Review- Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is legitimately great and you should just go see it now. That unfortunately doesn't compromise a review so I'll go into more detail. This film is an origin story, set about 100 years before Batman V Superman, the first film in which Wonder Woman appeared. It charts her journey from the island where she grew up and onto the frontlines of World War One, attempting to find and kill Ares, the God of War. As an origin story, it goes over some familiar beats and there was one twist I saw coming instantly but in fairness, there was also one twist that I didn't see coming at all. The story isn't amazing but it manages to wrap up some surprisingly warm emotions in there that makes it feel largely fresh, with hints of "been there, done that".

As far as acting goes, the film rests heavily on the shoulders of lead actress Gal Gadot and she is pretty great in this role. She has the right amount of charisma (more so than the allegedly charismatic Superman), delivers her "fish out of water" moments perfectly and much like Ben Affleck in BvS, Gadot has clearly put in the hours to get into shape and brings that physicality into every single fight scene. My one complaint is that because she plays a character 100 years younger than the one we saw previously, she seems very naive. There isn't quite that same level of charm she brought to BvS which is somewhat annoying. Chris Pine plays her sidekick I suppose and is great, something that isn't a surprise to fans of Hell or High Water. He's funny, charming and delivers some of the most emotional scenes of the film. Aside from them, there's a cast of supporting characters in there. From the island of the Amazons, Robin Wright is the highlight although much like Gadot, you can tell that she and every other woman in the film got into incredible shape for the fights. When she gets to the war, there's comic relief lady you recognise from some British sitcoms from the early 2000s, there's drunken Scottish guy played by Scottish heroin addict Spud and Said from La Haine is there as well, reminding me how much I love La Haine. The weakest acting spot is definitely the villains though. Without giving too much away, one is cliched and the other doesn't have enough time to get built up.

Being a big blockbuster action film, action needs to be talked about and it is genuinely great. There are three main sequences and each are different in their own ways. The first doesn't really have Wonder Woman in it but is still amazing, it's the Amazonian women versus some Nazi soldiers. There's swinging from cliffs, great bow and arrow shots and some impressive swordplay and I didn't think it could be topped. Then there's the second fight. This one takes place in No Mans Land and it involves a lot of bullet deflecting, kicking out of legs and impressive feats of superhuman ability. All of that, mixed with the now iconic theme that got introduced last year, makes for a scene that gave me goosebumps. My only issue is the last scene. You know that thing most superhero movies do where the final set piece is a big mess of CG? Yeah, this is no different, which, for a film so subversive elsewhere, is a massive disappointment.

I would recommend this film to absolutely anyone. I don't adore it like many others do but I think it's a great time throughout and will happily watch it again. It has many of the flaws of other recent superhero films yet still comes across totally sincere. If nothing else, what Wonder Woman proves is both that there is hope for the DC extended universe and that female led superhero movies done right deserve exactly as much respect and attention as male led ones. Whether you just enjoy yourself or find some kind of personal revolution in the film, it's one you really should check out, which is why I give it an