Everything you want, fully delivered

Rating: Null/10 (2 June 2017)

After what seems like an eternity of the trailer scene at a beach where Diana gazes down at Steve utters "You're a man", we finally get to see the entire 140 minutes of Wonder Woman begins - entirely satisfying, for many reasons. Indisputably, the most important is Gal Gadot. But it takes two to tango, and Chris Pine deserves almost as much recognition.
Reincarnated from Gisele ("Fast and furious" franchise), Gadot finally found an opportunity to prove that she is not just a pretty face plus a lethal body. In "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) Diana/Wonder Woman was previewed as an icon. Now, in her own full feature, she demonstrates why she is the best choice for Diana, the real person. Mind you, she isn't exactly an ordinary person (no spoiler here). But in the movie, she goes through the metamorphosis of understanding and adopting mankind. As a movie character, she ably portrays innocence, sophistication (erudite from books), sweetness, goodness, determination, doubt, humour, flippancy, and more.
The physical conflicts showcased throughout the movie are second to none. But the biggest conflict is in Diana herself, trying to hold on to her childhood belief that once you destroy Ares the evil God of War, all atrocities will end. Saving mankind therefore is something absurdly simple to her. She does not believe what many others (man and gods) tell her, that mankind is not worth saving. Realisation that mankind comes with light and dark which are cannot be inseparable is agonisingly frustrating. Finally, witnessing one heroic act of self-sacrifice, she come to the true realisation, and embraces mankind as it is, knowing that in the very end, one thing makes everything worthwhile: love.
The macro backdrop reminds you of Captain America, WWI. The establishing scenes are set at a well-hidden island Themyscira created by Zeus to develop a race of Amazons as safeguard against the return of the above-mentioned Ares. Princess Diana, we soon learn, is not an Amazon, a mild suspense. Plot is neatly forwarded when Diana recues British spy Steve, who intimates that a man-made catastrophe is imminent if the Germans are not stopped in time. Believing that Ares is behind all these, Diana teams up with Steve heading first to London where a booklet of secret code stolen from the enemies is to be deciphered. It turns out that poison gas is the name of the game.
My summary line is an unreserved compliment on this movie. Out of the "everything", however, what I enjoy most, a delightful surprise, is the scene in London. If you remember "Kate & Leopold", (2001), this is something similar, yet not exactly the same â€“ a sort of stranger in a strange land setup. Diana knows everything and yet knows nothing. The sit-com is near perfect. The chemistry between Gadot and Pine is magical. Visually, Gadot is seen in a most unrevealing, almost unisex outfit befitting the fashion of 1910s London. She is absolutely stunning. This light, humorous interludes take "Wonder Woman" one notch above the two superheroes in whose company she made her debut.
Next, at the cheerless, dreary frontline trenches of Belgium, often bitterly known as "No Man's Land", the more serious side takes over. I'll stop here on plot development which I have actually covered, albeit with a broad stroke, earlier. While there is nothing here that you have not seen before, this rendition in this movie is top-notch, both direction and acting.
Let me close with some comments on the rest of the cast that generally delivers good support, albeit not uniformly. At the beginning, Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright are mother and aunt of Diana respectively, each bringing her own charm to a character that fade from the scene after the establishing sequence.
In the main body of the story, at the British side, talented David Thewlis, probably best known for his role in the Harry Potter ( Remus Lupin benevolent werewolf), plays a somewhat enigmatic British politician, dishing out a few surprises. Lucy Davis as Steve's secretary is simply lovable in the light middle segment.
At German side, Danny Huston's General Ludendorff, believed by Diana to be Ares manifested in human form, has been given little depth, and for good reasons. Spanish actress Elena Anaya sacrifices her beauty to play the horribly disfigured "mad doctor" is also unfortunately a stereotype.
Well deserved mentioning is the eccentric trio recruited to assist our heroes in the deadly mission. The eccentricity provides good comedy, but towards the end the warmth beneath each shine through in heart-felt rapport with Diana: Ewen Bremner as a Scottish sniper, Eugene Brave Rock as scouting expert "The Chief" and Said Taghmaoui as a man-of-all-trades possible from Turkey.