Great adaption, not perfect

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2017)

SPOILERS!!! As an origin story, this movie does the job really well. It borrows much from Marstens original vision, muddles it up a bit with later interpretations and creates its own tale that is very enjoyable to watch. The playful sexual bdsm undertones of Marsten's original vision of Paradise Island has been removed and we are left with a less controversial interpretation where the warrior aspect of the amazons are at front and center for the movie. Even so, the Amazons are reluctant to fight and this is an annoyance for me in the movie. This isn't the people where they fight to see who the strongest of them are, so they can decide who will represent them. This is the people where only one Amazon can be bothered to go to war to do their peoples sacred duty. The movie is then filled with unnecessary small annoyances and inconsistencies that takes away small pieces of the experience. Why would the most agile woman on earth be unable to walk through a revolving door? How did the amazons take out the battleship with their bows? Why would a person who speaks every language use English to guide German speaking citizens to safety? Then there is the issue of emotions. After recently seeing the season finale of Supergirl and the Karamel moment, and recently watching Kara's expression as she in Injustice leaves Krypton, Wonder Woman comes across as emotionally dead in relative terms. I didn't feel the love between Diana and Steve and I wasn't emotionally invested in what happens between them. While Gal Gadot looks the part I wish she had a larger emotional register. Despite the many small grievances I have with the movie it is really entertaining though... Until the end that is. The ending fight is just a horrible power creep that is actually a power sprint. In a few minutes they pretty much go from WW being an amazing sword and board fighter to an omnipotent goddess, completely ruining her character for future movies, destroying the suspension of disbelief. She is full on IDDQD. For all future movies with Wonder Woman we will now have to ask ourselves at every fight, "Why don't you just do what you did in the ending of the first movie? And we won't have a good answer, because she should never have been allowed to do that in the first place. Amazing movie that should have been reviewed once more before release. 8/10