Just a darn good superhero flick.

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2017)

I liked "Wonder Woman" a whole lot. Not only is it a "fun" movie -- but it's also a "good" one, with solid writing and character-development to match the larger-than-life heroics.
I particularly enjoyed the lengthy prologue, which introduces Diana and her Amazonian family on their home island, a faux-Grecian paradise which is hidden away from the rest of the world behind a kind of supernatural cloaking-device. The film takes its time with these early scenes, revealing the nature of Diana's upbringing and the reasons for her simplistic but naive goodheartedness.
These scenes are also beautiful, depicting a paradise that looks remarkably real, without excessive CGI work. I was reminded, in a way, of the old Greek-themed adventure films, such as Hercules, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans. There's an on-location quality to the island scenes in "Wonder Woman" that does more to establish a sense of reality than even the best CGI can muster.
And then the film becomes a WWI espionage adventure, as Diana finds herself drawn into the world of mortals to try and stop a kind of violence she doesn't fully understand. I was entertained by the colorful cast of characters, as well as by the film's charmingly earnest sensibility. This is easily the most downright "earnest" superhero film since Marvel's original "Captain America," and I think it's a better film to boot. Diana's strong-but-naive persona brings out the finer qualities in Steve Trevor, the British spy with whom her life has become entangled, and they have a chemistry that's a lot of fun to watch.
Like most superhero films, "Wonder Woman" had a few too many action- climaxes for my taste, some fairly gaping plot-holes -- (For starters, what happened to that battleship off the coast of the island, which looms ominously before the film totally forgets about it?) -- and the final act is a bit messy. I also thought, for all the talk about the film's Feminist narrative -- well, I'll just say that whatever Feminist narrative it offers is fairly superficial, contained almost entirely in the fact that the film's protagonist is a strong woman who doesn't require a man to save her.
But perhaps that's all fine enough. Ultimately, I just wanted a good, fun movie, and "Wonder Woman" delivered a better time than I had expected. It does a great job of establishing its world and characters, and it tells its story in a satisfying, fun, and emotionally meaningful way. In its best moments, it even achieves a kind of wholesome, humorous, iconic quality that I don't believe we've seen on screen since Richard Donner's original "Superman." So yes, I am comparing it unironically to that classic of the genre. One might consider the two films as equals.