Wonder Woman? WHAT A GAL!
From Patty Jenkins’s pacy direction to former Miss Israel Gal Gadot’s brilliance in the starring role, the ultimate proof that women really can be superheroes
Hot on the sun-kissed heels of Baywatch comes another remake of a Saturday teatime staple, albeit one with more money behind it and hailing from a more dark and distant time: the Seventies. For me, Wonder
Woman at the time seemed as American as apple pie, with the divertingly clad central character played by former Miss World USA Lynda Carter, and stories that were set – satin-clad, big pants-wearing female superhero and all – in the modern-day United States. Wonder Woman, draped as she often was in the Stars and Stripes, seemed less an Amazonian princess, more a distaff version of Captain America.
But that, I now discover, is because I didn’t see the first series, which, following the lead set by her comic-book creator William Moulton Marston in the Forties, did at least begin by tracing the character’s origins back to a magically hidden Mediterranean island inhabited by a fearsome tribe of inevitably rather gorgeous warrior women. It is to this story that the new film – the latest in DC Comics’ extended universe of superhero characters – now returns, and does so, after a slightly hesitant beginning, extremely well.
If you want to know what Wonder Woman had been up to until her surprise appearance in
Batman V Superman last year or would like to feel more connected with the character before she returns in Justice League in November, this is the film for you. It’s also the film that might just turn Gal Gadot – a former Miss Israel – into a real film star. She’s touchingly good, bringing a genuine emotional depth to a part that, in other hands, could easily have none at all.
But even she would have to admit that the film gets off to a difficult start, with the visual effects initially failing to rise to the fantasy occasion as we watch a young Diana – daughter, we soon learn, of Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) – honing her fighting skills under the watchful eye of warrior aunt Antiope (Robin Wright). But by the time Diana is all beautiful, grown-up and played by Gadot, it’s clear that her talents run far beyond those that might be developed in the island’s outdoor arenas. Is she entirely mortal? Let’s just say that Zack Snyder, one of the creative driving forces behind the Justice League franchise, who also wrote and directed 300 and who co-writes here, is thoroughly at home with the sort of cod Greek mythology that can combine god with mortal almost at will.
But while we’re still wondering who – on this island of women – Diana’s father might be, the story proper gets under way as the island’s foggy barrier is breached by a damaged World War I plane flown by a man who’s dressed in a German uniform but turns out to be an American working for British Intelligence. Yes, it’s complicated but the important thing about Steve Trevor is that he’s a man and played by Star Trek star Chris Pine.
‘Would you say you are a typical example of your sex?’ asks Diana curiously, as handsome Steve, recovering from his crash-landing, plunges naked into a series of hot pools. As you do. He replies: ‘I’m above average.’
So their mutual attraction is quietly established by director Patty Jenkins (hurrah! – female film-maker directs female superhero, at last), still best known for 2003’s Oscar-winning
Monster but looking thoroughly at home in the world of superhero fantasy.
Her pacing is particularly impressive, with a huge amount of story packed into the 140minute running time. She gets the vital sex appeal just right too – Diana is attractive but never tacky. And the big pants have gone. This Wonder Woman is more Xena, less Lynda. Various structural similarities to other films in the genre do, however, have to be acknowledged. The hidden island premise – especially one breached by a wartime pilot – is reminiscent of King Kong: Skull Island, and, once the action has moved on to war-torn Europe, there are distinct echoes of Captain America’s own origins story, albeit with this one set amid WW1 and featuring power-mad generals who answer to the Kaiser, rather than the Captain’s insane WW2 Nazis. X-men will also come to mind. Opting for WWI is a good decision by Jenkins and her writing team. When Steve describes the horror of the trenches, Diana can’t resist returning to Europe with him – convinced she can bring peace if only she can kill the (gulp) god of war – but when she gets there and sees it for herself, she’s completely overwhelmed. What a good thing she’s brought her own set of canyon-
Gadot is touchingly good, bringing a genuine emotional depth to a part that in other hands could easily have none at all
jumping, bullet-dodging superpowers along too. The film does have its shortcomings but it is intelligently made. Having all the Amazon women use heavy accents is jar ring at first but does establish Diana’s ‘otherness’ – she’s not another metaphor for America riding to the rescue.
Pine is brilliant casting, not just bringing blockbuster credibility but also – thanks to his impressive turn in the Oscar-nominated Hell Or
High Water last year – real acting chops. He’s a safe, funny and hugely watchable leading man, perfect o pposite t he t alented, p hotogenic b ut s till in experienced Ga dot. As she’ s a leggy 5 ft 10 in, it’ s a distinct advantage that he’ s a genuine si x-footer. Having the talented likes of David Thewlis and Danny Huston alongside Wright and Nielsen in the supporting cast also helps, especially when, in the later stages, the film briefly threatens to turn into something that might have been called ‘The M agnificent F ive’.
But I’ m going to ignore its modest inadequacies. I liked the movie, I liked Gadot and I liked that it was made by a female director. This might be tempting fate but I’m looking forward to Justice
League far more than I was. ÷Wonder Woman is currently playing at cinemas across the country