Director: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, Elena Anaya, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, Lucy Davis, Eugene Brave Rock.
Well, what can I say. People keep asking me what I think of the new Wonder Woman film and I just keep replying with, "I think I'm in love." I have always liked Gadot and have seen her in quite a few films prior to this. The Fast and Furious saga and last year's criminal just to name a couple. But, I have never seen her like this, never have I taken that much notice of her. But granted, it's possibly her first leading role to my knowledge. She looks so perfect for the role, absolutely stunning and never have I been so mesmerised by her. I mean, everything about her oozes power and wonderment, not just her beauty, but her presence and posture are impeccable.
But is it enough to make this the film the DC fans deserve? With the recent films of Suicide Squad and Batman V Superman put into the shadows by the MCU that just seen to get it right, most of the time. It was the most anticipated movie of this summer and I believe it's smash the box office. But as we all know, box office figure don't equate to the over quality of the film. However, it's the first DCEU film to receive positive reviews.
So here it goes. It's another origin story, telling us how Wonder Woman came to be, being raised and trained as an Amazon warrior princess, Diana of Themyscira. A lush and beautiful Mediterranean island hidden away from the rest of the world. From what I can gather, the film is keeping true the the original and most popular storylines of the 40s and 70s being set during WWII and allows herself to get involved and fight the Nazis.
Chris Pine's character of Steve Trevor seems on point and Pine does a grand job of keeping the naive yet adamant and confident Diana grounded whilst trying to get her accustomed to the outside world people at war. There's a supporting cast consisting of a couple of familiar faces and they do well to provide filler but without unbalance the film. Which would actually be difficult to so with Gadot taking control of the screen.
The action is exactly what I was expecting. With an amazing, refreshing opening beach battle that reminded me of how 300 innovated the battle scene. There's some great vision and the action is fluid, fast but superbly paced so you can digest what's actually happening. Even when there was a risk of being cheesy, it was executed in such way that made it believable. Gadot took control and owned the screen every bit of the way.
Rupert Gregson-Williams does a good score, using the Wonder Woman theme but it's nothing outstanding or easily recognisable, unlike Zimmer's Man of Steel. Sia manages to get herself on the end credit again, not that I'm complaining. Her collaboration with Labrinth, "To Be Human" is a great track to have the credits roll to.
One thing that DC has been really consistently good at in their recent films is the overall production. The costumes are amazing, fitting whilst still keeping true to the tradition outfits. There's a tone these films have that is soon becoming a trademark for them. Like a DC filter used when filming.
But what didn't I like about the film? The diversity felt forced for me and I'm ashamed of myself for allowing it to bug me because it shouldn't. And really it should be a thing that should go unnoticed but it just felt pushed in there for the sake of diversity. The languages bothers me a little also. I couldn't understand why some characters were showing off their multilingual skills yet all the German spoke English with just a hint of an accent. That didn't make sense. It does dip for a bit in the middle but not for very long and you're soon back into the thick action. Final thing I didn't like was the casting for the super villain. The idea behind him too doesn't really sit well in the grand scheme of things and think it should have been played by someone else.
Apart from those relative minor points, I the film is a success and deserves all the praise it gets. It's well balanced with it's funny moments and the action is on top form. Monster director Patty Jenkins has always wanted to make a Wonder Woman film and she's done an outstanding job. I'm pretty sure I'll watch this again and it's definitely the best DC film that's come out since The Dark Knight.
Running Time: 8
The Cast: 8
Performance: 9
Direction: 9
Story: 8
Script: 8
Creativity: 9
Soundtrack: 7
Job Description: 10
The Extra Bonus Point: 10 jointly for Gadot and Jenkins. Amazing work.
Would I buy the Blu-ray?: Oh hell yeah!
86% 9/10
