Wonder Woman finally takes centre stage in a time when the genre is over-saturated by male heroes. The heroine not only lives up her peers, she surpasses them with an enthralling origin story that is the best film to come out of the DC Universe.
With DC seemingly desperate to catch up to Marvel and release Justice League, there has been in my opinion some rushed and ill-advised decisions but Wonder Woman isn't one of them. Finally we see an important character and symbol of feminine power finally done justice on the big screen. It is by no means a perfect film, but what they have done is resonate with the audience just who Diana Prince is, why she cares for the world and why Wonder Woman is not only part of the team, but arguably its key member.
Being one of the earliest female superheroes first appearing in 1941 the character revolutionised the comic book medium, proving just as popular, if not more so than her male peers. The one of few flagship characters of DC then needed her own story and an actress that can deliver. Gal Gadot is simply perfect for the role, exotic, beautiful and strong; all the face characteristics you want in Wonder Woman, but she holds something deeper; she has an incredible aura, she omits power on the screen, whether in her cultural armour, or in a raincoat. You simply believe she is Wonder Woman with her unquestionable defiance and belief but still has that humanistic vulnerability, tenderness and humour. Chris Pine as the American pilot Steve Trevor also provides great humour and humility as he drives the story forward. The two share great chemistry together on screen.
The First World War setting is completely refreshing as we rarely see it depicted on screen. The Great War with its attritional style and chemical warfare, was a truly horrifying war and among the ruin and decay the film portrays Diana as beacon of hope, a woman who can finally end the seemingly never-ending conflict between men. She has never known man and her journey of discovery in not only herself and her purpose but what the world is full of; the beautiful and the ugly sides of man. The war convinces her that the Amazonian nemesis Ares is behind the conflict, perverting man into bloody war. To choose the setting where women's rights were at the forefront only emphasises Wonder Woman's importance in popular culture as an icon.
The antagonists are the only drawback to the film (with the exception of Dr. Maru) as being slightly rudimentary and quintessential, I felt like more was needed, to tie it in to the rest of the film's originality. However Dr. Maru's (Elena Anaya) portrayal as the scarred doctor as the brain behind the chemical warfare attacks gave us a poetic faceless horror and a tool to personify the nature of chemical warfare that The Great War had been infamous for. The deliciously creepy character struck well but wasn't used enough.
The climactic battle is disappointingly the usual CGI filled sequences we have grown use to seeing, but not as heavy and easier to watch as previous instalments.
Wonder Woman is an origin story and a film we've finally been looking for from the DCEU. After a few misguided attempts since Man of Steel we have been delivered a worthy film in Wonder Woman, just in time for Justice League coming later in 2017. It has lifted the flailing DCEU and raised it to exciting new levels. At it's heart it is a glorious coming-of-age story, with her learning the world and all its beauties and scars, the difference of men, the need for sacrifice, justice and peace. We connected with the characters history; her loves, her motives and her story in all its wonder.
