****
When the tranquillity of her existence on an island paradise is shattered by the arrival of a pilot, Diana chooses to leave her home to stop the war the man tells her of. Travelling from London to France, Diana fights alongside men for the first time, discovering more about mankind and her own destiny than she could ever have realised...
Hallelujah! It is 2017 and we finally have a superhero film with a female character as the lead, which has gone on to smash the box office and garner good reviews from critics and audiences alike. At last! Missing out on the 'female only' screenings, I watched this film in a packed out cinema, and had a brilliant time. The first thing to say is that Gal Gadot is perfect as Diana - she is a vulnerable as she is strong, as confused as she is stubborn, and as innocent as she is knowledgeable. Positioned at the forefront of almost every scene, Gadot commands the screen, with her male support cast stepping aside duly. The story lines rattles along at a good pace too, with the opening on the island soon giving way to the war story and subsequent show down finale. There is humour interspersed within the war time discussions too, showing a Marvel-esque playful side as opposed to the usually quite dark DC take on the comic book world. And yes, I will admit - I did even shed a tear or two before the end.
For all that I admire in the film, however, there are still some aspects which felt confused and even clunky. For starters, I didn't think the CGI effects were really that good. In some moments, such as when Diana leaps from the clifftop, and then again in the big finale showdown, the graphics seemed very obviously fake - strange, when you consider how many times we see this done well. Aside from this, my remaining niggles were with the 'moral' of the story itself, and the problematic feminist angle. Throughout, the script seemed unable to decide whether mankind was evil and corrupt, or whether Aries was indeed responsible for the wickedness of war as a whole - something that was never fully resolved. Similarly, I thought that (slight spoiler) the big baddie being portrayed as a man was somewhat of a let down - wouldn't it have been more refreshing to show two women as the opposite sides of the coin?
It may not be perfect, but it's a damn good place to start if we are to see more female-centric films taking to the multiplex screens. Somewhat confused in terms of the morals portrayed, Wonder Woman is nonetheless a thoroughly enjoyable blockbuster flick, with plenty to laugh and cry over. Buy an ice cream, and treat yourself to a solidly made movie with a real heart of gold at the centre.
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