A decent addition to the DC universe

Rating: 7/10 (7 June 2017)

If you're prepared to go in with an open mind and not expect this to right all the wrongs with the recent DC movies, or compare it to the MCU, then this is worth seeing. Considering the constant conjecture that Wonder Woman was even going to get her own movie and that production on this was in the pipeline for years, the end result is a fairly good movie.
As for much of the naysaying, a lot of reviews seem to be focusing on the plot holes, (of which there are a few), and the implausibility of what WW gets up to and what she does, but even with that, it doesn't make for a bad movie in any way. Yes there are the usual comparisons with Captain America; they're both set during world wars, albeit WW is set in WW1 and CA set in WW2, The Germans in WW1 weren't Nazis just FYI. And yes WW's costume is very American-esque and heavily Stars & Stripes oriented, but keep in mind, the character was invented in 1941 and is a truly American inspired character created during a time in history when symbolism was rife and necessary for both sides, so don't hate the movie just because you don't understand the reasons behind something. Also, WW, like many original superheroes, has undergone a dramatic metamorphosis during the bronze, gold, silver and modern age of comics, so her origins, outfit, abilities etc have also altered, so trying to fit all of this into a 2 hour movie & have it all make sense to the uninitiated is virtually impossible. At one point in history, WW was as strong as Superman, so jumping across gorges and punching through stone was not uncommon for her. As for the feminist undertones in the movie, women from the early feminist movement were used as inspiration for this character, so it's obvious that's going to show through.
With that out of the way, to the movie itself; the idea of having this done as a flashback was a good idea, seeing as the live action character had already been introduced, Diana receives her old WW1 photo from Bruce Wayne which triggers her memories& from that we get the origin back story. The movie is enjoyable with several fight sequences done in a mix of reality and CGI effects, along with that slow motion technique being used more and more in movies. You get a flurry of activity and then a sudden slow-mo mid action sequence and then more flurry. If you hate that kind of thing, then you'll hate this as it's in every action segment. Some people love it, others don't. I don't care either way. The action sequence of WW running the German lines across No Mans Land, when the allied advance was in stalemate is perhaps one of the best parts of the movie. Yes it's unrealistic for German machine gunners to only target her shield (that's too small to really protect her), but it's not enough to make me hate this or the mythos of comic books made into movies.
Personally I thing Gal Gadot was well cast in the role, for the look if nothing else. I wasn't expecting Othello or Henry the V, so again, if that's what you're after, you'll hate this. I like Chris Pine who plays Steve Trevor, but thought that he was miscast in this. I couldn't help but feel that I was watching him just being Captain Kirk in this as well; always has to be right, disobeys orders and generally flies by the seat of his pants. For WW1 it's a bit unrealistic. I also didn't get the recruitment of his crack team of commandos who came with him for his incursion through enemy lines as they ended up being worse than useless. He may as well have brought along a team of cheerleaders for all the good they did. But these are all minor annoyances for me and didn't result in me taking my eyes off the screen.
This all brings me to the underlying issue, which is the lack of any defined antagonist and under-utilising of the ones there are. First we have the Germans, who in the dying stages of the war are preparing to negotiate an armistice to end hostilities and one officer who is circumventing all this by developing a secret weapon to tip the scales along with the aid of an actual WW villain, Doctor Poison. I felt that the Germans were just throwaway villains and didn't really add much to the fight. Secondly we have another WW villain, Ares, god of war. It turns out that he's ultimately responsible for WW1 and the manipulation of the efforts to drag the war on and on, however the fight between him and WW at the end felt a bit sloppy and haphazard, and the CGI effects seemed rather lazy when compared to the rest of the movie. The ending ruined it for me and I likened it to someone running out of time to clean a room, so all the dust is swept under the rug. It just felt rushed and the underlying message is that the real enemy here is war itself, so with all the Germans hugging each other after Ares is vanquished and the war essentially over, it's a very syrupy ending.
Personally I think this is still worth a look, it's perhaps not worthy of the hype that's being generated by "finally" having a female superhero. I don't get the desire of "needing" a woman with superpowers. WW has existed for almost 80 years, plus there's a ton of literary female figures that can empower, so if all it takes is a comic book heroine to provide your empowerment, you never really needed it. It's a good movie, with good effects for the most part. It's enjoyable, funny in parts and sets it up nicely for the Justice League movie.