Refreshingly different and successfully entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (6 June 2017)

This is a refreshingly different super-hero movie: one with a female central character (Diana Prince - the name Wonder Woman is never used in the film - played by the tall and beautiful Israeli martial artist, model and actress Gal Gadot) and a female director (Patty Jenkins who previously gave us "Monster", another work with a central female personage) with a significant number of female support roles (Amazonian heroines, a chemist villainess, and a comedic aide).
Of course, we've seen WW before in "Batman vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice" and we'll see her again soon in the forthcoming "Justice League". What works so well with this movie is that it is an origin story that stands alone and does not require the audience to have any familiarity with other super-heroes which enables it to reach out to a new (especially female) audience.
The narrative is straightforward, starting on the well-realised Amazonian island of Themyscira and then moving, via 1918 London, onto a blood-splattered battlefield at the conclusion of the First World War. There are effective action sequences but also some nice humorous touches in a work that does not take itself too seriously and delivers handsomely on the entertainment front. Chris Pine is ideal as the good-looking American who leads Diana from one world to the other and introduces her to the best and the worst of humankind, while David Thewlis is interesting casting for a vital dual role.
The flaws in the film include the easy defeat of the main villain (after all, he is a god) and an excessive running time and some feminists will criticise the portrayal of the titular heroine, but overall the work is a major success that deservedly will do well at the box office.