Wonder Woman

A superhero film set during the First World War. Diana grows up on Themyscira. The island is hidden, only women live there and all of them are warriors; her mother has forbidden her to fight. An aeroplane crosses the veil around the island and crashes. There is a spy inside it and German soldiers are behind him. Steve describes the war. Diana believes it is the work of a god and thinks that if she finds and kills him the war will end. From there the film goes to London and to the front. A voyage, a shopping scene, a meeting at a ministry, and a village in Belgium. The centre of the film is a scene in a trench. Diana climbs alone into ground nobody has crossed, and that section says what the character is in one go. What the narrative is interested in is not war but cause: the film finally says there is no single culprit and that people did this by themselves, and Diana's belief breaks there. The tone is separate from the earlier films of its series. The colour is lighter, there is humour, and the character does not lose her optimism. The finale turns into a digital fight, which is its weakest point; the fine idea the narrative built is lost there. The production was one of the first cases of a large-budget superhero film being given to a woman director, and that was widely discussed before release. Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, Danny Huston and David Thewlis are in the cast. Patty Jenkins directed. Who it is for: anyone who wants a classical, optimistic hero story. Who it is not for: anyone tired of final battles; the last half hour falls into the genre's habit.