Wonder Woman (film)

**Wonder Woman** is a 2009 superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero of the same name. The film was directed by Patty Jenkins and stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Connie Nielsen, Scott Adkins, Robin Wright, Lucy Davis, Angela Bassett, and Tom Cruise. It was released on May 1, 2009 and grossed $412 million against a $125 million budget. It ran 125 minutes and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Gadot's and Pine's performances but criticized the story. *Wonder Woman: Uprising* was released on November 1, 2013, followed by *Wonder Woman: New Gods* on November 4, 2016.

## Plot

Thousands of years ago, Queen Hippolyta of the powerful all-female race of Amazons uses the magic of the Greek Gods to bring a clay figure to life as her daughter, Princess Diana. Hippolyta and her sister, Antiope, train Diana to be a warrior. However, during World War II, a fighter pilot named Steve Trevor crashes on their hidden island of Themyscira. Asking their help to stop the war, Diana joins him and falls in love with him. However, he dies during the Battle of the Bulge. Diana decides to stay in the U.S. and helps Trevor's comrads and allies create A.R.G.U.S., to monitor others like Diana. In present day, "Wonder Woman" is the name given to Diana for her fighting in World War II. Diana manages to keep her identity secret, appearing as Diana Prince, except to A.R.G.U.S. Director Amanda Waller and Trevor's grandson, Steve Trevor. The nefarious Cadmus organization once again strikes in downtown Washington D.C. Trevor and a squad of agents attempt to fend them off, but Cadmus manages to strike down most of the squad, except Trevor. One of the agents, Sebastian Ballesteros, joins Cadmus instead of dying, while Cadmus takes several citizens hostage. Diana becomes angry at Waller after she denies her the chance to go after them.

Trevor returns to A.R.G.U.S., where he is treated for injuries. Diana is able to track Cadmus through Ballesteros's tracker, which prompts Trevor to believe Ballesteros is purposely leading them to Cadmus. Waller sends Diana and Trevor after Cadmus. At their location, Diana fights through the guards, while Trevor is able to get to the lab, where he is horrified to find all their hostages, including Ballesteros, undergoing surgery to be genetically enhanced. Trevor is nearly captured, but Diana rescues him and they leave. Returning to A.R.G.U.S., Waller deduces that Cadmus is trying to turn regular people into soldiers. Looking through the list of everyone taken, they discover Barbara Ann Minerva was already taken in due to genetic enhancements months before. Visiting her doctor, Diana and Trevor learn that Minerva was taken by Cadmus, who gave her the agility and reflexes of a cat, though it began gradually deteriorating her health, and she was let go from the program. At Cadmus, the doctors are dismayed to learn that nearly everyone died in the process of surgery, except Minerva, who awakens to discover she now has the appearance and speed of a cheetah, along with superhuman strength and durability.

Diana returns to Themyscira, where Hippolyta advises her to use her Amazon powers to stop Cadmus, despite Waller's warnings. Cadmus has somehow tracked her there, and attack Themyscira. The army nearly fends them off, but they are able to kill Antiope before leaving. Diana swears revenge against them and leaves to stop them. In D.C., Diana begins signaling Cadmus to attack. Taking the bait, Cadmus sends several soldiers, including Minerva after her. Minerva is revealed to be going insane as a result of the experiments. Diana fights them, but has mercy on Minerva. With most of their defense gone, Trevor attacks Cadmus and injects Ballesteros with Minerva's blood, reviving him. However, this causes Ballesteros to also go crazy with his newfound powers. He nearly kills Trevor, but instead takes him downtown, to publicly execute him in front of Diana, who has been captured by Cadmus. The President announces an air strike to end the battle, but Waller shows up at the last second and destroys Cadmus's defense. Diana saves Trevor and stops the air strike, sending all the missiles into the ocean instead. Trevor is forced to kill Ballesteros, while Minerva is taken in.

The public realizes that Wonder Woman has returned, causing a mystery surrounding her ageless appearance. Diana retains her secret identity, while she and Trevor begin a romance. Waller becomes suspicious that something is wrong inside A.R.G.U.S. but shakes it off. Diana begins working less at A.R.G.U.S. so she can spend more time in Themyscira to take Antiope's place. In a post-credits scene, Deputy Director Hank Henshaw is revealed to be working for Cadmus.

## Cast

* Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman
* Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
* Kristen Wiig as Barbara Ann Minerva/Cheetah
* Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta
* Scott Adkins as Sebastian Ballesteros/Cheetah
* Robin Wright as Antiope
* Lucy Davis as Etta Candy
* Angela Bassett as Amanda Waller
* Tom Cruise as Hank Henshaw

## Reception

### **Box office**

**Wonder Woman** grossed $142.6 million (34.6%) in the United States and Canada and $269.4 million (65.4%) in other territories for a total of $412 million. Worldwide, it is the fourteenth highest-grossing 2009 film. It achieved a domestic opening weekend of $44.5 million.

### **Critical reception**

*Wonder Woman* received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 54% based on 290 reviews, with a weighted average score of 5.9/10.