Wonder Woman

Time Out says
The comic-book world's most famous female superhero finally gets her own movie – and it's an action-packed belter
Before seeing ‘Wonder Woman’, I got a sinking feeling. It’s been more than a decade since a woman headlining a superhero film saved the world. I had visions of middle-aged male studio execs huddled together in a conference room Googling feminism and group-thinking how to make a lady-hero. Would the result feel like a two-and-a-half-hour tampon advert? Actually, no. ‘Wonder Woman’ feels like the real deal, a rollicking action adventure in the tradition of ‘Indiana Jones’, with a fully functioning sense of humour and the year’s most lip-smackingly evil baddie.
It has a wobbly opening on a women-only island where hot chicks in fabulous Ancient Greek sandals appear to have wondered in from a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign. This is Themyscira where the Amazon tribe have lived in peace for thousands of years. Actress and former Miss Israel Gal Gadot (Gisele in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise) is their princess, Diana (Wonder Woman), who was sculpted from clay and brought to life by Zeus. The island’s tranquillity is broken by the arrival of a cocky American soldier played by ‘Star Trek’ actor Chris Pine, who is adorable. He knows he’s here as eye-candy and does smoking-hot sexy sidekick with a good sense of humour.
The plot is functional. It’s World War One and Pine is an American spy who has discovered that evil German chemist Dr Maru (Elena Anaya) – aka Doctor Poison – is cooking up a dirty bomb to wipe out Allied soldiers on the Front. Wonder Woman volunteers to save humankind, strapping on her bullet-repelling bracelets and truth lasso.
Unlike Batman, Wonder Woman is not plagued by doomy angst. She’s good and kind, with a strong moral compass. A complex female character? Not exactly. But Gadot (who is ex-army and knows her way round a fight sequence) never lets her become bland and simpering. Though she is very nearly outstaged by Anaya as Doctor Poison: with her mask and haunted expression that suggests a twisted, blackened soul, they should hire Anaya for the next Bond film.
So this is an origin story – set yonks before last summer’s ‘Batman v Superman’, in which Gadot made her Wonder Woman debut. It’s also a million miles from the moody dull-fest of ‘Batman v Superman’. Director Patty Jenkins lets the sunshine in. The showdown punch-up at the end drags a little, but the whole thing is carried along by charm and humour. The fish-out-of-water scenes as Wonder Woman arrives on Earth are hilarious. In London, she asks Pine’s loyal personal assistant what a secretary does. She’s horrified by the answer: ‘Where I’m from that’s called slavery.’ This really is Wonder Woman coming to the rescue of the DC Comics universe
Details
Release details
Cast and crew
Gal Gadot
Chris Pine
David Thewlis