Wonder Woman
A thoroughly silly but highly entertaining superhero romp
This was definitely a case of “last chance saloon” for Warner Bros.’s DC Entertainment, said Jamie East in The Sun. In its mission to break Marvel’s stranglehold on the superhero movie market, the studio had released three “flabby” blockbusters in a row: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. So a lot was riding on Wonder Woman, which also happens to be the first superhero film in a decade to centre on a female protagonist. And I’m happy to report that the director, Patty Jenkins, “absolutely nails it”. With a pitch-perfect turn from Gal Gadot as the titular heroine, Wonder Woman is “not just the best DC Cinematic Universe movie”. It is “quite possibly one of the best superhero movies full stop”.
For an “action-packed belter” of a film, it has a slightly wobbly opening, said Cath Clarke in Time Out. We’re introduced to the Greek goddess Diana (aka Wonder Woman) on the woman-only island of Themyscira, where “hot chicks” waft around in sandals looking like something out of a Dolce & Gabbana ad. Yet once the tranquillity is broken by the arrival of Captain Trevor, a cocky American soldier (Chris Pine), things pick up. It’s the First World War and Trevor has learnt that evil German chemist Dr Maru (Elena Anaya) is making a dirty bomb to massacre Allied soldiers. Wonder Woman resolves to save them, seizing her magic shield and lasso, and heading to London to enlist. The film’s “trump card” is its villains, said Geoffrey Macnab in The Independent – Anaya is super-sinister, and Danny Huston delivers a “bravura” performance as a saturnine German general with superpowers. They nicely set off Wonder Woman’s appealing, often very funny, quality of innocence, as she struggles to comprehend human depravity.
In one of the sillier scenes in this ridiculous but highly entertaining film, said Kate Muir in The Times, Wonder Woman charges across no man’s land, deflecting machine gun fire with her shield and bullet-repelling bracelets. It’s a good metaphor for her “raid” on the male-dominated world of the superhero movie. And it’s rendered all the more believable by Gadot’s athleticism as an action heroine. The former Miss Israel trained in the Israeli Defence Forces, and “it shows”. Wonder Woman isn’t perfect, said Chris Hewitt in Empire. Like many such films, the ending is a confusing CGI fireworks display. But it’s still a relief to find that a decent superheroine film has at last been made, said Jill Lepore in The New Yorker. “I’m not proud that I found comfort in watching a woman in a golden tiara and thigh-high boots clobber hordes of terrible men. But I did.”