A "Wonderful" "Wonder Woman"

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2017)

To say that 2017's "Wonder Woman" is the best DC Comics film I've seen since probably "The Dark Knight" in 2008 is indicative, I think, of how far DC Comics has lagged behind Marvel Comics in terms of bringing their superheroes to the big screen. But DC Comics did have one ace up its sleeve, in that Wonder Woman, the first widely recognizable super-heroine in the history of comic books, would ALSO have the potential to be the first super-heroine to launch her own truly successful movie franchise. (The first female superhero franchise would have been the "Daredevil" spin-off "Elektra" in 2005, but that film failed to launch such a movie franchise.)
To that end, DC Comics has largely succeeded with "Wonder Woman," a film that breaks with past DC movie titles in the fact that it's headlined by a female lead and - most important for this viewer (and, borrowing the words of another commenter) - it has a finer balance of action and levity, and the latter seems to arise naturally from the material and doesn't feel forced. Marvel has succeeded in that regard to make their films more entertaining - even if every other line in one of their films now ends in a punchline.
But, I digress.
Wonder Woman, who was created by American psychologist William Moulton Marston (the man responsible for creating the polygraph machine) and inspired by his wife Elizabeth and their mutual live-in lover Olive Byrne - and who first appeared in "All Star Comics #8" - is a character I have an unusual relationship with.
I'm 31, going on 32. And I'm a guy. Growing up, I had always heard about Wonder Woman, but did not actually become a fan of the character until about five years ago, and that was by way of the Lynda Carter TV series "Wonder Woman" from the 1970s. I still believe Carter to be the ultimate Wonder Woman - in spite of that show's inherent '70s cheesiness - but this big-screen 2017 film adaptation may prove that that version of the character has been formally relegated to the rapidly changed times. Wonder Woman was also not the first female superhero I encountered growing up - I believe it was Storm of the X-Men, from Marvel - but she was still the most widely recognized character that I was aware of growing up. Watching the Lynda Carter TV series, I thought it was amazing to see such a positive central portrayal of a female superhero that I hadn't seen yet in television or film.
"Wonder Woman" is a film that I had high expectations for, and those expectations were largely met. "Wonder Woman" isn't your typical origin story, either - being that this version of the character first appeared in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) last year. The film also doesn't waste a lot of time obsessing over every little detail, and waste precious screen-time, of how young Diana (Lilly Aspell), an Amazonian princess, eventually grows up into the beautiful Diana Prince (Israeli model and actress Gal Gadot). She already is Wonder Woman; she just has to learn to be the person that she was destined to be and realize her purpose in this world as a super-heroine.
When American U.S. Army intelligence operative Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash-lands his World War I plane in the waters just off Diana's beautiful island of Themyscira, he enlists her to return to Man's World to help him deliver a stolen notebook containing valuable information on a new chemical super-weapon that the Germans are developing (mustard gas). Along with Diana, Steve recruits three friends - secret agent Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), Scottish sharpshooter Charlie (Ewen Bremner, Spud from "Trainspotting," who also serves as this film's comic relief), and the Native-American expatriate The Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) - to help them accomplish their mission and stop the war-mongering German commandant General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) from going forth with his plans to launch a mustard gas attack on nearby London.
Directed by Patty Jenkins, "Wonder Woman" has the distinction of being only the SECOND superhero film with a woman at the helm - after German director Lexi Alexander ("Punisher: War Zone" in 2008). It would seem appropriate, I suppose, that such a groundbreaking character could only be done proper cinematic justice by a female director, and Patty Jenkins is quite the competent one here. Gal Gadot, who like all able-bodied Israeli citizens, served two years in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and I would hazard a guess that her military background certainly helped in getting her the part to play Wonder Woman. She's a tough and formidable presence on the screen and plays the character remarkably well (she definitely IS this version of Wonder Woman) - but again, I still favor Lynda Carter as the DEFINITIVE Wonder Woman.
If "Wonder Woman" suffers from any problems, it's in the action sequences. As someone else here pointed out, "Wonder Woman" suffers from the same slow-motion, gravity-defying CGI effects first pioneered by "The Matrix" (1999) and was way, WAY overdone in its two sequels. I honestly felt like I was watching "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003) and "The Matrix Revolutions" (2003) all over again, and I thought that Hollywood had grown out of its "Matrix" obsession years ago - and yet it seems like it's coming back. You could find an excuse in the fact that it's a comic book superhero film - but still, it's very jarring and can tend to slow action scenes down. Yeah, it looks cool and all, but sometimes it can be overdone and hamper your overall enjoyment of the picture in these places.
"Wonder Woman" was a solidly entertaining, if imperfect, big-screen debut solo outing for such a groundbreaking character and comic book property. Now, I honestly can't wait to see a sequel where Wonder Woman is saving the world in modern times.
A "Wonderful" "Wonder Woman," indeed.
8/10