Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, David Thewlis, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Ewen Bremner.
Director: Patty Jenkins
Release date: 1st June 2017
We first meet Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) in modern day Paris, where she works in the Louvre museum. One day she receives a photo by courier from Bruce Wayne, and it triggers memories of her extraordinary life.. We are taken back in time to Diana as a young child, keen to learn and train like the rest of the women who live on her Island. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) is staunchly against her daughter doing any kind of training but soon admits defeat when she sees how passionate and headstrong her daughter is. We soon learn that the island is home to The Amazons, a group of women warriors, who live to train and learn. Their island is hidden from the World by a shroud of thick fog. One day, a plane comes plummeting through the fog and crashes into the Ocean. Diana instinctively dives in to rescue the pilot but on reaching the shore she is horrified to see a load of German soldiers in boats have come through the barrier. A fierce battle ensues between Amazons and Germans with many lives lost. The pilot, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) informs her that he is in fact a Spy for the British, and that a huge World War is going on. Diana is convinced that if she goes out into the outside World with Steve, she can help stop the War and also defeat the God Of War, Aries, who she thinks is behind everything. The naïve Amazonian Princess and the American Spy head out into a very dangerous and dark World, but are they strong enough to stop the dark forces that are at work?
The idea for Wonder Woman was first conceived back in the 40’s and she has since become a key member of the DC Comics roster and also the Justice League, alongside Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, among others. Her origin story is that she was fashioned out of clay by her mother, and then given life by Aphrodite. She possesses the Lasso of Truth and also a pair of indestructible arm bracelets that she uses to deflect bullets and protect herself. There was also a popular American TV series back in the late 70’s that ran for three Seasons. Lynda Carter starred as Wonder Woman back then and it launched her career as an actress.
A movie that I’ve been looking forward to since watching ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’, Wonder Woman is everything you could want from a Comic Book hero movie; a strong female role model, some evil baddies, a mad scientist with weird plastic bits on her face, lots of really brilliant fight sequences and some Nazi’s getting what they deserve. The whole movie is very ‘dark’ in mood and look, but the fight sequences are just stunning. There’s a lot of slow-mo fighting and running and that only adds to the feel of the movie. Great to see Danny Huston as the evil Nazi General Erich Ludendorff, though he does seem to get cast as a baddie in a lot of the movies he does; X-Men movies as Stryker and American Horror Story on TV, to name but a couple. Would be nice to see him doing something a bit more light-hearted. Gal Gadot is perfect in the role of Wonder Woman and it’s almost as if the role was made for her. I’m really looking forward to the new Justice League movie and seeing Diana Prince once again saving the World. Also you can’t really go wrong with ensemble casts for movies like that. Something for everyone.
If you’re a fan of the DC Universe or even just love the Superhero genre of movies then I think you’ll enjoy this new Wonder Woman movie. Give it a watch, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Overall: 9/10
