‘Wonder Woman’
› Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some suggestive content.› Running time: 2 hours, 21 minutes
“Wonder Woman” has been the subject of so much superfluous fuss, it’d be easy to forget that behind all of the hand-wringing and both symbolic and real pressure to succeed there’s actually a movie meant to entertain.
Yet, like the heroine at its center, “Wonder Woman” the movie rises with powerful grace above the noise. It’s not perfect, but it’s often good, sometimes great and exceptionally re-watchable.
Director Patty Jenkins’ film is so threaded with sincerity and goodness it’s a wonder how it got past the pugnacious minds responsible for what’s come before. “Wonder Woman” evokes not only the spirit of Richard Donner’s “Superman,” but also Joe Johnston’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” while still being its own thing. Just look to the image of Gal Gadot confidently striding out alone onto an unwinnable battlefield with only a shield, a sword and a mission – and prevailing. It’s enough to give you goosebumps.
“Wonder Woman” is structured as a coming-of-age story about how Diana, the Amazonian princess, becomes Wonder Woman. It’s framed, clumsily, as an over two hour flashback provoked by a note from Bruce Wayne. Of all the stupid interconnected universe things!