Add me to the masses.
I really liked Wonder Woman and would give it a solid “B” or 3 stars out of 4. As many other critics have said -and, again, I’m going with the flow here- the film has a few problems but overall its positives far outweigh its negatives.
Gal Gadot is simply the absolutely right actress at the very right moment for the role, an important thing given the fact that the film follows Diana/Wonder Woman throughout maybe 90% of the its run time. Even more intriguing -and shows the care Director Patty Jenkins had in the making of this film- is the fact that two other actresses also played Diana/Wonder Woman and, incredibly, both were also very good in the role: Lilly Aspell played the 8 year old Diana and Emily Carey played her at 12 years of age.
Further kudos have to be given to Chris Pine’s acting as Steve Trevor. He is at Diana’s side for much of the film and provides a welcome counterpoint/guide to her character while she navigates a world ravaged by the horrors of World War I. He’s never patronizing and more often than not takes her side while showing his growing affection and thrill at her displays of power.
But before we get to their adventure together, we spend time on Paradise Island, the home of the Amazons and of Diana and there we are presented its culture and characters. Standouts during these sequences are Robin Wright as the warrior Antiope (Ms. Wright’s come a long way since Princess Bride!) and Connie Nielson as Hippolyta, Diana’s mother (I just checked IMDB and it looks like she’ll be back in the role for the upcoming Justice League movie. Hurrah!).
Later in the film we’re also introduced to Wonder Woman’s quirky companion, Etta Candy, played delightfully by Lucy Davis. I swear this film is filled with so many interesting characters that I wish there was even more screen time afforded to them than ultimately was!
The villains, alas, are a little less interesting though I did enjoy the enigmatic turn of Elena Anaya as Dr. Maru, aka Dr. Poison.
As for the film itself, its story goes like this: Diana is a restless soul within Paradise Island even as a young child. After a fashion, she trains to be a warrior. One day, when she’s grown, the outside world intrudes upon Paradise Island in the form of Steve Trevor, a spy for the allies whose airplane crash lands just off the island’s coast.
Diana saves Trevor but a German warship which has been hunting him also makes their way into Paradise Island. A battle ensues and, afterwards, the Island folks are, via Steve Trevor, given an update on the world outside and the war being waged.
Diana decides she must venture forth and stop the fighting. She believes Ares, the Greek God of War, is behind all this and it is her duty to stop him.
She leaves Paradise Island with Trevor, and the rest of the film follows her as she encounters the “real” world of 1917 and its many perils.
Again, I give this film a very solid “B”. While it may not reach the heights of the original 1978 Superman, a film the makers of Wonder Woman clearly used as their guiding star, it does enough things very right to make us not only care for the characters, but to look forward to their further adventures.
One last note: The soundtrack to the film is awesome. Gonna buy it real soon.
Recommended.