WONDER WOMAN   4.0***

Wonder Woman  met and exceeded my expectations .This is an awesome movie. Gal Gadot ( an Israeli actress) shines on screen as the Amazon Princess with an excellent supporting cast. The chemistry between her and co- lead Chris Pine is sparkling. You can very easily enjoy this film without having seen any of the previous DC films… it is truly a “stand alone” movie. Creators of the film benefit greatly by staying true to the source material that has fascinated readers/audiences since Diana Prince's debut as Wonder Woman in comics over 70 years ago.  Wonder Woman is done justice by an excellent script and the remarkable direction of  Director Patty Jenkins… yes a female Director of a sizzling action film.

The story focuses on Diana, Wonder Woman, a special creation of Zeus. She is not aware of her origins , but knows she must somehow help the human race survive and get better. There's, of course, a villain, the God Ares, that is as powerful as she is.  It's an interesting inclusion in this type of movie, but then again, we're given  a fascinating first act that takes us back to some exciting mythological background, with a film that treats the Amazon Women, and women in general as full human beings, valuing both their physical traits, their spiritual core, and their intelligence. Diana might be naive about a lot of what goes in the world outside her area, but she's strong, adaptable, and willing to learn without sacrificing her faith in what she believes in.

Wonder Woman surprised me on  many levels. Her character has  gone from a sidekick in Batman VS Superman to an awesome main lead in DC's first live action origin story of the superwoman hero. The adventure begins when Diana  rescues a young British spy, Steve Trevor (played by Chris Pine) from drowning when he crash-lands in the ocean off the shores of Diana's home Themyscira ( a remote cloud covered island home of the Amazon Women). When Diana hears  of the war ( WW I ) that is raging outside of the invisible Island, Diana travels with Steve into his world to put an end to it, with the belief that the man behind the destruction is Ares, the Greek God of War.

What I really liked about Wonder Woman, is how the director showed how child-like Diana reacts to the new world (London- World War 1 era). Speaking of her personality, Diana is very charming and beautiful ( Gal Gadot  is more so than Lynda Carter in my opinion) and has an noble character because she fights for the safety of innocents…. something gifted to her from her upbringing by her Amazon queen mother. I also liked how Wonder Woman comes to the realization that people can be evil on their own and that there is no one overpowering evil person or god.    

Gal Gadot is  gorgeous in the role and has an amazing screen presence, captivating us with her ability to look like a bigger than life figure while retaining enough warmth and heart to make her very human.  We get strong characterization that is rarely been seen in comic action films, and the writer and director keeps things moving so well that it's hard to believe it runs for  141 minutes. Make no mistake, there are a lot of well-done action sequences to go along with the other fine qualities of the movie..

RATED PG-13 for some violence and tense action. ( Both a kids and adult movie).

Clark