Movie Review: Wonder Woman

3.5 stars out of 5

I was 6 years old when Wonder Woman hit TV screens. I never thought, “Oh, how progressive of me, I’m watching a female superhero.” We just watched it. Everybody watched it. There weren’t that many channels.

Life is seemingly more complicated now, second-guessed, over-analyzed. Were they–The Man–purposely not doing enough advance marketing for the Wonder Woman movie? Sabotaging it from the get-go? Later, were female-only screenings part of some global anti-male conspiracy? Would the film serve as an Unstoppable Feminist Indoctrination for impressionable young viewers? It was an awful lot for Wonder Woman to carry on her bare, well-toned shoulders.

When all is said-and-done, it’s just a movie, and a pretty entertaining one at that. And yes, potentially quite empowering for girls in the crowd, which is always a good thing. (Sorry for the mansplaining.)

That the film doesn’t beat you over the head with its girl-power theme is one of its strengths. Message flows naturally from the story: Wonder Woman is from an all-female society, so she’s genuinely confused and annoyed by restrictions placed on women in World War I-era England. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. We first see young Diana growing up among the Amazon women on Themyscira, which I believe is just upstream from the Isle of Lesbos.

Superhero movies often get bogged down in origin stories (We don’t care!! Put on the suit and start fighting crime already!), but Themyscira is a pretty compelling place. Diana is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), leader of the Amazons (after deposing Jeff Bezos). Robin Wright, looking (w)right fit, plays Hippolyta’s sister Antiope. A pretty funny aspect of the early going is that, because grown-up Diana is played by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, Nielsen and Wright are forced to do these quasi-Israeli accents. I’m sure that’s totally natural on Themyscira. Anyway, it’s Aunty Antiope who’s charged with training Diana to be a warrior princess.

During these training sequences, director Patty Jenkins shows her adeptness at crisply, cleanly filmed action — too often not the case in superhero flicks. I was particularly impressed by the judicious use of slow motion.

Gal Gadot shows up and oh what a Gal she is. Breathtakingly beautiful, and more than believable as a wondrous woman.

Chris Pine — as American spy for British Intelligence Steve Trevor (hey, that was Lyle Waggoner’s name in the old Lynda Carter series!) — washes ashore and Diana is all, “Oooh, a maaaaaaan!” They leave the secret island to fight Germans and to fulfill Diana’s destiny of killing Ares, God of War.

Pine is solid. (Eh, eh?) Haven’t seen Danny Huston since American Horror Story: season whatever, but he’s basically a stock German baddie here. He’s in charge of an evil female chemist who has the best partial mask since good ol’ Half-a-Face in Boardwalk Empire. I instantly identified David Thewlis from voice alone, proving what an impression he’s made on me in the current Fargo. And great to see an almost unrecognizable Lucy Davis, Dawn from the original Office, in a small but fun role.

Steve assembles a ragtag team (yawn, a marksman, an American-Indian dude, another guy, unmemorable all) and Diana leads them into battle. It’s here, emerging from the trenches, where Gadot truly shines and the film reaches its peak. I no longer thought of her as a female superhero but simply as a hero. It was bracing.

Unfortunately, the movie loses steam from this point on, and meanders toward a boilerplate good-vs-evil showdown. It’s probably 20 minutes too long. And the colors don’t stray much from DC’s standard dour palette. I place all blame on Zack “Hack” Snyder, a producer and one of three with a story credit.

Still, I’ll happily watch a sequel. And will readily admit to getting a sick thrill from seeing a Jewish actress preemptively and inglouriously kick German ass.