It is not what you deserve, but what you believe...

Rating: 7/10 (25 June 2017)

Right, well it was with some mixed anticipation that I went to watch "Wonder Woman" in the cinema this weekend. Why? Well, first of all, I am not overly keen on superhero movies, so I had no real incitement or drive for watching this. But then again, I had been told by several people that this was definitely an impressive movie, and one that was well worth the watch even for a non-superhero fan.
I watched "Wonder Woman" in 3D in the cinema, which was completely pointless, because there were no outstanding or particularly impressive 3D scenes that made you go "wow!" So an ordinary 2D viewing of this movie is recommendable.
I am somewhat familiar with Wonder Woman from the comic books that I read during my childhood, and also having seen a few episodes here and there from the mid-1970s TV show "Wonder Woman". So I didn't really have much of any expectations of what the movie had to deliver for it to be worthwhile.
And I must say that I was actually impressed. For a superhero movie then "Wonder Woman" turned out to be at the higher end of the scale in terms of being entertaining and watchable.
This was definitely Gal Gadot's movie through and through, because she carried the movie so well with her performance as Diana. She has a very charismatic demeanor and her on-screen appearance just demands attention from the audience. So I think that she has been very well cast for the role of Wonder Woman, and I think it will actually be nice to see her again in upcoming superhero movies.
"Wonder Woman" was a visual tour-de-force, and the special effects were impressive and worked very well in favor of the movie. Most of the time it felt like you were right there in the movie yourself, because of the believable special and visual effects. And it was an amazing visual experience to witness Diana run about on the World War II battlefield and take on the Nazis, especially when the scenes were spiced up by those impressive visual effects.
And it should also be said that the camera work and cinematography in "Wonder Woman" really helped the movie to stand out as well. Lots of great visual presentation of the various scenes throughout the course of the entire movie.
The cast in the movie was good, and aside from Gal Gadot, then I was more than impressed with the performances put on by Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner and Elena Anaya. Danny Huston was great in the villainous role of Ludendorff, and Elena Anaya really nailed the role of Dr. Maru. It was a shame that the Dr. Maru character weren't given more on-screen time, because that character had a lot of potential and could have proved so much more effective had the writers opted for more focus on her. However, the casting of Chris Pine was puzzling to me, because he will forever be Associated with a substitute captain Kirk from the "Star Trek" reboots.
The characters found in the movie were well-rounded and quite nicely detailed and fleshed out on the screen. There was just about enough character development and growth for all characters to make them all matter and have importance to the storyline. However, some could have benefited more from having more on-screen time, of course.
One thing that failed, aside from the offbeat and misplaced attempts of comedy, was the fact that the German's didn't speak German. That small feat and detail brings so much flavor and believably to the movie. So I was puzzled why they hadn't opted for that kind of authenticity.
There were some misplaced attempts at bringing humor into the movie, which didn't sit well with me, and it stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to the rest of the movie. For example, with the impressive feats and abilities that the Amazons showed, then why did Diana have such problems with a simple, rotating swing door? It was just a laughable attempt at comedy that should never have been in the final cut of the movie.
I was genuinely entertained by "Wonder Woman", and I will say that director Patty Jenkins definitely stepped up to the task and delivered where it mattered and where it counted. Regardless of if you like superhero movies or not, then "Wonder Woman" is definitely worth taking the time to sit down and watch.