By Brett Blake All things taken into consideration, WONDER WOMAN is unquestionably a good movie. It is not, however, a great movie, as its antagonists and climax are too fundamentally flawed to overlook, but the central performance from its leading lady is more than enough to elevate the film into the category of a qualified success. The story begins with Diana (Gal Gadot) on the mythical, hidden island of Themyscira, an entirely female place where Amazon warriors (from Greek mythology) train to defend the planet should the long-defeated God of War, Ares, ever return to threaten the world. When Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), a spy in World War I, accidentally crashes on the island, a series of events are ignited which see Diana entering the larger world of man (from which she has been completely sheltered) on a mission with Steve to prevent mad German general Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) from unleashing a devastating gas attack that would potentially threaten millions. The superlatives will come soon enough, but first a few words on some of the more disappointing elements of WONDER WOMAN. Chief among these is the plot as outlined above; the story of the movie - concerning Diana’s awakening to the state of human affairs during World War 1, and how that crystallizes her heroic resolve - is great, but the plot, which gets bogged down with cliched, hackneyed villain machinations, is pretty uninspired, “we’re just going through the motions” sort of stuff. The villains are extraordinarily, monumentally unimpressive, and the ultimate confrontation at the climax feels limp and contrived because the story never bothers to give us any reasons to care about the villainous scheme at the heart of the conflict beyond purely perfunctory ones (i.e. the villains do villainous things because they’re the villains, not because they’re interesting characters with goals and desires that make any sense). There’s so much more that could be said on this subject, but for the sake of spoilers, we’ll leave it at that. The climax also features the worst effects work of the film, which turns what was intended to be a spirited and intense culmination into a CGI meltdown of epic proportions. It’s a bafflingly rote (save for one modestly daring decision made with respect to one of the characters) and visually unappealing finale that comes very close to putting a truly sour cap on the whole enterprise. So not much of that stuff works. What does work, then? Pretty much everything else, starting - most importantly - with Gal Gadot. She was essentially an unknown quantity walking into this movie. Yes, she appeared as Wonder Woman in BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, but the usage of the character in that film did not demand anything from her acting skills. Here she’s required to show considerably greater range, and she proves to be up to the task. Her Wonder Woman in this film is not merely a credible physical presence (and she very much is, as Gadot throws herself into the action with gusto), but she also embodies all of the classic elements of Wonder Woman from the comics (her kindness, her independence, her unflinching willingness to defend others, her semi-outsider nature), but also synthesizes these into a package that doesn’t feel trite or old fashioned for a modern audience. At the heart of it, she’s fully human, a relatable and strong heroine. There’s also a potent blend of semi-comic naivete, deep intelligence, and profound optimism which makes Gadot’s Diana a thoroughly charming anchor for the film. Opposite Gadot is a very, very game Chris Pine. Pine’s Steve Trevor exudes decency, but he tempers what with a terrific undercurrent of warmth and humor, as well as a hint of complexity. Steve is not unaffected by the horrors of World War I, and Pine sells the character’s motivation to try to stop Ludendorff from engaging in further mass murder. Pine and Gadot have a great connection on screen, and by the end of the film it’s easy to buy that the characters mean something to each other. Spinning out from Gadot and Pine’s work, the overall tone of the movie is refreshingly earnest and sincere, and credit to director Patty Jenkins (at the helm of her first theatrical release in 14 years!) for striking the fine tonal balance required to make everything work. There’s an almost complete lack of cynicism, and there’s an embrace of the fantastical title character and her background that reminds one of Richard Donner’s triumphant SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE from 1978. In some ways, WONDER WOMAN is a more optimistic and uplifting film than MAN OF STEEL, and that film focused on the superhero who used to have the market corned on optimistic and uplifting. One gets the sense that when she meets up with Superman again JUSTICE LEAGUE later this year, she’ll be in a great position to give the Man of Steel a pep talk about the virtues and worth of humanity, because she certainly seems more happy to help than the current iteration of Superman has been so far. The action mostly satisfies for the first half (there is an occasional overuse of slow motion during some of the scenes), but then, around the midpoint of the movie, things kick into high gear with a fabulous setpiece which takes place in No Man’s Land and a bombed-out town just beyond, and which features the first emergence of Wonder Woman in her fully-formed glory. This is unquestionably the greatest action sequence of the year so far. Not only are the choreography and staging of the scene exciting and thrilling, but - more importantly - the sequence is deeply based in character: Diana is unwilling to keep moving past the atrocities of the war, and defiantly takes to the battlefield to help those who are suffering. To borrow hip parlance, she kicks all kinds of ass, and it’s enormously satisfying to watch. That scene is a distillation of the best elements the movie has to offer - Gadot bringing the goods, Pine ably backing her up, and director Jenkins treating the material seriously but in a way that still allows the audience to have fun. The fact that the villains and the climax don’t work (at all) is definitely a bummer, but even if all the movie had to offer was Gal Gadot being a credible and inspiring Wonder Woman, it would absolutely still be a success. Toss Pine into the mix, and I’ve got no problem calling this a winner.
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