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YMMV / Wonder Woman (2017)

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For the YMMV page for the Wonder Woman franchise at large see YMMV/Wonder Woman.

  • Actor Shipping: Many fans have begun shipping Gal Gadot and Chris Pine thanks to their on-screen chemistry and an almost unbearably adorable look she gave him during an interview—which is context is actually her being embarrassed for flubbing something in English and him teasing her to try to make her feel better. For the record, she's married and has three children and he has a long-term girlfriend.
  • Adorkable:
    • Diana enters the rest of the world as a Fish out of Water, a lot of energy, and a certain obliviousness to how she comes off. She lights up when she sees a baby in the street, even squealing "Oh a baby!" When trying on clothes, she practices various combat poses. Steve buys her some ice cream from a vendor and she is almost brought to tears over how good it is.
    • Steve Trevor is also quite endearing in how smitten he is over Diana, to the point where he breaks into a cold sweat whenever she brings up sex or flashes her thighs.
  • Alternate Character Interpretation:
    • Are Ludendorff and Dr. Maru lovers? In the lab scene, Ludendorff tenderly touches Maru's face. During the gala scene, Maru rebuffs Steve's romantic overtures—but only when she notices him noticing Diana. Before that, his semi-flirtarious words seem to be affecting her, and she denies to him that she and Ludendorff have anything but a professional relationship. But at the same time, she is a woman in a STEM field in the 1910s; likely she has had to perfect the image of being the consummate professional to be taken seriously. Ludendorff, however, treats her well, and they seem to genuinely like each other, despite their sadistic attitudes. Perhaps they are simply keeping the relationship quiet, knowing how others would think less of them (and especially her) for it.
    • The German soldiers who survived the war were shown immediately making peace with soldiers from enemy nations, hugging them in relief after the battle is over. Were they driven by the temptations of Ares or the cruel fist of Ludendorff?note  Or are they simply relieved to be alive after what just happened? For that matter, are they making peace with enemy soldiers, or are they, to their knowledge, celebrating surviving the battle with their comrades? Chief, Charlie and Samir were wearing German uniforms and it was still rather dark, so it's possible they were mistaken for German soldiers. It's also revealed they are teenagers, so it could be that war hadn't taken all their youth.
    • Diana holds back when Sir Patrick appears in the Germany base. She speaks disbelievingly at first that he can't actually be Ares though he claims it is the truth and proves it by wrapping himself in the Lasso, showing that he can also use it to show Diana his vision of the world. Was it that she actually likes Sir Patrick and respected his principles, considering he helped Steve when receiving proof that the German were developing poison gas that could pierce protective masks? Or was it her shock at the fact that Steve was right, that you can't just shoot one bad guy and hope that it fixes the world?  
    • Was Ares actually threatening Diana with Join or Die when she refused to succumb to his nihilistic view of the world or was he trying to beat her down and break her spirit in another way? After all, he pointed out they were the last two gods in the world and calls her "little sister" affectionately. Perhaps he decided to do things the old-fashioned way and ostensibly beat some sense into her.
    • Why did Wonder Woman spare Dr. Maru, despite Steve being killed disabling her creations, and knowing she could try again somewhere else? Is it because Maru was defeated and unarmed? Maybe Not Worth Killing? Was it just to spite Ares, who was all but goading her to do it? Was it just because the death toll was high enough already and there was just no point in adding to it? And even then, an allied government or one of Steve's pals likely executed her for war crimes later.
    • Steve when dancing with Diana talks about how when wars are done, he'd like to have an ordinary life. That is, get married, start a family, and greet the day with eating breakfast and reading the newspaper. Yet he has a mournful expression while saying it as if he knows that this life is never meant for him and that it all sounds naive to want a calm morning. Combining this with Steve later tearfully telling Diana that he wished she was right that if you kill one bad guy then it stops all wars in the world, it implies that Steve was once a Wide-Eyed Idealist the way Diana was, and his time as a spy broke him, if not his years in the army. It's at least possible that he has PTSD like Charlie, but doesn't express it in the same way. Likewise, given his expression when he realized that Dr. Poison was experimenting on a chained-up Bound and Gagged teen soldier and that was when he stole the notebook, it may have also been Everyone Has Standards in addition to the evidence that Germany was breaking the rules of war. Perhaps he wanted to make sure that she didn't hurt anyone again while reporting his findings, including loyal soldiers drafted. 
  • Aluminum Christmas Trees: Before facial reconstructive surgery took off, people with facial disfigurements really did wear mask-like prosthetics similar to Dr. Poison's, fashioned out of metal, rubber, or porcelain. These were usually held on with strings or bandages, or attached to fake spectacles—though the one Dr. Poison wears seems to be held on with spirit gum or other adhesive, and she probably wouldn't be able to speak as clearly as she does given the extent of her injuries.
  • And You Thought It Would Fail: For years, many executive producers believed that superheroine movies don't sell well and many, many people were predicting that regardless of quality, Wonder Woman would sink the DC Extended Universe for good, due to it following Batman v Superman, which was widely panned. Instead, the film received positive reviews (stabilizing at a 93% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a solid 76 score on Metacritic) and was an undeniable commercial success, garnering $200 million in its global opening weekend, $412 million domestic total and $821.7 million worldwide, which placed it directly at the top grossing Super Hero Origin movies, surpassing Spider-Man's unadjusted global gross. In short, it all went on to prove naysayers wrong, and Warner Bros. and DC didn't even bother signing Patty Jenkins up for future films, putting her in a prime bargaining position right away.
  • Anvilicious: The message of how human beings have equal potential to be good and evil, that all of the world's suffering can't be fixed by "getting rid of the bad guy", is quite literally spelled out in an almost child-like way, while making the important distinction that evil can't be vanquished, but that The Power of Love does have the potential to at least overcome it.
  • Award Snub:
    • At the Academy Awards, it wasn't nominated for anything, not even technical awards, which are usually seen as consolation awards for comic book/superhero films. The most puzzling snub is omission of Rupert Gregson-Williams for Best Original Score since many critics have praised him for building an entire soundtrack using only Wonder Woman's leitmotif. Needless to say, some people were pissed off, though Gal Gadot urged everyone to not make a big deal of it, saying that no one involved with the film had awards on their mind and are just happy so many people loved it. As a consolation, Gadot was invited as a presenter for the Oscars ceremony on March 4, 2018, which felt like a gesture of recognition for some.
    • Black Panther (2018)'s six Oscar nominations - including for Best Picture - the next year resurrected the controversy as some believed Wonder Woman could've made history by being the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture.
  • Base-Breaking Character:
    • Ludendorff and Dr. Poison; some didn't like their borderline cartoonish personalities, others say that they were fun to watch and far more entertaining than Ares.
    • Ares. Some viewers hate him, feeling that he detracts from the gritty realism and Grey-and-Gray Morality of the film, to say nothing of his unintentionally hilarious look. Others are fine with him, enjoying David Thewlis's performance of the character and liking how he at least ties into the bigger themes of the film.
  • Captain Obvious Reveal:
    • Ludendorff not being Ares could be seen all the way from Mars, seeing how he is shown several times in private with no hints of a divine nature, requires drugs to get superhuman strength (which he would not need if he was a god) and everyone warning Diana multiple times he might not be him. Also, taking into account that the fight between Diana and Ares should be The Climax, the most awesome part of the film, the fight between Diana and Ludendorff clearly did not meet the standards for such a fight, as the actual one of course did. Likewise, The Reveal that Ares was Sir Patrick Morgan the entire time is also quite predictable, as many viewers would have questioned why they would bring in David Thewlis to play such an unimportant role that disappears from the film after only two scenes. Not helping matters is the fact that, at the time of the film's release, Thewlis was portraying the Big Bad on the third season of Fargo.
    • Diana, not her sword, being the God Killer, seeing how the movie drops multiple hints that there is more to her than it appears and Ares might want to get her specifically.
    • Diana actually being the child of Zeus and Hippolyta rather than a clay figure sculpted by Hippolyta and given life by Zeus as was her traditional origin. This was a change established in the New 52 Wonder Woman comics and was well discussed in the lead up to the movie. It's rather similar to the reveal of Bucky Barnes being the Winter Soldier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
  • Catharsis Factor: Diana bravely charging across the proverbial "meat-grinder" of No-Man's-Land to protect the innocent citizens of Veld. She does it after Steve explains to her the hazards and that no one can cross it without getting mowed down. Trench warfare, and indeed all modern warfare that followed, is infamous for stripping its victims of all courage, honor and human dignity, reducing them to animals who only want to survive; and here we have a lone-warrior refusing to relinquish her humanity in the face of such despair and cruelty, willing to die if that is what it takes to save one more innocent life. Little wonder this moment is inspiring on both sides of the fourth wall; stirring the fires of courage in the soldiers to save Veld in narrative as well as Diana when gunfire pins her, and being the moment where the DC Cinematic Universe finally becomes Hopeful and Heroic for the audience.
  • Common Knowledge: The idea that Ares was the only reason the war was happening/continuing is a common take away from the film, despite it not being exactly correct. While Ares was manipulating some events behind the scenes to help continue it, he claims that the war was largely caused by the humans themselves, and he merely used it to his advantage. While the film never rebuts his assertions, and likely intended for him to be telling the truth given the build-up to this moment, the confusion stems from the fact that as soon as Ares is killed, the war basically ends, which makes it seem like it really was just because of him.
  • Complete Monster: General Erich Ludendorff demonstrates that even in a world of gods and monsters, some humans can be the most evil beings around. A ruthless German general in World War I who believes in continuing the war, Ludendorff executes a man simply for complaining supplies are low and encourages the inhumane research of Isabelle "Dr. Poison" Maru, testing her gas on live subjects. When he encounters his high command who wish to sign an armistice, Ludendorff gasses them as well, but throws in a single gas mask, well aware it will do nothing to stop the gas. Ludendorff later tests the gas on a civilian village, and when he engages Diana herself in a battle to the death, he is in the process of having the gas loaded into a plane to subject all of London to a horrible death.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: Ludendorff and Dr. Poison gassing the entire German high command and leaving them with only one gas mask? Horrifying. Ludendorff and Dr. Poison sharing a giggle because the gas mask won't even work? Hilarious.
  • Crossover Ship:
  • Designated Villain: The German soldiers that followed Steve Trevor and became the unwitting invaders of Themyscira. As far as they were concerned, a British spy stole an artifact used for the German war effort, and they followed him to retrieve it at all costs. A completely legitimate military action, regardless of whatever their superiors intended to do with it (and that those soldiers may not even know anything about). Had it been a German spy escaping with a British artifact, things wouldn't have played out very differently.
  • Ending Fatigue: One of the most common criticisms of the movie. While the movie clocks in at a little over two hours (not exceptionally long by superhero movie standards), some people feel that the last act drags on more than it should, which, along with it being often considered as the movie's weakest part altogether, has made some feel that it could have been shorter.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: Sameer, Charlie and the Chief, Steve's Multinational Team. Despite being Canon Foreigners who just appear to be evoking the Howling Commandos in Captain America: The First Avenger, the characters surprisingly tie into the movie's wider themes well (Sameer can slip into disguises so well because he was an actor before getting drafted; Charlie is strongly implied to be suffering from PTSD; the Chief is a Native American working as a smuggler for both sides because, as he puts it, he lost his lands to "[Steve's] people") and the actors' performances make them quite endearing.
  • Fandom Rivalry:
    • An unusual one has emerged, with critics who praised Wonder Woman and their supporters using the success to get in jabs at the previous DCEU movies (or more accurately, praising Wonder Woman at their expense, with lines like "The first good DCEU film" being a common theme among reviews), while on the other side are fans of Zack Snyder and the DCEU who are tired of the bashing pointing out that he did in fact have some creative input and deserves credit for casting Gal Gadot in the title role, something Patty Jenkins has said she wouldn't have done. Conversely, there are some Snyder fans who claim Wonder Woman having jokes and a more optimistic tone is "selling out" and pandering to critics and audiences who prefer the MCU, a move they argue has undercut the uniquely Darker and Edgier feel of the previous DCEU films. Ironically, a reversal would happen a few years down the line between Wonder Woman 1984 and Zack Snyder's Justice League, with the latter ending up the better received movie across the board and causing new debates on which portrayed Diana the best.
    • Fans of the then-unreleased Black Panther have criticized this movie for being faux-progressive due to its lack of black Africans or African-Americans. Wonder Woman fans will point out that the movie is a huge achievement for feminism and that since the movie largely takes place in Europe in 1918, one should expect a mostly European cast. The film itself has a glimpse of the Ottoman Empire, Moroccan and Native American teammates, several black Amazons, and lots of Indian soldiers at the train platform.
    • The film has a rivalry with fans of the Star Wars movies Rogue One (for having a couple accompanied by a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits seeking to destroy an enemy superweapon) and The Last Jedi (which had a female lead but also experienced a massive fandom backlash unlike Wonder Woman).
    • With Wonder Woman (2009). Fans of the animated movie claim that their movie is the best Wonder Woman adaptation for having what they consider to be the better depiction of Ares and not avoiding the feminist talk while also calling out the hypocrisy of the Amazonian's feminism. Fans of the 2017 movie suggest that they're just sad since the animated film has a cult following at best, and how they overlook the fact that Steve in the animated movie comes off as rude womanizer for spending too much time trying to seduce Diana. This has been subdued since in some releases of the 2017 movie, the 2009 movie is included either in the showing or the upcoming Blu-Ray which will help gather some viewers.
    • Two more with Captain Marvel (2019) and Black Widow (2021) fandoms, with some of their fans being bitter and salty about how Wonder Woman stole their thunder in becoming the first critically acclaimed female superhero movie of the Blockbuster Age. Not helping matters is that their movies were delayed repeatedly and have to play catch-up with the first Black Widow movie coming out the year after the Wonder Woman sequel.
  • Fan Nickname:
  • Fanon: The fandom pretty much universally assumes that Melanippe, Antiope's dark-haired lieutenant and Number Two, is also her lover, as evidenced by her heartbroken Big "NO!" when Antiope gets shot.
  • Friendly Fandoms:
    • There's a lot of crossover between Wonder Woman and Captain America fans, due to the period settings (WWI in Wonder Woman, WWII in The First Avenger). Steve/Peggy and Steve/Bucky shippers in particular enjoy the similarities the two ships have to Steve/Diana, such as the fact all three ships involve a "Steve" sacrificing himself by blowing up a bomb-filled plane. One popular piece of fanart has Diana and Bucky bemoaning their respective Steve's self-sacrificing tendencies.
    • Also with, of all things, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, as both were highly anticipated superhero movies based on popular pre-existing works released in close proximity to each other. Some moviegoers have jokingly mis-named the two as "Captain Wonderpants."
    • There is a cross-medium friendly fandom between Wonder Woman and Battlefield 1 as both works are credited with renewing popular interest in World War I and proving that the setting can have mainstream appeal (previously most entertainment executives have dismissed the era as too toxic for sales figures).
    • Wonder Woman and Supergirl (2015) fans get along with each other. Both Diana and Kara are idealistic, friendly superheroines who love ice cream and represent the best of humanity.
    • As noted by the Crossover Ship, fans of this movie also like Agent Carter and vice-versa since both works have a strong female lead confronting gender discrimination in a historical setting.
    • Surprisingly, fans of this film also get along with Deadpool (2016). Might be due to the stars being good friends towards each other, or that Gail Simone having a hand in writing both comics.
    • Although there was a rivalry, fans of this film have gotten along well with Captain Marvel (2019) fans largely due to their respective fanbases uniting against Girl-Show Ghetto detractors for their superheroine films.
  • Genius Bonus:
    • The Amazons' armour has a visible metal breast plate on the left side. This is a nod to the folklore that the Amazons cut off their left breasts to be better able to draw a bow.
    • Diana's costume in particular is inspired by Ancient Roman armour. Her skirt is cut higher over the thighs so as not to impede movement, and her boots are based on protective greaves.
    • Ares tells Diana that he doesn't interfere with free will, he just inspires people with a predisposition to acts of cruelty. This is typical of the muses from Greek mythology, who were believed to provide inspiration for scientists (Dr. Maru) and philosophers (General Ludendorff).
    • General Ludendorff became a bit of an eccentric in his later years after the war, up to and including dabbling in occultism and the worship of the old pagan gods. Thus, his role here as a pawn of Ares makes some sense historically.
    • Chief introduces himself to Diana in untranslated Blackfoot as Napi, a Blackfoot Trickster and storyteller.
    • Ludendorff's death is even more satisfying once one learns that he was the guy who started the "stabbed in the back" mythnote  that blamed the supposed betrayal of Jews and leftists for losing the war. This myth helped lead to the rise of the Nazis so it's karmic that someone played by an Israeli woman whose grandmother is a Holocaust survivor gets to kill him.
    • Paul von Hindenburg dying from poison gas is a more-or-less dramatised version of his real-life death from lung cancer.
  • Girl-Show Ghetto: Obliterated. Part of the reason the film was in Development Hell was because of concerns about this, but ultimately the film ended up being one of the most triumphant aversions in cinematic history, garnering critical acclaim and becoming a massive box office success.
  • Growing the Beard: A franchise example; Wonder Woman is the first DC Extended Universe movie to earn an overall positive response from critics, currently sitting at a 93% Certified Fresh approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Compare this to the divided response to Man of Steel (55% on RT) and the critical thrashing of both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (27%) and Suicide Squad (28%).
  • He Really Can Act: Chris Pine had been considered by some a wooden "pretty boy" actor before this film, with his portrayal of Captain Kirk being especially mocked. But then comes the scene where he perfectly conveys Steve's conflicted feelings about his impending Heroic Sacrifice without needing to say a word. He also gives a good conveyance of his horror at the travesty of the Great War when being interrogated in the Amazon throne room.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: When Wonder Woman was released, some audience joked how it borrowed so much from the MCU movies like Thor. Just a few months later in the same year, Thor: Ragnarok happens to have an evil Omnicidal Maniac god who is the hero's previously unknown half-sibling destroying the hero god's weapon like it's nothing, yet the hero apparently manages to wield his inherent powers over thunder and lightning in a rematch, just like in Wonder Woman.
  • Hollywood Homely: Played for Laughs in Etta Candy's response to Diana wearing a pair of glasses in order to make her beauty less conspicuous.
  • Ho Yay: When Steve reveals to his crew that he's going to blow up the plane of poison gas, their response is a unanimous Big "NO!" because that means that he'll be on it and won't be able to escape. They look anguished as he makes his way towards the plane, and the only thing they can do is give him cover fire. After traveling through the front and fighting, none of them want to lose Steve. Yet, like Diana, all they can do is watch when he fires that trigger.
  • Les Yay:
    • A rather low-key example is Antiope and her lieutenant Melanippe. The two are almost always shown accompanying each other, and when Antiope dies, Melanippe has a serious Big "NO!" reaction over her body. Given the Amazons' reputation for bisexual/lesbian leanings, it's easy to interpret the two as lovers. (Melanippe is the sister of Antiope and Hippolyta in both myth and DC Canon, but this doesn't seem to be true in the film.)
    • At one point, Etta can't help but comment that Diana is the loveliest looking woman in the world when Steve tries to disguise her with glasses. It's a little derisive towards Steve, but she does look admiring towards the princess's new duds. Not to mention that Diana trusts Etta with her sword, and Etta shows that she can use it to intimidate spies. It helps that Etta is a canonical lesbian in some iterations of Wonder Woman's story.
  • LGBT Fanbase: Like you wouldn't believe. It goes without saying that this movie has gay and bisexual women practically swooning, not just over Gal Gadot but the entire island of Themyscira. The main plot features a gorgeous superheroine who comes from a Lady Land of insanely beautiful badass women who have long since concluded that men are necessary for procreation but "not for pleasure." Do the math. It also helps that Elena Anaya, who plays Dr Poison, is openly gay in real life.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Ares, the God of War once wiped out his fellow gods when they quarrelled over Ares' wish to eliminate humanity. Surviving while injured and crippled, Ares instead plays on humanity's own preexisting prejudices and fears to sway them to destroy themselves, giving humans ideas for weapons and helping to manufacture peace that he knows they can't keep, setting the stage and giving them the matches to burn it down. When he reveals himself to Diana, Ares elaborates on his methods, also wishing Diana to join him to wipe out humanity and make the world a paradise.
  • Memetic Mutation: Now has its own page.
  • Misblamed:
    • Whatever one may think of the women-only screenings at certain theaters, it was the theaters themselves that did this, not Warner Bros.
    • Many were outraged when it was reported that Gal Gadot's paycheck for the film was far lower than Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck were getting for their DCEU appearances. However, the intricacies of the contracts involved means the discrepancy isn't as large as it might appear from the numbers that were reported, plus Cavill and Affleck were already known stars while Gadot was a relative newcomer (for comparison, she actually got more than Chris Hemsworth or Chris Evans got for their first MCU films). Furthermore, there's also a difference between a first film (where the actor has very little leverage, as someone else could easily get the role instead), and sequels (where the actor has much more leverage as the studio doesn't want to have to recast the same character with a new face). She received a much bigger paycheck for Wonder Woman 1984.
  • Moe: Young Diana is very adorable and huggable thanks to her cute looks, as well as her Constantly Curious and cheerful nature. Adult Diana herself is curious, innocent, kind and has a radiant sunshine smile.
  • Moral Event Horizon: General Ludendorff crosses the line either when he gasses German high command to stop them from signing the armistice and ensuring the war's continuation, or when he uses the gas to murder a village full of civilians that Diana and her allies just liberated, just to show off the power of his new weapon.
  • Multiple Demographic Appeal: One of the reasons cited for the film's performance at the box office is its appeal to multiple audiences beyond the expected Girl-Show Ghetto. Women get to see perhaps the definitive Action Girl on screen in a starring role for the first time, history buffs can appreciate a big-budget blockbuster centering on (frequently-overlooked-in-American-media) World War I, men who aren't comic book fans can admire the gorgeous Gal Gadot, LGBT fans can admire the gorgeous Gal Gadot, the behind-the-scenes involvement of Zack Snyder appeals to his fans and some aggrieved comic book fans can breathe a sigh of relief that the DCEU has finally produced a movie that's worthy of the source material in their eyes.
  • Narm: Has its own page.
  • Narm Charm:
    • Ludendorff and Dr. Poison's giggling while killing people in one scene. Many saw this as adding personality to the villains, an endearingly vicious scene reminiscent of the boyish glee of Two Face and Riddler played by Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey 22 years ago.
    • Perhaps only Wonder Woman, not even Superman himself, could get away with lines like "I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world." But it rings true to her character.
    • For even a mild history buff, Diana searching for Ares to end WWI can come off as silly, but even still, there's something about it that's so adorable. Plus, it's all building up to Diana's heartbreaking loss of innocence about the true depths of horror humanity can reach without any kind of godly help.
    • The effect of the iconic lasso of truth's golden glow has been described by some viewers as looking too "cartoony" for a modern action film. However, its imperfection also makes it more memorable.
  • Narrowed It Down To The Guy I Recognise: It's quite easy to predict David Thewlis's role as the Hidden Villain if you're familiar with his turn as a repulsive villain in Fargo: Season Three, which aired concurrently with the film's release.
  • Nightmare Retardant: Ares looks pretty sinister, so long as he's got his helmet on. When Diana knocks it off, all audiences can see is Remus Lupin's head on Sauron's body. However, even when wearing the helmet, Ares lacks the shadowed face and red eyes of his more well-known counterparts, meaning Sir Patrick's 1910s style mustache is distractingly visible under the helmet.
  • Older Than They Think:
    • German soldiers wear the Stahlhelm instead of the pointy Pickelhaube more often associated with World War I, thus leading some lazy observers to think this was set in World War II from the trailers and that she was beating up Those Wacky Nazis. The Pickelhaube was phased out in 1916 in favor of the Stahlhelmnote  and the movie takes place in 1918. Not only that, these soldiers wear the era-accurate M-1916 model◊, whereas World War II German soldiers wore M-1935 and M-1940 models◊, which were logical upgrades a few decades after the helmet's invention.
    • Ares as a Quintessential British Gentleman had been done in the DC Animated Universe episode "Hawk and Dove" where he's voiced by Michael York. Like in the film, he enjoys Running Both Sides to drive conflict and increase his power.
  • Questionable Casting: David Thewlis as Ares. He's perfectly fine when Ares is masquerading as Sir Patrick, but once The Reveal happens, he looks completely out of place, both in the flashback of Ares after his fall, and when Ares puts on his armor. However, he does an excellent job as the voice of Ares and since he's in battle the entire time, we don't get too many closeups of his face.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Steve Trevor has traditionally been the Trope Codifier of Useless Boyfriend who also needs to be saved by Wonder Woman and after William Moulton Marston died, several writers didn't know what to do with him, which led to his appearances after Crisis on Infinite Earths reduced and forgotten. Together with the New 52, where he became an ARGUS agent who acts as the government's liaison to the Justice League, the movie was also able to rework his character, making him a badass spy who is able to stand on his own and become useful. The 2009 animated Wonder Woman version of Steve spent a good deal of the short running time trying to seduce Diana with snark and rogueish charm, taking attention away from the central conflict. This version of Steve is far more focused on completing his mission.
  • Salvaged Story:
    • After people complained about Superman and Batman using lethal force, Wonder Woman mostly pulls her punches despite being in an actual war (and being the only member of the DC Trinity that's often excused from the no-kill rule due to her background). She doesn't explicitly stab or slash people with her sword until the final act, especially when she's enraged by Steve's death. Instead she throws punches and kicks and uses her shield and lasso, and only chops rifles in half.
    • After the previous two films got a ton of complaints for trying to rush the setting's development until they consisted of little more than a bunch of character introductions with little plot holding them together, this film focuses entirely on Wonder Woman herself, with the framing story notably not contriving an actual appearance from Bruce despite his sizable role in it.
    • The film's treatment of Chief may be a response to the Native American character Slipknot from Suicide Squad. Alongside a sympathetic backstory, Chief is portrayed as an honorable smuggler in comparison to Slipknot being an unpleasant asshole that existed solely to die. It worked big time, as audiences loved the character.
  • She Really Can Act:
    • Some critics weren't convinced by Gal Gadot's performance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In Wonder Woman, however, she shows off a lot of range, proving that she is lead actress material. Indeed, many reviews pointed to her performance as one of the movie's highlights. Even director Patty Jenkins said her "heart sank" when she first read about Gadot's casting several years ago, before being won over by her brief role in Batman v. Superman.
  • Special Effect Failure: Some of the green screening early on in the film is rather dodgy, but it improves as the film goes on.
  • Spiritual Adaptation: The scene where Wonder Woman and Steve's Ragtag Bunch of Misfits cross No Man's Land and liberate the village of Veld is probably the best Valkyria Chronicles movie you will ever see.
  • Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Well, prequel for most of the film, but while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, Wonder Woman has a 93%.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
    • In the backstory the Greek Gods (especially Diana's patron goddess Athena) are all dead save for Ares, who by his own admission destroyed them. A common complaint among Wonder Woman fans is that while she is an excellent character herself, her stories generally don't have the same density of Worldbuilding and Rogues Gallery that Batman and Superman have, and that DC rarely does heavy lifting in integrating the richness of Classical Mythology to its superhero lore the way Marvel does with Norse Mythology, and that arbitrarily wiping out the Pantheon, for the sake of simplifying Diana's origin, potentially limited the scope of her stories going forward.
    • Many bemoaned how brief Etta Candy's role was in the film, as she is Wonder Woman's traditional sidekick and she provides excellent comic relief and a glimpse into the early feminist movement.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: One of the biggest criticisms of the film is the choice to have it revealed that Ares was escalating the war by secretly manipulating key players on both sides instead of portraying humanity as solely responsible for the conflict, particularly since it would have provided a great reason for Diana to seclude herself from humanity. This is especially strange given that up until that point in the movie, Diana's entire character arc was about learning how humans are both capable of evil and good, but the choice for Ares to appear throws all of it under the bus. It doesn't help that the reveal comes right near the end of the film to justify a big climatic fight, making all the work put into Diana's development and understanding that mankind isn't as clear-cut as she thought basically pointless, because despite the film literally having Trevor tell her killing one bad person won't end the war, Diana essentially does exactly that.
  • Too Cool to Live:
  • The Un-Twist: Ares really did exist. Seeing that he is one of Wonder Woman's greatest foes and there couldn't be a more fitting place to utilize The God Of War than what is widely considered one of the most violent conflicts in human history, the creators would not dare to just shrug off such an iconic villain as non-existent, even if it did risk lessening the impact of a powerful message.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: DC's new intro got praise from comic book fans for looking like an animated comic book.
  • Watched It for the Representation: This film had the draw of being one of the first major female-led superhero films in over a decade, the first in the DC Extended Universe, and the first major film about Wonder Woman, who had long been positioned as a feminist icon. Women responded positively — over half of the viewing audience in the United States was femalenote .
  • Win Back the Crowd:
    • When Gal Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, responses were mixed, to say the least. Even with the trailers of that movie briefly showing her in action, some weren't convinced. Then early footage of her solo film was shown on a DC television special and much of the doubt placed upon her was erased. People were further won over with her performance in Batman v. Superman, which is generally seen as a highlight even by that movie's detractors, and her solo film eventually cemented her as bona fide star material with good acting chops.
    • The second trailer had optimism and humor, calming some of the fears that the movie would be bleak and depressing like Dawn of Justice. It also had a well-received Shout-Out to the very optimistic 1978 Superman movie, which Jenkins cites as one of the influences on Wonder Woman.
    • In stark contrast to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, there were no major scenes deleted from the theatrical release, with Patty Jenkins going so far as to say there weren't even any cuts significant enough to justify a "deleted scenes" feature on the Blu-ray.
    • After the mixed-to-negative reception of the first three DCEU entries, Wonder Woman has been receiving highly positive responses from critics, even from those who disliked the former three films. A consistent point brought up in many reviews is that the film is colorful, uplifting, isn't afraid to be funny, and has a positive, likable protagonist whom the audience can get invested in, which are all traits that Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman were criticized for lacking. It's currently one of the highest-rated superhero movies ever on Rotten Tomatoes.
  • The Woobie:
    • Diana started out so full of hope that humanity could be saved just by killing one bad person, but every passing moment serves to shatter her view of people.
    • Steve Trevor and his comrades. They've been fighting for years, with no idea when the war will ever end. What's more, Sameer, Charlie, and the Chief have the misfortune to belong to ethnic groups in a time where racism was very much the norm.

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