Wonder Woman (2017)
Diana, princess of the Amazons, leaves her sheltered island home after an American pilot crash-lands and tells her about the war raging in the outside world. Believing she can stop the conflict, she travels to the front lines during World War I and joins the fight. Along the way, she discovers her full powers and her true destiny.
Narrative Score
Full Plot & Ending Explained
Intro
The film opens in present-day Paris, where Diana Prince receives a World War I-era photograph from Wayne Enterprises and is pulled back into her memories of Themyscira, the hidden island of the Amazons, where she was raised by Queen Hippolyta and trained in secret by her aunt General Antiope.
Turning Point 1
As a child, Diana learns the Amazons’ history: Zeus created mankind, Ares corrupted it, and the Amazons were made to defend humanity, with a weapon called the God Killer left behind for the day Ares returned. Diana begs to become a warrior, and after Hippolyta discovers her secret training, Antiope persuades her to allow Diana to continue.
Turning Point 2
As an adult in 1918, Diana rescues American pilot Steve Trevor when his plane crashes near Themyscira. German soldiers pursuing him attack the island, the Amazons fight them off, but Antiope is killed protecting Diana, and Steve is captured and questioned with the Lasso of Hestia.
Turning Point 3
Steve explains that a brutal world war is raging, that he is a spy, and that he stole Dr. Isabel Maru’s notebook from General Erich Ludendorff, who is developing a deadlier mustard gas. Diana concludes that Ares is behind the war, takes the God Killer, lasso, and armor, and leaves Themyscira with Steve for the outside world.
Turning Point 4
In London, Diana is introduced to Etta Candy, who helps her blend in, while Steve reports to his superiors and identifies Ludendorff and Maru as the key threat. Diana then pushes to reach the front, where she and Steve join a group led by Sameer, Charlie, and Chief to cross into the war zone.
Turning Point 5
Diana and her companions travel through wartime Europe, and along the way Diana gradually sees the human cost of the conflict. At the front, she defies orders and crosses no-man’s-land alone, using her shield, strength, and compassion to liberate a village trapped under German control.
Turning Point 6
After the victory, Diana believes she has found the chance to end the war when Ludendorff and Maru prepare to unleash poison gas on the village. Steve is pulled away by duty, Diana confronts Ludendorff in a nearby weapons depot, and when she kills him, she believes she has destroyed Ares’s human instrument.
Turning Point 7
Instead, Sir Patrick Morgan reveals himself as Ares and tells Diana that he has been guiding mankind into war by influencing human greed and hatred. He explains that the gas is being prepared for the larger battle plan, and Diana realizes the war is not the product of one villain alone.
Ending
Diana and Ares battle in the air and on the ground, with Ares trying to turn her against humanity, but Steve and the others sacrifice themselves to destroy the gas and stop the attack. Diana finally accepts that humans are capable of both cruelty and love, defeats Ares, and, after Steve dies, chooses to honor him and continue protecting the world as Wonder Woman.
Cross-checked against Wikipedia and other public film references. View on Letterboxd ↗ The Narrative Score above is an experimental 5-axis rating, not a critic score.