This chick is superheroic

The fact that there have been, essentially, zero women front and center in the long history of superhero adventures isn't news. The fact that director Patty Jenkins guided Charlize Theron to an Oscar in her feature debut (Monster) and no one in Hollywood saw fit to give her another major film until... now isn't news. The fact that we're still talking about this is.

Wonder Woman hits screens at a time when everyone on the outside looking in has decided to demand long overdue inclusion. Like it or not, right or wrong, Hollywood creates culture, and when a major studio casts the Asian kids out of Avatar: The Last Airbender, or makes the gay best friend a lisping sop with incredible style, or the Muslim a radical jihadist - and nothing else - it helps create a global culture rooted in antiquated perceptions and offensive untruths. Given all that there's a lot riding on Wonder Woman for Warner (who desperately want to catch up with Marvel), for Jenkins and every woman working in the studio system, and for the world at large. Are we collectively mature enough to embrace a chick as a badass superhero? Admittedly that's a lot to ask for a comic book movie, but such is the world as we know it. No pressure.

Thankfully, DC finally got it right. There is nothing here you haven't seen before: this is a conventional mash-up of hero's journey and superhero origin story nonsense. The difference is that Wonder Woman is more genuinely heroic and inspiring than either of Warner's recent iterations of her peers - Batman and Superman - and she's a lot more fun. Wonder Woman is more reminiscent of Captain America: The First Avenger than Man of Steel. After the feisty, principled Diana (Gal Gadot) rescues crashed WWI spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), she leaves her idyllic Themyscira home for London and the Western Front to stop the war. Fish-out-of-water adventures ensue.

In the hands of Jenkins, writer Allan Heinberg and star Gadot, Wonder Woman lacks the distancing angst of Batman and Supes, making her eminently more likeable. In an interesting divergence from superhero convention, Diana doesn't separate herself from her alter ego, freeing up storytelling time normally wasted on "hiding" the truth. They're also careful to make Diana wide-eyed and curious, but never dumb; she's inexperienced but not an idiot. She finds the outside world baffling, and when it's put into a context (WWI was another smart creative choice) that sadly resonates now, it's easy to understand her bafflement.

But Jenkins and Heinberg leave plenty of room for subtle jabs beyond feminist ones, and Wonder Woman has its share of cracks about race relations without ever hitting viewers on the head with them. Much of the credit for that should go to a stellar supporting cast (Ewen Bremner, Said Taghmaoui, Eugene Brave Rock) that never overplays its hand. That job belongs to veterans David Thewlis and Danny Huston, who ham it up perfectly every minute they're on screen. Pine once again proves he's more than just a pretty boy, and injects some genuine mystery and pathos into what could be a bland love interest. He and Gadot are spry verbal sparring partners; their courtship is utterly charming and has real impact when it ends. But alas, not even Wonder Woman can stop Hollywood's CGI machine. Despite two strong acts brimming with wit and rousing fights, DCU (and Marvel) franchise rules demand a generic and needlessly bombastic showdown, complete with the laser beam of doom. Enough.

Fortunately, it doesn't detract from what came before, and ultimately it's Gadot's film. As endearing as she was in her four aentries, none of those hinted a movie star lurked beneath the surface. She's feminine. She's badass. She's sincere. And she's everything Wonder Woman should be. Your move, Marvel.

(HK Edition 06/02/2017 page1)