‘Wonder Woman’ gets a chance to shine, and does she ever

Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 1, 2017

There was a bright spot in the sludge of “Batman v. Superman,” and its name was Wonder Woman.

DC Comics, trying to get its superhero movie universe up to speed with Marvel’s, tossed the superheroine into that darkly lighted meeting of caped crusaders. She stole the show.

So here’s “Wonder Woman,” the first feature film devoted to a character born in comic books in 1941, with Israeli actress Gal Gadot returning to the role. Except for brief opening and closing scenes, the character takes a step back in time.

We begin with Wonder Woman’s childhood on a secret island full of Amazon women; among her role models are Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen, both of whom look like they could incinerate you with a hard stare.

The First World War takes Wonder Woman away from the island and into the trenches, thanks to the intervention of American flying ace Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). She passes herself off as one Diana Prince, and keeps quiet about being the daughter of Zeus and all that.

The agreeably crazed plot puts Diana on the trail of a German general (Danny Huston) and Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya) — a terrible name for a member of the medical profession, by the way. They are developing a super-gas that will win the war for Germany.

Steve recruits some spy buddies, played by Ewen Bremner, Said Taghmaoui and Eugene Brave Rock. Their story line is a little half-hearted, but that’s partly because Diana Prince pulls focus.

Director Patty Jenkins (“Monster”) gets some pleasant banter going between Diana and Steve, and both actors know how to underplay. Aside from David Thewlis’s gratifying turn as a British politician, there’s no particular feeling for the WWI setting, but this is a comic-book movie, after all.

Jenkins steers the big climax toward one of those “Why would anybody want to save rotten mankind anyway?” arguments, which works pretty well here.

As for Wonder Woman herself, Gadot is hugely appealing in the role. She and Jenkins have leaned toward Christopher Reeve’s first “Superman” as a model for how to play the role: strong but innocent, a fish out of water.

Diana Prince is wide-eyed at everything the world has to offer, and Gadot’s reaction to her first-ever taste of ice cream is a refreshingly sincere piece of acting. This is smart, because it allows humor to percolate within the super-serious DC world.

“Wonder Woman” qualifies as the most entertaining of the DC films so far, in part because it’s mostly a standalone; we don’t labor to set up future episodes. Nevertheless, Wonder Woman returns later this year in “Justice League.” Don’t be surprised if she outshines the boys again.

“Wonder Woman” (3 stars)

The first feature film for Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), curiously set during World War I. The character leaves her island of Amazons and joins a flying ace (Chris Pine) to battle an evil German general (Danny Huston). This is the most entertaining of DC’s comic-book movies, thanks in part to a healthy sense of humor, plus Gadot’s appealing presence.

Rating: PG-13, for violence

Showing: Alderwood, Cinebarre Mountlake Terrace, Edmonds Theater, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marysville, Stanwood Cinemas, Meridian, Thornton Place, Woodinville, Blue Fox Drive-In, Cascade Mall, Oak Harbor Plaza