A well-made, well-intentioned, action-hero story

Rating: 7/10 (31 December 2019)

I recently re-watched this movie on a flight home from vacation. What stood out to me the most during the movie was the valid and nearly-complete attempt at displaying and exploring the moral motivations and expectations of Diana (the moderately well-done performance of Gal Gadot).
On this line of thinking, the movie sets itself above many other superhero movies. It does so much more to show the ignorance with which she holds her power for most of the movie, while showing the enlightenment, as it were, at the end. (On another, note, writing from hindsight, I'm sad that this seems to be the only movie DC has done well in this regard in the last 5-10 years.)
Unfortunately, this film loses me in the action-flick style. I think the problem comes from high expectations on my part. I wish that the movie had made even further conflict to completely show Diana's transformation from the doe-eyed curiosity when Steve Trevor (the talented Chris Pine) landed on her island, starting the plot of the movie, to the final moments when she realizes that man would continue to fight despite Ares' death.
This movie will hold acclaim for many years after its release because it is a well-made movie featuring a powerful and independent woman as its protagonist. Gal Gadot was a good choice for the role, playing the part as the dashing and attractive goddess rather well. However, whether this was intentional throughout the movie or not, I felt that she held very few expressions throughout the movie. While she was quite good at showing the ignorance of her character towards the intentions of man, I felt that other emotions were missing from her performance. Whether this was intentional, I'm not sure, but my gut feeling tells me that there were missed opportunities for Gadot to truly step into the role.
Overall, I am very happy that DC decided to put its best foot forward when it came to this character. I believe that it is a welcome step in to helping establish that our superheros, no matter how fake, are of the same composition as most of us. More specifically, that women can--and are--just as badass as men.