YMMV / Wonder (2012)

• Alternative Character Interpretation: In the movie was Julian's apology to Mr. Tushman about his treatment of Auggie sincere, or was he only saying that because he was upset about changing schools because of his actions? According to Word of God it's the former and Julian clapping for Auggie at the graduation ceremony supports this.
• Awesome Moments: When Julian is finally punished by the principal for his bullying, his parents attempt to strong-arm him into dropping the suspension by claiming that they have friends on the school board. Mr. Tushman responds, "Well, I have more."
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Summer taking a bold step to becoming Auggie's true friend. She's arguably the one who's the least fake to him and even chastises him for doubting her.
  • Jack finally seeing the error of his ways after badmouthing Auggie to his friends and goes through great lengths to make up to the former. Jack punching Julian in the face could also count, as the latter has been nothing more than a complete Jerkass throughout the entire novel.
  • The Science Fair, where Auggie and Jack win the competition for their innovative design. Even better, nobody cares about Julian and Amos's volcano project, which ends up ''literally'' blowing up on their faces anyways.
  • Julian's suspension. It's Laser-Guided Karma at its finest for Julian after being a complete asshole to Auggie and Jack for the entirety of the novel. Even better, Mr. Tushman isn't taking his parents' bullcrap and this ends up resulting in Julian's mom quitting on the school and taking Julian with her!
  • The entire woods scene, especially Henry, Miles, and Amos's Heel–Face Turn. What follows next is Auggie finally getting the acceptance from everyone around him (sans Julian) in the school.
  • Auggie winning Beecher Prep's most prestigious award. It's the culmination of everything he went through from day one.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Chewbacca's cameos, especially in countries (Brazil, for example) where this film and The Last Jedi had closer release dates– which makes the character appear in two completely different movies in the same period.
  • Darth Sidious also gets a cameo in the film when Julian mockingly teases him for liking the character due to their facial deformities. Guess who makes their grand re-appearance in The Rise of Skywalker?
  • It’s easy to ship August and Summer since they’re such good friends and the latter has been nothing but kind to him through the entirety of both the book and film adaptations. Good Boys has them both as an Official Couple first by Jacob Trembaly’s character kissing Millie Davis’s (even though their relationship doesn’t last long).
• Hollywood Homely: August in the film version is a rather average-looking kid (apart from the deformities), while in the book his face is literally horrifying to other people.
• Ho Yay: In the movie Auggie and Jack become very close friends and share moments where they seem like a couple. After their temporary falling out Jack realizes how badly he messed up with Auggie and realizes how important the boy is to him. The movie also cuts out Jack’s love triangle which makes it seem like he develops a crush on Auggie during his narration, which Auggie seems to return.
• Jerkass Woobie: Julian in The Movie, where we actually see what was in "The Julian Chapter" onscreen. Unlike in the book, Julian isn't trying to defend his actions. He instead stays quiet the entire time and once his mom announces he'll be going to a different school as he desperately pleads, "I have friends, dad!". His apology afterwards will only make you feel more sorry for him.
• Questionable Casting: The film's decision to cast the able-bodied Jacob Tremblay as the disabled Auggie received some criticism. Tremblay did research Auggie's condition and talked to actual kids who had facial differences, but the film was still criticized for not giving the role to an actor with facial differences.
• Retroactive Recognition: In the film adaptation, Miranda, Via's best friend, is played by Danielle Rose Russell, who the following year would gain more attention as Hope Mikaelson in both The Originals and Legacies.
• Sweetness Aversion: Detractors of the book and more popular movie adaptation feel this way about the story, due to how it desperately tries to force audience to feel sorry for main character and overall Tear Jerker feelings, seeing them as forced.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Everything Julian (and his peers) does to Auggie. The worst being when he got his mom to photoshop Auggie out of the class picture. The scene with bullies harassing Auggie and Jack in the woods counts too.
  • Learning that Auggie was so upset by witnessing Jack mocking him with his bullies on Halloween, normally his favorite holiday, that he became physically ill.
  • The fight scene with Jack and Julian. Jack unloads his anger onto the bastard as a means to defend Auggie, which gets him suspended — and he is fully remorseful for it. It doesn't stop there though as Julian makes Jack just as bad of a target as Auggie, going as far as to declare a "boy war" on him.
  • Daisy's death. Later followed by Auggie coming down to comfort his dad crying at the dining table. It gets even worse, due to Harsher in Hindsight: since Nate is played by Owen Wilson, it's almost as if we're getting a reprise of Marley & Me.
  • "The Julian Chapter" finally reveals the internal struggle the aforementioned character goes through, which culminates in him seeing the error of his ways after his grandmother tells him the story of a similar experience. The film adaption has bits and pieces added to it, with Julian being fully remorseful of his actions as he is forced to accept the fact that he won't be back at Beecher Prep next year.
• The Woobie:
  • Where do we begin with Auggie? He's teased for his disability which leaves him with a disfigured face, has to wear an astronaut helmet to cover his face, only gets to feel like a regular kid at Halloween and even the people who pretend to like him, including his best friend, secretly talk trash behind his back. Poor kid.
  • Via also qualifies, her best friend moved away, she and another other friend at her new school have a falling out and her mother usually gives most of her attention and time to Auggie.
  • Jack Will as well — initially struggling with his insensitivity toward Auggie while maintaining his standing amongst some of his peers, including Julian, Henry, Miles, and Amos. Jack eventually sees the error of his ways after Auggie distances himself from him, and ends up reconciling with the latter. How does Julian reward him? By making him just as bad of a target as he is with Auggie. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished indeed.