Genre: Action/Superhero/Fantasy
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: D.R. Cobb
Based on DC Comics characters
Cast: Alexandra Daddario, Josh Hartnett, Julia Roberts, Naomi Watts, William Petersen, Geena Davis, Camila Davis, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Tracy Spiridakos, Liam Cunningham, Nasim Pedrad, Ashley Romans, Jason Clarke
Plot: Centuries ago, the army of the demigod Herakles storms the magnificent city of Amazonia, home of the Amazon warrior women. Herakles' army is led by his general Theseus (Jason Clarke). He orders his army to sack the entire city in the name of Ares. Queen of the Amazons, Alcippe (Geena Davis), orders her soldiers to hold their positions to the best of their ability. Queen Alcippe calls her daughter Hippolyta (Alycia Debnam-Carey) over and gives her an important task. She needs to take the Eye of Antiope and lead the remaining Amazons to a new homeland. Hippolyta does not want to fulfil the task as removing the stone from Amazonia will result in those staying behind losing their immortality. Alcippe tells her daughter that the forces of Herakles will kill every last Amazonian. She and her personal guards will hold off the invaders long enough for Hippolyta and the rest of the Amazons to make it away from Amazonia. Queen Alcippe tells Hippolyta to go at once. Alcippe then leaps into the horde of soldiers with a handful of brave warriors to keep the army led by Theseus at bay. Hippolyta and the other Amazons get onto horseback and flee the area. Herakles' army is too much for Alcippe and the remaining Amazons warriors. Theseus makes his way through the crowd and stabs an already wounded Alcippe in the chest. He then makes his way to the Temple of Aphrodite only to find the Eye of Antiope has been removed.
Now on a new island that they call Themyscira, Hippolyta prays to Zeus to protect them from the wrath of Ares, who she knows is responsible for the destruction of Amazonia. Zeus (Liam Cunningham) appears and tells Hippolyta that if he is to protect the Amazons from his brother Ares, she will need to do something for him. He will imprison Ares in a tomb beneath the island of Themyscira and protect the island from outsiders with a permanent shroud if only Hippolyta will bear him a child. Hippolyta agrees to this condition - anything to protect her people from the armies under Ares' control.
Not long after, Hippolyta, now established as the new queen of the Amazons, restores the Eye of Antiope to a newly constructed Temple of Aphrodite on Themyscira. As the magical jewel glistens in the sunlight, Hippolyta rubs her now pregnant belly. She whispers to her unborn child that she will one day rule this kingdom just like her own mother, Alcippe, did before her.
Several Thousand Years Later…
Princess Diana (Alexandra Daddario) is training alongside her fellow Amazon warriors. As they spar together, Diana tries to prove that she is the best sword fighter on the island, but is swept off her feet by a low kick from Artemis (Tracy Spiridakos). After the training session, Diana defiantly asks her mother, Queen Hippolyta (Julia Roberts), why they must train for battle every day if they are never going to leave the island and nobody new is ever going to come to them. Hippolyta reminds her daughter that the magic that protects them is not infallible, not even the god that provided it is, so they must always be ready to protect themselves against any enemies old or new.
Steve Trevor (Josh Hartnett) is flying a stealth reconnaissance jet low over Northern Africa. He asks over the radio why he’s doing this mission when a UAV could easily do the task. The voice tells him that the General wanted human eyes on the place before making a decision on bombing the place, plus the General is old school. Steve rolls his eyes and continues flying toward his destination - a suspected secret nuclear weapons facility in the nation of Kahndaq. As he flies low over the installation of buildings and silos, he activates the jet’s camera system to begin recording the area. He is spotted by their radars and is fired upon with three surface-to-air missiles. Steve manages to avoid the first two missiles with some crafty flying, but the wing of the jet is hit by the third missile as he flies over the Mediterranean Sea. Steve loses control of the plane as he flies into a thick fog. As he loses altitude and is unable to see through the fog, Steve activates the seat ejector, launching him out of the plane and leaving him parachuting into the unknown of the fog.
Diana is riding her beloved horse, Kachi, along the beaches of Themyscira when she notices something washed ashore. She rides toward the object, only to find an unconscious Steve Trevor. Stunned by the sight of a man in the flesh, Diana picks him up and puts him on the back of her horse. She rides through the village, shocking all the other Amazonians with the sight, and brings him to her Hippolyta. Hippolyta ties him up with the golden Lasso of Truth and interrogates him, asking how he found the island. He tells her that he doesn't even know what island he's on, his plane failed while making a getaway from a secret mission and he had to eject. Steve tells them that he urgently needs to get back to his country to inform his superiors about the pictures he took in Kahndaq. Hippolyta asks why they should let him go, and Steve insists that if his boss doesn’t get the pictures, something bad could happen.
After some thought, Hippolyta decides that Steve poses no risk to the Amazon people, and announces that it is now their duty to see him safely back to the land of men. Diana volunteers to escort him back to his homeland, but Hippolyta refuses, insisting that the ancient way is to hold a contest to determine who is most capable of representing the Amazons to the outside world as their emissary.
Veronica Cale (Naomi Watts), multi-billionaire and leader of the secret organization, Godwatch, dedicated to proving the existence of the pantheon of Greek Gods, sits in her office overlooking Gateway City. Her assistant, Adrianna Anderson (Nasim Pedrad), brings her the Grimoire of Circe, reported to be the spellbook of the legendary ancient Greek witch Circe. Veronica is excited that the book was finally recovered and asks where it turned up. Adrianna says that it was found deep beneath a temple on the island of Cyprus. Veronica runs the ancient texts of the book through a special computer program to translate the writings inside. She asks Adrianna how long the program will take. Adrianna says that she honestly doesn’t know since it is a prototype program she created herself. Veronica makes it clear that she did get to be as powerful as she is today by being patient.
Hippolyta announces the contest to the women of the island. It will consist of a marathon around the island that does not end until there are only two warriors left standing. Those two will then duel to determine a winner. Diana has no trouble with the marathon around the island. Even as her fellow Amazons drop out of the race, Diana keeps moving with ease. She looks behind her and sees that Artemis and Nubia (Ashley Romans) are still keeping pace. As the sun begins to set, Hippolyta calls an end to the marathon, calling it a three-way tie. She tells them to quickly prepare for a three-way duel. Diana’s friend Donna (Camila Mendes) helps Diana don her red, silver and blue armor before the duel. Donna wishes Diana luck, but Diana turns down the luck insisting she will win because she is the best trained and the most skilled. Donna laughs at Diana’s lack of modesty. Diana realizes her tone and tells Donna that she just believes she will win because she has a feeling the gods want her to go with Steve to the land of man.
The sun has gone down by the time the three combatants have all made their way into the arena of Themyscira. Under the light of fiery torches surrounding them, Diana, Artemis and Nubia all take their starting positions atop a raised platform in the middle of the arena.. Hippolyta announces that the final stage of the contest has begun. The three warriors begin fighting. It isn’t long until Artemis and Nubia begin teaming up against Diana and appear to be trying to actually hurt her. Diana manages to deflect a blow from Nubia’s sword with her bracelets, managing to knock Nubia’s sword away in the process. Diana then kicks Nubia off of the platform. Diana picks up Nubia’s sword and attacks Artemis with two swords at a blistering pace. Artemis blocks with her shield but is eventually knocked down to the ground by Diana’s repeated blows. Artemis drops her sword and concedes that Diana has won the contest.
After the contest, Hippolyta admits to Diana that she didn't want her to win the contest. Diana wants to know why, and her mother explains that Diana's true father is Zeus, the God of Thunder. Diana is confused. Hippolyta continues, telling Diana how she had made a deal with Zeus to imprison Ares, the God of War, as he was a threat to the existence of the Amazons. Zeus' condition was to father a child with Hippolyta. Diana asks what that makes her, and her mother tells her that she is a demigod - which means she has the power of the Gods in her blood, she will just have to learn how to channel it. Diana asks about Ares' imprisonment, and Hippolyta says that Zeus imprisoned him in a tomb under this very island with the Amazons entrusted by Zeus to be Ares' gatekeepers.
As Diana prepares to leave the island, she asks Donna to take care of her horse Kachi for her while she's away. Donna tells Diana to stay safe in the outside world. Steve and Diana leave the island of Themyscira, heading west toward the Atlantic Ocean, on a hot air balloon.
Veronica Cale reads from the now-translated spellbook, hoping it will hold some clues to the truth of the Greek pantheon. As she reads, her eyes glow red for a split-second and she becomes possessed by the spirit of Circe, who quickly makes it clear that she has one goal, and one goal alone - to free Ares and join him to destroy the Amazons.
Steve and Diana make it back to Gateway City on the eastern seaboard of the United States so Steve can report back to his superior, General Philip Darnell (William Petersen). He briefs Darnell on what he saw in Kahndaq. Darnell is curious about what happened to his plane, and Steve says that he crashed it in the Aegean Sea or somewhere around there - he isn’t quite sure. Darnell then asks who the woman is, pointing out Diana waiting outside the office for him. Steve says that he met Diana after he crashed. Steve then shows Darnell that he managed to save a hard drive from the jet that contains the pictures he took. Darnell thanks Steve for a job well done and suggests he spend some much needed time off with his new lady friend.
As Steve is showing the awe-struck Diana around the very-modern Gateway City, they spot a bus speeding down the road out of control toward a group of school children crossing the street with their teacher. Steve yells for them to get out of the street, but they don’t appear to hear him. Diana instinctively rushes into the street and blocks the path of the bus, which crumples around her. Steve looks on in amazement. The event is captured on video with the local press quickly dubbing her “Wonder Woman”.
Circe is shown the video by Adrianna, who does not know that her boss is possessed by an ancient sorceress. Based on Diana’s appearance and abilities, the video causes Circe to realize that the Amazons still exist and are now infiltrating the outside world. Cale talks to Cire, the spirit within her, and they realize that both of their goals can now be achieved. If they can find the Amazon homeland Cale will be able to prove the existence of the Greek pantheon, and Circe will be able to rid the world of the Amazons once and for all by freeing Ares from his tomb. There's just one problem though - Zeus has hid the island from the outside world. Circe orders Adrianna to get her a snake. Adrianna asks why, but Circe just repeats the order.
Once Adrianna has delivered the snake, Circe conjures a spell from her Grimoire, transforming the snake into a giant, hideous serpent. She sends the serpent out into the city to cause mayhem, knowing that an Amazon should not be able to resist the need to slay the beast and save the day.
Diana and Steve run toward the sounds of screams in the streets. They run closer and pedestrians run away. Finally they find themselves in front of a 50-foot-tall serpent. Steve is frozen in fright, telling Diana that he’s always been secretly terrified of snakes. Diana pulls out her sword and charges right for the beast. Diana manages to slay the serpent, but it leaves her exhausted. Weakened from her battle with the beast, Circe disarms her with her magic and uses the lasso of truth against Wonder Woman, forcing her to reveal the location of Themyscira. Steve opens fire on Circe, giving Diana a moment to break free. Circe disappears in a plume of red smoke. Diana tells Steve that she must get back home to warn her mother. Steve says he's coming with her. She tells him it's too dangerous, but he insists.
Circe uses an enchantment spell to walk through a military compound and into the office of General Darnell. She uses her powers to convince him to launch a full-scale military assault on the island of Themyscira. He immediately gets on the phone and begins rounding up every available platoon to ship out as Circe sits at his side with a smile on her face.
Steve and Diana steal a fighter jet and fly back to Themyscira. After a sketchy landing on the island, Diana rushes to warn her mother of Circe's impending attack. Hippolyta is shocked to hear the name Circe after all these centuries. She tells Diana that many thousands of years ago, a sorceress named Circe was the lover of Ares, the God of War. Together they attempted to take over the world several times until Ares was locked away under Themyscira and Circe was locked away in one of her own spell books written in an ancient language nobody should have been able to translate. Diana asks her mother to stop reminiscing and to start telling the Amazon warriors what to do. Hippolyta stands atop the Temple of Aphrodite. She looks up to the sky and then back down to the mass of Amazonian warriors down below waiting for her word. Hippolyta tells them all that this is not her battle to lead. She looks over at Diana and asks if she will lead the Amazons against the armies of Circe and mankind in her stead. Diana is unable to speak for a moment. Once she catches her voice, she orders all of the archers to the highest points of the perimeter of the island.
Diana thanks Donna for taking care of her horse and hops onto Kachi's back. She tells Donna to get a sword and bow and join the others as everyone will be needed in this battle. Donna seems nervous, but is excited to finally get a chance to fight.
Circe rides on a military jet toward Themyscira alongside General Darnell. She whispers orders into his ear and he, in turn, gives the orders to his men. As Darnell's soldiers descend on Themyscira, the Amazonians fire arrow after arrow to fend them off. Circe casts a spell to turn the soldiers into Beastiamorphs - part animal, part human abominations - to combat the Amazons. Paratroopers suddenly turn into half-bird/half-man hybrids and fly into battle. Soldiers coming to the island by water find themselves morphing into half-turtle/half-man hybrids. Diana, Steve and the Amazons fight to defend Themyscira. Steve leads the Amazons into a battle alongside Nubia against Circe's Beastiamorphs on the ground against the turtle Beastiamorphs, while Donna, Artemis and the Amazon archers fire flaming arrows at the flying Beastiamorphs.
Diana and Hippolyta fight Circe herself. Hippolyta is wounded in the fight, which enrages Diana, who finally taps into some of her god-like powers. Circe tries to use her magic against her, but Diana simply shrugs off the magical blasts. Diana grabs Circe by the throat and calls out for the power of Zeus. Suddenly a bolt of lightning bursts from the heavens, striking Circe. Diana drops her, realizing that Circe no longer possesses the body. She asks the woman her name and she says she is Veronica Cale. Veronica looks around and realizes that everything she has believed about the Greek gods her whole life is true.
With Circe no longer possessing Veronica' body, General Darnell is no longer under her enchantment and the soldiers who were turned into Beastiamorphs revert back to their human form. Steve informs Darnell of what has happened. Darnell looks around and says that it looks like the world has a new ally in the Amazons. Diana checks on her mother, who is wounded but doing okay. Hippolyta tries to make Diana the new queen of Themyscira, but Diana turns the position down, instead offering to serve as a kind of ambassador between the Amazons and the outside world.
As the soldiers leave Themyscira, Darnell asks Steve if he’s coming with them. Steve reminds him that he told him to spend some time off with Diana. Steve then kisses Diana. Darnell smiles and leaves the island with his soldiers. Steve and Diana continue kissing on the beaches of Themyscira as the sun sets over the island.
Post-Credits:
Artemis' eyes briefly glow red as she makes her way deep down through the tunnels beneath the island until she makes it to the Tomb of Ares. She breaks open the tomb, and out steps Ares (Antonio Banderas). He looks at her and asks what he’s missed.
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