Wonder Woman

Here we have the origin story of Diana, Wonder Woman [Gal Gadot], growing up the only child on the island of the Amazons, rebelling against her mother, Queen Hippolyta, who doesn’t want her taught to fight, discovering the existence of the outside world, and going off to help fight the Germans, who are being egged on by Ares, in The Great War.

This is a good origin story, if a bit linear in its telling. The first part, on the island, is interesting for being all women, contrasted with the outside world at war, which is (essentially) all men. There are several nice culture clash moments when Diana turns up in Edwardian England, behaving as a strong independent woman, with her own ideas about behaviour and appropriate clothing. The various fight scenes are well-choreographed, and of ever-increasing mayhem as Diana’s powers grow, leading to the ultimate showdown. The horrors of war are not glossed over, but any level of knowledge of history at all shows that Diana’s victory over Ares leading to the end of the war, is going to be very short-lived.

And, of course, there are all the questions left by this ahistorical event. Why did they think driving the Germans out of one town would be of any use? What was Diana’s role in all those other wars since WWI up to the present time? Given there is evidence of her first intervention, why is there no further evidence? But these are questions for after the film: just revel in the mayhem and culture clashes while watching.

Rating: 3.5

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 2 June 2019