Review: Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is one of the best superhero films ever made. Yes, it's the first female-fronted superhero film since the mediocre Elektra and the execrable Catwoman. Yes, it's the first superhero film directed by a woman. Yes, it's the first unequivocally good film from DC Extended Universe. Yet its greatness derives from none of those factors. It is simply an excellent film that delivers on all fronts. Period.

That Wonder Woman would be made was inevitable. Not only because it's part of the master plan for the DCEU, but also due to the unimpeachable fact that Wonder Woman was the best thing about the otherwise bloated and bombastic Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Wonder Woman traces her origin story, beginning with her time as the lone child on Themyscira, a secret island populated by female Amazons, who were created by the gods to protect mankind from being corrupted by Ares, the god of war. Sculpted by clay and brought to life by Zeus, Diana wants to train to be a warrior like the rest of the Amazons, which is a point of contention between her mother Queen Hippolyta (a suitably regal Connie Nielsen), who wishes to shield her, and her aunt General Antiope (a kickass Robin Wright), who eventually convinces Hippolyta that the only way to protect Diana is to train her to be the best warrior she can be and fulfill her destiny.

Before the plane carrying Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crash-lands into the ocean and kickstarts the main narrative, let us pause for a moment to admire and appreciate the women of Themyscira. Though Diana is clearly the Wonder Woman, the film makes it abundantly clear that her strength, fierceness, and all-around badassery are natural characteristics of every woman on that island. When the Amazons are finally shown in battle as they combat the German officers who have followed Steve to their shores, what ensues is a breathtaking display of their prowess on the battlefield. Their armoured bodies leaping, lunging and pirouetting in the air, they unleash arrows, brandish swords, and fight with a ferocity and a clear sense of purpose. If screenwriter Allan Heinberg had confined Wonder Woman to Diana's training on the island and the intriguing dynamics between Hippolyta and Antiope, one doubts there would have been any complaints - this prologue is stronger in complex characters and emotional stakes than the previous DCEU films combined.

"They don't deserve you," Hippolyta tells Diana when Diana insists on accompanying Steve back to the warfront after hearing of the atrocities of the war, which she believes are of Ares' doing. As Diana will later learn, it's not about deserve but for fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves, for fighting in what you believe in. Nowhere is this more evident than in the unforgettable "No Man's Land" sequence. Diana, Steve and his team - spy Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui), marksman Charlie (Ewen Bremmer) and smuggler Chief (Eugene Brave Rock) - have arrived at one of the most dangerous enemy trenches. Everyone is hesitant to move forward, but Diana forges ahead and her one-woman charge against the Germans is one of the most rousing moments in the film.

Though Wonder Woman is from the DCEU, it appears cut from a far different mold than its predecessors. It possesses little trace of the often stifling darkness or the martyr-like tone of the franchise's Superman or Batman. Wonder Woman is more old-fashioned, but in the best way. Like Captain America, Wonder Woman is all about drawing strength from one's ideals even if those ideals are deemed outdated by everyone else. Wonder Woman may seem naive in her beliefs, but she proves time and time again that credence is not something to be trifled with. As Diana, Gal Gadot is a perfect combination of exoticism, athleticism and idealism. She meshes beautifully with Pine, who makes for a dashing hero and romantic lead, and their scenes together often contain a sophisticated banter that wouldn't be out of place in the sparkling romantic comedies of the Thirties and Forties. One double-entendre about Steve and his watch - "You let that little thing tell you what to do?" - is particularly noteworthy.

Wonder Woman is a film that doesn't ignore its heroine's beauty, but it doesn't fetishise it either. Diana treats her loveliness as merely another weapon in her arsenal and, despite the fact that her costume may distract, the "sexiness," if you will, derives from her as a figure of power, not as a sex object. Her feminism is overt but not heavyhanded - "Where I'm from that's called slavery," she notes when Steve's secretary (the delightful Lucy Davis) describes her duties as essentially doing everything Steve tells her. "As magnificent as you are, you are still no match for me," the dastardly General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) states. Like all the other men in the film (and arguably all the fanboys out there), he underestimates her and she continuously demonstrates beyond doubt that she is the most magnificent being in this male-dominated universe.

Wonder Woman

Directed by: Patty Jenkins

Written by: Allan Heinberg; based on Wonder Woman by William Moulton Marston

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Doutzen Kroes, Ewen Bremmer, Danny Huston, Saïd Taghmaoui, Eugene Brave Rock