Wonder Woman

After watching the first feature film adaption of the Wonder Woman comic-book character, there's a little part of me that wishes DC and Warner Bros. would just go back and reboot their whole cinematic universe using "Wonder Woman" as its footprint. I say this because, yes, they finally got it right.

While "The Dark Knight" was terrific storytelling, the Nolan Batman was dark and gloomy and afraid to be a comic-book film. "Man of Steel" was a humorless, ultra-violent mess with a decent lead actor, and the follow-up, "Batman v Superman," was spectacular to look at and had a better Batman in Ben Affleck, but lacked the fun of what made comic books the go-to literary medium for kids.

While there's no denying that director Patty Jenkins is taking her tale of Princess Diana of Themyscira very seriously, she isn't afraid to throw in some good-natured humor and a dash of chemistry-laden romance. She's also not afraid to take her time with these things. What she also does well is make a visual feast that takes semi-realism and mixes it with the over-the-top stylings that make the pages of comic books and graphic novels so delicious to take in. For all of these reasons, Jenkins succeeds, but it is not without a terrific script by T.V. writer Allan Heinberg ("Grey's Anatomy") and a breakout performance by newcomer(ish) Gal Gadot that make this "Wonder Woman" so wonderful.

The story of Diana begins in the present where Diana (Gadot) is an art curator at a museum who receives the only remaining copy of a photograph of herself and four others taken during World War II. Clearly, she hasn't aged, so she has ensured that the picture never get into anyone's hands. As she looks at the photograph she is reminded of her origins, and so the real story begins.

Diana is raised on the island of Themyscira by a tribe of Amazonian women led by her mother Hippolyta (Connie Neilson). She learns of her island's Greek Deity heritage, their enemy, Aries, the God of War, and why their island is hidden from human eyes. When American pilot and spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is shot down into the waters of Themyscira, he is rescued by Diana, but brings with him a Nazi hunting party. The women fight like champions, but they lose a few of their own during the battle. Angry, they question Steve as to his intentions. He explains the current world war and insists he has to go home and stop an evil doctor who is threatening to poison most of the world. Diana is convinced this is the long-lost Aries' doing, and asks to go with Steve to London to help him fight.

When Diana and Steve reach London, Diana must go through her fish-out-of-water scenario, which, despite having seen this sort of thing in many movies before, still manages to be highly amusing. Jenkins also doesn't prolong it too much, eschewing making Diana look foolish to focusing on her intelligence and compassion. Diana is confused by war. She is confused why only men run things. And she is offended that the leaders that would start a war would not partake in the fight themselves. This is the crux of the Wonder Woman character, and it's the first film in memory whose ultimate theme is "empathy."

Steve and Diana have a few scary run-ins with some Nazi thugs who want a journal he has stolen belonging to Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya), a.k.a. Doctor Poison - the German scientist creating a poison that can't be filtered by a gas mask, and will kill anything with which it comes in contact. This is when Diana shows her true skills, including her superhuman strength, her indestructible bracelets, the Lasso of Truth, and her powerful shield. Eventually Steve gathers a team together, including Sameer (Said Taghmaoui), expert marksmen Charlie (Ewen Bremner) and The Chief (Eugene Brave Rock). They set out to find where the gas is so they can destroy it before head Nazi Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and Doctor Poison can unleash it on the world.

What Jenkins gets absolutely right here is that she takes her time with telling Diana's story. It doesn't open with a big action sequence and doesn't feel the need to bombastically create set piece after set piece so that after an hour we are numb to the action and noise. In fact, for a good chunk of time we just follow Steve and Diana as they assess their situation and gather their troops. There are moments of fighting, but for the most part we get character and plot and that is most welcome.

By the time Diana fully goes into Wonder Woman mode we are itching for it and it doesn't disappoint. The choreography and staging are reminiscent of the tableaus seen in the comic-books and Jenkins slows down the action every so often so we can see how magnificent it looks. (Although she does it a bit too much, but that's a minor quibble.) The action is all jaw-dropping, easy to follow (thank God) and spectacular to witness. And again, Jenkins isn't fearful of moving from action to romance and character development because she knows that is what is going to sell the character to the world.

Which is why casting unknown Gal Gadot in the lead role was a casting godsend. While she has appeared in a few movies while "Wonder Woman" awaited release, no one really knew who she was before the news was announced. Of Israeli heritage, Gadot not only looks the part, but she dives headfirst into the emotion and power of the character while still looking shockingly beautiful. She is charming, strong, and perfectly sells the role like no other. She is a true star.

Pine is terrific as well, utilizing his comedic chops while still managing the action and romance in equal measure. The supporting cast all do good work, although some actors get side-stepped (Doctor Poision) as a result of a large cast. Screenwriter Heinberg infuses his script with a good amount of emotion, but does commit one big misstep in the final act where the film's women-empowerment theme seems to get momentarily lost. While it might ultimately seem logical because of the character's nature, it felt like an odd shift that slightly betrayed the character. The character of Wonder Woman has always been about love and compassion, but this one moment felt like it came out of nowhere.

That aside, this is truly the best DC superhero movie since "The Dark Knight," and one of the best superhero movies so far. With gorgeous cinematography by Matthew Jensen ("Game of Thrones") and eye-popping production design by Aline Bonetto ("Amelie") this is the summer spectacle we've been waiting for -- and Gal Gadot is a wonder to behold.