Wonder Woman (2017)

Marvel could have had pioneering status: The studio introduced the superhero Black Widow into their film universe early on, but - for whatever reasons - no solo film was made with her, which was the first superhero blockbuster that won over critics and box office after failures like "Supergirl" , "Catwoman" and "Elektra" could have been. The competitor DC succeeded in doing this with “Wonder Woman”.

After the Amazon Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) already in “ Batman v Superman"Had a first appearance," Wonder Woman "now tells her Origin story. Diana grew up as the only child on the island of Themyscira, where the Amazons have lived in seclusion since ancient times, protected from the human world. Diana, allegedly created by Zeus himself, learns that the Amazons are training for the return of the god of war Ares, who wants to seduce humanity into a worldwide war and in the process wipe out what only an Amazon with a special sword, the god-slayer, can prevent can. But Diana is shaped by two schools: her mother Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) wants to save her from the war and rather give her education and peace, her aunt, the fearless army leader Antiope (Robin Wright), on the other hand, wants to train her to be an excellent warrior what they negotiated early on

When the British spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes in a plane from Themyscira and is pursued by a German search party, it not only leads to a fateful, if won, battle for the Amazons, but also to news of the raging First World War which Diana Ares suspects. Meanwhile, you also get to know the villains on the German side, the relentless General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) and the disfigured scientist Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya), who works on diabolical poison gases - both characters who would sometimes fit more into the Nazi villains' cabinet of some World War II adventures, but still correspond to the comic character of the material.

However, since the Amazons doubt Ares' return and peace talks are looming on the horizon, they vote against intervening, which Diana does not want to accept and makes a pact with Steve: She takes him from the island, he takes her to the front and thus to Ares ...

What follows is a mix of superhero adventure and a war background, whose imagery is sometimes reminiscent of the first "Captain America", but also knows how to walk the tightrope between relaxed comics and the seriousness of the story. In contrast to the cramped, serious “Batman v Superman” and the, on the other hand, stupidly stupid “ Suicide Squad”“Wonder Woman” with its fish-out-of-water comedy in the second third is exactly the right advice: Diana cannot understand the barely emancipated world of World War II, clashes with old men who are convinced of themselves and can find what she needs for the fight Not bringing freedom of movement into line with the clothing habits of the time, which creates mischievous, relaxed moments, while ironically negotiating gender issues and a bit reminiscent of the classic screwball comedies. It never seems artificial, but loosening it up in a positive sense, away from the heaviness of meaning, which sometimes reminds of joylessness, with which some DC predecessors went to work.

However, as soon as it goes into the war zone and onto the battlefields, the team around director Patty Jenkins reduces the level of humor, which is represented by Diana's and Trevor's sidekick troop made up of a smuggler, a master of deception and a sniper - and yet everyone is from the troop (which reminds a little of the Howling Commandos from "Captain America") also drawn from bitter life experiences, which give some whimsy a more tragic twist. It's a bit of a shame that “Wonder Woman” doesn't work out these three important minor characters a bit and that they seem a bit lost in the final battle, because they're interesting sidekicks, not throwaway characters.

With them and Wonder Womans intervening in the war, their equally manic and naïve desire to end the world war by killing Ares (whom she suspects behind Ludendorff), the film deals with a fundamental problem of idealistic action heroism in the film: That this Characters stand for peace on the one hand, but on the other hand there must always be enough opulent noise in their stories before peace can reign (until the next sequel). The question of whether there really is Ares or whether there is war in the human being is also relevant to the plot as well as a thought discussed here - but all these ideas, because of their interweaving with the plot, do not turn into boring theses, but are pleasing substance that is here in a blockbuster is packed.

As such, “Wonder Woman” tells a generic story that describes the origins of a heroine, introduces her skills, weapons and attitudes and at the same time lets her experience a first adventure. In doing so, “Wonder Woman” does without the big anteasers of other films and even the post-credit sequence, which is now almost mandatory in the genre, even if the story is framed by a moment in which Diana finds a photo of old adventures in our present Thanks to Wayne Enterprises. But the familiar tells “Wonder Woman” with speed and verve, functions as an independent genre adventure and appears complete just because you know that after this world war episode it will move into the present.

That it hardly bothers is also due to the cast. Gal Gadot (" Fast & Furious 6 ") keeps what her first appearance in the role promised, proves to be the ideal cast of the tough, idealistic, but also very compassionate Amazon and could almost easily carry the film alone. Chris Pine (“ Star Trek: Beyond ”) as the main male character with energy and peasant cunning compliments himself perfectly with Gadot, while Saïd Taghmaoui (“ Three Kings ”), Ewen Bremner (“ Snowpiercer ”) and Eugene Brave Rock (“Hell on Wheels “) Embody said three sidekicks with verve. Danny Huston (" Frankenstein - The Experiment") Is a wonderfully hateful, if somewhat one-dimensional villain, while Elena Anaya (" Van Helsing ") is even more fascinating and would have liked to have had more screen time as a chemical witch. Connie Nielsen (“ Gladiator ”), Robin Wright (“ The Promise ”) and David Thewlis (“ DNA ”) provide further high-quality support in this great superhero piece .

Much has been made of the fact that “Wonder Woman” was directed by a woman, especially since it is only Patty Jenkins' second feature film direction after her woman-centered serial killer drama “Monster”. She also managed “Wonder Woman” with aplomb; however, you can only notice something of your own handwriting to a limited extent. Because the action scenes in particular look as if they were custom-sniffed by producer Zack, including the typical, sometimes somewhat overused changes from slow motion and normal speed in the close-quarters combat. Action is not in the foreground, but focuses primarily on three large scenes: the famous battle on the beach, a war intermezzo and the showdown. The first two of them are impressive, even if Diana is sometimes animated a little too often: Sure, you can't make any giant leaps without a colleague's computer, but you could have let Gadot make other whirls himself, because when she steps into action, she convinces as a strong melee wonder woman, while her digital image sometimes does not move in a completely physically credible way. In the finale, the computer unfortunately goes through something with the film team when there is CGI overkill with missed flashes of light and vehicles thrown around - too much, too artificial and sometimes hardly distinguishable from the showdown of "Batman v Superman" in the booming thunderstorm.

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This too effect-heavy, too little down-to-earth final battle and the generic Origin Story are among the rather weak points of an otherwise very appealing superhero film: A well-balanced tone between irony and necessary seriousness, mostly convincing action, strong performance as well as successful references in terms of gender roles, peace efforts superheroes and the origins of war make “Wonder Woman” a strong, but not yet outstanding, representative of its craft.

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