Wonder Woman (2017)

Review

141min

Genre:      Comic-book, Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director:   Patty Jenkins

Cast:        Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen… and more

Writers:    Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs… and more

-Synopsis-

Gal Gadot further sets the ‘DC Extended Universe’ in motion with the origin story of ‘Diana Prince’; an Amazonian warrior princess and demigoddess, whose encounter with a fallen pilot inspires her to leave an isolated island home and fulfil her destiny, helping to rescue a dangerous world ripped apart by the First World War.

For a big budget, meticulously managed Hollywood blockbuster, ‘Wonder Woman’ is a particularly socially significant film. The first female superhero origin story, in fact the first major superhero film to be centred around a woman (although not the first comic or graphic novel movie), and it’s also the first to be female-led, with director Patty Jenkins (Monster) at the helm of this DC goliath in only her second feature film ever. Yet all of that aside, the only question that truly matters is, is the film any good?, and the answer is . . . well kind of.

After her brief show-stealing appearance in last year’s much maligned ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, Gadot returns as the wondrous woman herself; daughter of the queen of the Amazons (Connie Nielsen), created by Zeus and raised away from the world on a hidden island paradise, only to be confronted by the darkness of mankind when an allied soldier (Chris Pine) inadvertently brings the war to her doorstep. Now thrown into the despair of the outside world, Diana teams-up with a rag-tag group of fighters to stop a sinister German general (Danny Huston) and battle what drives the dark hearts of men.

After the savage critical reaction and less-than-hoped-for box office performance of their two big 2016 releases, we can hardly blame DC and Warner Bros. for playing it safe with the true launch of the female pillar of their lucrative film franchise—and that’s exactly what they’ve done with ‘Wonder Woman’. So if like us you were inspired by a film of firsts to hope for something new, adventurous or groundbreaking, you might be a little disappointed with what you get here.

Nevertheless director Jenkins and the committee that it takes to generate these kind of films (writers & producers), manage to craft a layered comic-book movie with some ethical foundations—an unapologetic feminist parable inspired by an ancient Greek fable, wrapped in a morality tale about mankind’s dark nature and our individual responsibility for the horrors we’re all capable of, and all grounded in the grit of World War I and its painful realities . . . at least until the over-the-top, prerequisite fantasy ending.

Fear not though, ‘Wonder Woman’ has much of what you might want and expect from a big, modern superhero film—adventure and expansive visuals, big action set-pieces and special effects which in this case don’t go too over-the-top and drown out the story . . . for the most part. Plus of course plenty of fight sequences, relying perhaps a little too much on slow-motion but still thoroughly entertaining and managing to showcase our heroine’s impressive combat skills, as well as her more magical powers.

In an effort to lighten the mood slightly, something DC has been criticised for not doing, ‘Wonder Woman’ has its share of strategically placed comic relief, which largely comes from the fish-out-of water and clash-of-cultures element of Diana Prince’s introduction to our world—something we’ve seen before in films like ‘Thor’—and it’s used to counterbalance the dark tones of our hero in mankind’s brutal wars, also a narrative we’ve seen explored in 2011’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’.

The film certainly looks and sounds the part too, featuring expert costume designs and production values to re-create London and war-torn Europe at the start of the 20th century, and of course bring to life the mythical Amazonian land of ‘Themyscira’ and its peaceful yet fierce and battle-ready warrioresses—all captured by ‘Game of Thrones’ cinematographer Matthew Jensen. You can also look forward to the return of Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL’s pulsating Wonder Woman theme, but in the context of a new score from Rupert Gregson-Williams.

However for all its solid components and aside from the fresh perspective of a feminine touch—which results in a comic-book film that focuses on the humanity of the hero, albeit with questionable execution and some schlocky sentimentality—‘Wonder Woman’ plays it too safe. Which is understandable but ultimately makes it often predictable and uninspired, offering nothing substantially new to either the genre or DC’s ‘Extended Universe’, nor does is creatively cover any new superhero ground that hasn’t been seen in Marvel’s own origin stories.

Yet despite its shortcomings and disappointments, which include the all-too-common 3rd-act letdown and a slightly bloated near two-and-a-half hour narrative, ‘Wonder Woman’ has a central factor which holds the film together well—Gadot herself. We’re happy to be proven wrong in our doubts about whether this beautiful but relatively inexperienced model-turned-actress could hold the screen and story for an entire film—something much harder to do than her brief but memorable DC entrance in ‘Batman v Superman’—but the Israeli star manages to infuse the powerful demigoddess with an earnest and naive quality, which really does suit the film.

Gadot may yet continue to be the best thing about the ‘DC Extended Universe’, although the notion that ‘Wonder Woman’s’ quality is determined by comparing it to the rest of the franchise so far is questionable, and too inward-looking . . . but it’s a damn sight better than ‘Suicide Squad’ that’s for sure.

The Bottom Line . . .

While ‘Wonder Woman’ certainly isn’t the refreshing or revolutionary superhero romp which its female-led nature may have promised, or expertly executed enough to gloss over its narrative shortcomings, this is still a solid origin story for DC and Warner Bros. An entertaining and stylish introduction to the true nature of an Amazonian demigoddess princess we look forward to seeing a lot more of—and judging from the glowing reviews and fawning reception thus-far, a platform to propel Gal Gadot into real-life superheroine status.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

After becoming the guinea-pig for an experimental serum; diminutive Brooklyn kid Steve Rogers is transformed into the superhuman soldier and American war icon Captain America, helping to defeat the evil of the ‘Third Reich’ and a dark force within it which seeks a power that threatens the entire planet, as he struggles with his own iron-clad morality on his way to becoming the world’s first avenger.

Directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell and starring Hugo Weaving among others.

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