ares, he taunts her by saying she should get revenge on the woman who effectively helped kill her beloved Steve. Instead, Diana lets Doctor Maru/Doctor Poison live. And then she’s not seen again. She never promises to be good, she’s not taken into custody by the Allied forces -- she just disappears. That seems very irresponsible. We’ve seen the horrifying damage the gas she developed can do.
We’re still not over the awfully cheesy scene of Maru and Ludendorrf cackling as they murder a military council. But Diana just lets her disappear into the night without a care in the world. She’s bound to get up to her old tricks again at some point. Surely Charlie or one of the others would think to try and subdue her as she runs off? But then again…sequel.
10 STEVE AND DIANA'S QUICK BOAT RIDE
We’re not thoroughly opposed to the romantic sub-plot between Steve and Diana (although we’ll get to that later), and the chemistry that grew between them as they got on the boat to London from Themiscyra was fantastic. They set sail in the middle of the night, and then by morning, they were in London because they managed to "hitch a ride".
Um, if Themiscyra was in the middle of the ocean somewhere near Turkey, did it really take under 12 hours to sail to London in World War One? We doubt it. Even if they did manage to catch a ride it should’ve taken a lot longer than that. Wonder Woman had a quick nap and woke up in a different country -- if only it was that easy.
9 STEVE'S DEATH
So Steve dies. He gets into the airplane and flies up with the bomber loaded with gas and sacrifices himself so that no innocents are murdered. But the thing is, Diana sees the plane mid-air. And even though she’s mid-fight with Ares, we’re pretty sure she could’ve distracted the God of War for a moment or two so she could fly up and save Steve.
It is a brave move killing a huge character like Steve Trevor off within the first film, so DC should actually be praised for that. Except, he’s probably going to come back at some point, we all know it. He’ll be undercover somewhere hiding out until the sequel. We kind of hope this is not the case as it might cheapen that sacrifice, so let’s hope it sticks.
8 ARES' MOTIVATION
So at the beginning of the film, Hippolyta tells Diana a story of the Gods and how Ares became corrupted and began a terrible war that killed many of the other Gods except Zeus, and then he was eventually defeated and pushed back into retreating. But, the reason behind all of this death and destruction was because he was jealous of humanity and how they were treated.
So let’s get this right. An immortal God with unimaginable powers and the will to shape a world how he pleases -- was jealous of humanity and how frail it was? That seems completely backwards when you think about it. The attention that Zeus gave to humanity, alright fair enough. But it seems a little mad to start a war over that doesn’t it?
7 WALKING STEROTYPES
The motley crew that Steve assembles to help find the poisonous gas that Doctor Maru and Ludendorrf are developing seem like a friendly bunch. There are some fantastic moments between the group -- even leading to the eventual positive reinforcement that Diana needs to restart her heroic career. But the only problem is, they are walking stereotypes. The Native Indian member of the group is called "Chief" by everyone.
The Scottish Sniper is a heavy drinker, and the Turkish operative always wears a fez. There’s even a scene where the Chief references the Americans stealing the Native Indians' land. There are better ways of bringing an important subject like that to a film that without being so obviously clunky. There’s no particularly draw to having this team except they all sort of stumble through these events together.
6 CHARLIE THE SNIPER
As comedic as Charlie (the Scottish Sniper) can be throughout the film, he doesn’t actually serve any purpose on the mission. When Steve recruits him in the bar, he’s been beaten up whilst being incredibly drunk. He brings up the fact that he’s a great sniper and would be a great addition to their team. When it’s time for him to take his all-important shot, he can’t do it. It’s made heartbreakingly clear that it’s because he has PTSD and it’s obvious that the rest of the team knew about it.
If he can’t do the thing he was brought to do, why did they bring him in the first place? It sounds a little insensitive. But it’s shown how horribly he’s been affected by what he’s seen, and he just can’t shoot. But since they’re in the middle of a warzone they probably should have brought someone else.
5 THE ROMANTIC SUB-PLOT
We did say we were going to come back to it. So Steve is the first man that Diana meets -- okay, we get it, he’s shown to be such a heroic person that when they fall in love it’s because they’re cut from the same cloth. But realistically, they’ve known each other for a week, at most. Remember, that boat journey wasn’t as long as it could have been. Was there really enough time for the pair of them to fall in love?
It seemed very rushed. After all, the Amazons had shown that they didn’t need men for relationships -- so it seems a bit odd that Diana would fall for a man so quickly. Maybe it’s just the Chris Pine charm. When she got the photograph back of the group was quite sweet though.
4 THE HUGGING SOLDIERS
So after Diana has defeated Ares and Steve sacrificed himself with the bomber -- the world has been saved. The war is pretty much over. But the thing is, the three remaining allied soldiers immediately all go in for hugs with the enemy forces. Moments ago, they were all shooting at each other and trying to murder one another. And now that one plane has been blown up and one huge silver God has been killed, they’re all best friends.
How do they know that this means the end of the war? One of them could just pull out a pistol and start shooting whilst Charlie, Chief Napi or Sameer go in for a cuddle. It just seems very naïve for three characters that have been put through hell by the very same forces. Yes, it gives us a happy ending but it just seems silly.
3 THE LACK OF JUSTICE LEAGUE
With DC playing catch up to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you would think that they would take a few pointers from their tested formula. One of those things is weaving other characters into the film to help make the universe feel more connected. Plus, it’s a great way of reminding audiences about future films in the works.
And yes, we get the Bruce Wayne reference with the delivery of the photograph -- but aside from that, no other Justice League characters make a quick appearance. One fantastic way would’ve been including Atlantis in the Themiscyra scenes somehow. After all, they’re another ancient city separated from the rest of the world -- there could have been some connectivity with Arthur Curry or even someone like Vulko or Murk. Shame.
2 ARES' PLAN
So throughout the film, Wonder Woman is looking to stop Ares so that he can’t keep the war going for all eternity. That makes sense. All the violence would fuel him for the rest of his life and keep him in power. Except, that’s not what Ares wants at all. He’s actually been whispering in the ears of man trying to get an armistice so that the war would end.
How does that work then? We know that he wants to return the world to the paradise that it could be. But surely helping to stop the war and helping humans to realize their mistakes would do this too…we don’t think Ares has thought this through properly. Maybe his internal issues are being pushed outwards. You might want to see someone about that, Ares.
1 THE END
So Diana helped during the first world war, hurray! She’s proved what a superhero can do in a realistic world whilst also bringing us a fantastic female hero to the big screen, providing a role model for little girls and boys everywhere. But hang on, we know that she left man to their own devices after this because she tells Bruce this in Batman v Superman. So she didn’t feel the need to intervene during the equally horrific second World War? Ouch.
Plus, at the end of the film we see her leave work and then end up leaping off a building. Two questions, where the hell was Diana leaping off to and did no one see her duck off to do a quick change into her armor? Hmm. Surprisingly though, we did actually really enjoy Wonder Woman, and it’s brilliant to finally have a female centric superhero movie.
What other problems did you have with Wonder Woman? Let us know in the comments!