Wonder Woman

This is for me by far the most interesting origin story that DC Comics, and in fact all of the Marvel comics combined, have done to date. You can see that it was made by a woman, so the emphasis is not on CGI, but on the story and it works perfectly. The juxtaposition of wide-eyed Diana vs a new, uncharted world works great and brings a lot of funny situations (the whole cinema was laughing), the setting of the story in World War I is original and unorthodox in comics, and the CGI orgy at the end is easy to digest. Plus it has a strong anti-war appeal, so another thumbs up. And Gal Gadot? As of today, she’s my new heroine. Irresistible in her righteous anger, honest with her astonished surroundings, and not only charming but – how to say – emancipated in the right way, girls must love this. (06/10/2017)

This suffers from similar ailments as Batman vs. Superman, but has a clear storyline and knows what it wants to say. Gal Gadot is just right for the role, although Chris Pine overshadows her somewhat. He is the anchor reminding that it can’t work without a struggle. The action is typical of Snyder, full of superfluous slow motion. Some similarity to Captain America exists, but each movie is in a different class. A certain femininity can be felt in the movie as a whole, so it’s ideal for a date night. (06/03/2017)

Love at all sights. Wonder Woman is the best DC movie since Man of Steel, with its wonderfully depicted clash between the fantasy world of a hidden island with its pure values and idealistic notions and the real world in the darkest time of our history. And those worlds are represented by two cleverly written and precisely directed characters and their deepening mutual understanding and inevitable attraction. Has any other comic book-based movie with such a strong fantasy background worked as such a faithful reflection of our society? Wonder Woman has heart, honors the original comic books, is witty and sexy, and none of its jokes fall flat. Four and half stars. (06/06/2017)

I don't know. It didn’t bother me, but if I could sleep two hours longer instead of Wonder Woman, I'd probably consider it time better spent. The opening on the island of the Amazons is a feast for the eyes, the action sequences are fine until the Snyder-like CGI-mess kicks in, where everything bangs, lights up, slows down and looks like it's from a stupid video game. And Gal Gadot nails it, she's not a very good actress, but luckily Chris Pine is always next to her and is cool and funny enough to somehow pull it off. Unfortunately, the whole thing is at least half an hour longer than it should have been, the middle section with the shenanigans in London isn't nearly as funny as the filmmakers might have liked, and the messed-up finale sadly shows that Warner still hasn’t learned from the mistakes that plagued their previous films. And I honestly don't know if I'll be in the mood for it next time. (05/31/2017)

A fabulous comic book spectacle that doesn't try anything different and if it does, it's not very evident. I last had similarly light feeling from the original The Fantastic Four - it is clear to the viewer from the start what and how it will happen, but even so the story is fun, doesn't take itself fatally seriously and is a joy watch. Gal Gadot is sensational as Wonder Woman (as an opinionated Amazon in her world and as a magical “alien" in ours, but she has many more positions) and I like her 100% commitment. Chris Pine is sympathetic and neither Danny Huston and David Thewlis were lost in the film. I could imagine the music being more imaginative, but it underscores the action and other scenes well, and last but not least I liked the female perspective of director Patty Jenkins, who is pitting against each other The “unmanly" world of the Amazons and good old England, in which men ruled and looked down on women from above. (06/02/2017)