Finally, the DC superhero movie the world deserves
Wonder Woman
Running time: 2hrs 21min
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, David Thewlis, Elena Anaya
Director: Patty Jenkins
AS THE world’s most well-adjusted superhero, Wonder Woman breaks the genre mould. She’s open-hearted, not angsty, an anomaly within the DC Universe, “Extended” or otherwise.
So too is her long-awaited foray into the liveaction big-screen spotlight: that openheartedness makes the movie something of an outlier. Its relative lightness would set it apart even if it didn’t arrive on the heels of Batman v Superman, the 2016 feature that introduced Gal Gadot as the demigoddess who believes it’s her sacred duty to rid the world of war.
Yet as with all comics-based extravaganzas, brevity is anathema to the Patty Jenkins-directed Wonder Woman, and it doesn’t quite transcend the traits of franchise product as it checks off the list of action-fantasy requisites. But this origin story, with its direct and relatively uncluttered trajectory, offers a welcome change of pace from a superhero realm that’s often overloaded with interconnections and cross-references.
Had it really broken the mould and come in below the two-hour mark, Wonder Woman could have been a thoroughly transporting film. As it stands, it’s intermittently spot-on, particularly in the pops of humour and romance between the exotically kick-ass yet approachable Gadot and the supremely charismatic Chris Pine.
Sticking to the basic setup of the early-’40s DC comics, Jenkins and screenwriter Allan Heinberg have moved the story’s action from World War II to World War I. It’s a change that taps straight into the idea of a female warrior for peace confronting the world of men at its most destructive.
Throughout, Lindy Hemming’s superb costume designs are in sync with production designer Aline Bonetto’s vivid locales, contrasting the poetic, not-quite-real timelessness of Themyscira, the all-female isle where Diana was raised, with the prosaic reality of early-20th century Europe.
By the time Steve Trevor (Pine) and his plane crash into the paradise of Themyscira, Diana has been trained to her utmost strength by her aunt, the great warrior Antiope (Robin Wright).
Though there are terrific sequences once Diana and Steve hit England and then the European continent, things get choppy and bogged down in plot machinations as they embark on their mission to destroy the weapons facility of the chemist Isabel Maru, aka Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya).
Screenwriter Heinberg works eyeopening social commentary on race into the female-empowerment mix. None of it is preachy or heavy-handed, and the sexual politics throughout the film are as playful as they are wellobserved, with nicely underplayed chemistry between the two leads.
Jenkins, who delved into dark territory with 2003’s Monster, brings the gloomy DC vibe down to earth from some of its more operatic reaches. But she indulges in a saga-capping, one-on-one showdown that turns into an endless conflagration and grows less coherent as it proceeds. Such obligatory “big” scenes don’t completely undermine the winning mixture of drama, fantasy and comedy, but they aren’t what you remember after Wonder Woman is over. – Hollywood Reporter