Wonder Woman
2017
***
Director: Patty Jenkins
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen, Elena Anaya, Lucy Davis, Said Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, Eugene Brave Rock
An Amazonian warrior princess named Diana leaves the all-female island of Themyscira to find and kill Ares, the Greek god of war, to bring peace to the world. The brave but naive woman enters our world at the end of the First World War, just when a German General and his chemist attempt to delay the inevitable by deploying a new deadly gas. Wonder Woman briefly appeared in the dreadful Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Her own movie is a major improvement on the previous releases in the DC Extended Universe, but far from a masterpiece. This is a long and unevenly paced origin story, but at the end of it, I'm still not sure I understand who the character is and what her powers are. I'm not sure Diana knows it herself. However, at its best the movie offers a nice mix of humour, romance, drama and action. The climactic battle is very disappointing, though. Patty Jenkins was clearly tutored by Zack Snyder in her overuse of the speed up and slow down effect. Gal Gadot is a gorgeous statuesque screen presence, but I'm not sure she can act. Based on the DC Comics character created by William Moulton Marston. Followed by Wonder Woman 1984.
