Before Diana became Wonder Woman, she was a trained warrior, the princess of Amazons. As she knows about the war in the outside world,from a pilot that crushed, she makes up her mind to live her home and put an end to it. And as she fights for piece, she discovers her full powers and the destiny she was created for.
It's overlong at 141 minutes and suffers from too much origin story exposition and middling CGI effects, but it has a frisky, friendly spirit that perfectly aligns with its wide-eyed lead actress, Gal Gadot.
Wonder Woman provides an example of female power that the world needs. Both girls and boys need to see women on-screen just as powerful, if not more powerful than men.
Wonder Woman embraces issues of female power and the need to turn from hate to love, war to peace in a mainstream delivery system. And the female lead is not solely a mother, sister, girlfriend or hooker, however gold her heart: wonder of wonders!
With strong characterisation from a largely committed cast, coherent action and a rare confidence in its mise-en-scène, Wonder Woman is a comic book movie the way they should be done.
Gadot does succeed, against heavy odds, in creating a fresh figure of heroic morality and might, engaging an audience with an earnest character's discovery of herself and the world.
By the time we reach the Western Front with Trevor's rag-tag secret agent squad, Patty Jenkins has so deftly juggled period rom-com and epic fantasy elements that even trench warfare barely dampens the momentum.
Many big ideas are juggled, and while the story doesn't exactly drop them, it does flail about a bit. Still, Jenkins has an eye for moving moments, Gadot is great fun to watch, and there's genuine visual panache to be found amid the combat and comedy.
The real strengths of this production are its lead actors, the period piece setting, and an unexpected emotional resonance that one doesn't expect from a popcorn movie.
The final big action sequence, as now seems always to be the case, is a messy and overwrought CGI extravaganza. But at least the movie that precedes it involves actual characters-likeable ones, even!-exhibiting recognizable human emotions.
