10/9... for a superhero movie

Rating: 9/10 (26 June 2018)

Unfortunately making superhero movies seem to me to be inherently difficult. It's just a tricky concept I guess. So far, only the X: First Class and
X-Men: Days of Future Past has really impressed me... and now, Wonder Woman!
Quick story recap, our hero Diana is raised on an isolated Amazon island, gets trained and discovers she has unusual amounts of powers. Next, a plane crashes through the islands force field carrying a pilot escaping from the Germans during WWI. This becomes the wake up call for Diana to realize war is still a thing outside of her protected paradise, and she joins the pilot to go out into the world for the first time to Fix it - not as simple as her idealized mind would have it.
First of all, if you don't like historical revisionism this (nor above mentioned superhero titles) might not be your thing. But if you acknowledge it's all fantasy and a certain amount of artistic liberty can be allowed in this area if done right, then you shouldn't have a problem.
In the end success or failure for me in any movie (or book, comic etc) is all about the characters. You can watch a movie with pretty much no story if the characters are interesting and compelling, but no matter how great a story, it won't it matter if the characters don't capture you in the slightest. Be it love or distain, they have to make you feel something.
Here you gotta hand it to Gal Gadot playing Diana. Her Wonder Woman is absolutely captivating. You will not be able to take your eyes of her for a minute, and I don't mean her looks (though stunning).
Her combination av strength, naïveté and unintentional humor is not only on spot, it feels completely novel but still manages to be 100% believable, which is vigorously refreshing. Gadot might not have much acting experience but you wouldn't believe it as she simply glows in this.
Chris Pine also makes for a compelling sidekick as Steve, completely inferior in physical power, but superior in his experience of the "modern" world. Introducing the completely inexperienced Diana to it let's him take the lead to a certain amount, creating a nice power balance and sets up for some well rounded humour.
And speaking of the humor thank GOD for the lack of slapsticks! The jokes are never in your face and manages to feel fresh and original for a change.
It's not a perfect movie; which drags it down from a (superhero movie) 10. The villain/villains was miscast to me and not super interesting (The Germans all being the bad guys is So Done, and seeing as the scene at least was WWI there was an opportunity to offer a bit more grayscale but alas, no...) , although the fighting scenes were beautifully choreographed I'm afraid the budget does not hold up for the CGI to age very well etc...
But the novelty and charm of the characters, the daring and original message of the film, and the pure awesomeness of some kick-ass fight scenes more than make up for it.
And finally, can we please let go of the Female Superhero thing a bit? Sure I'm as happy as anyone there's a bit more balance in the genre but for it to dominate the reviews this much is doing the movie a disservice. Female, Male, Alien, AI robot, who cares as long as it's an interesting and well played character.