On the island of Themyscira, hidden by an invisibility shield, the Amazons, a race of female warriors, live in peace. Led by Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), the Amazons are immortal, created by the King of the Greek gods Zeus to battle his son Ares the god of war who was jealous of his father’s creation, humankind. Ares was narrowly defeated and went into hiding but Zeus was mortally wounded. His last act was to create a weapon that could kill a god in the event Ares returned. Hippolyta’s daughter Diana (Gal Gadot) has wanted to be trained as an Amazon warrior since childhood but her mother refused. Secretly the Queen’s sister Antiope (Robin Wright), the greatest warrior of the Amazons, has been training Diana and she is showing a level of ability that actually frightens her sister Amazons. One day the peace of Themyscira is shattered when a German plane crashes just off shore. The pilot is an American working as a spy for the British named Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Diana witnesses the crash and saves Steve but soon a group of German soldiers come through the invisibility shield and attacks the island in an effort to capture the spy. The Germans have guns but the Amazons have centuries of battle experience and soon defeat the soldiers but Antiope is killed in the battle. Steve wants to return to the war in Europe known as the war to end all wars as he has evidence that General Ludendorff (Danny Huston) a leader of the German military has been working with Dr. Maru (Elena Anaya) a chemist that makes chemical weapons and they have a new weapon that could kill millions but Hippolyta refuses to release him for fear of exposing the island. Diana believes Ares is responsible for the war and wants to go with Steve back into the world and slay Ares with a sword she calls the God Killer believing that will end the war. Diana gathers various weapons, including a lasso that compels those caught in it to tell the truth, a shield and the God Killer, and intends to leave with Steve in secret on a small sailboat but Hippolyta catches them. She knows she can’t stop her daughter from leaving with Steve and tells her she may not be able to return to Themyscira. Diana understands and she and Steve leave. Hippolyta is concerned for Diana’s safety, fearing Ares will find her but also worried that Diana will find out a secret the Queen has been keeping from her.

A movie version of “Wonder Woman” has been in the works for 20 years. Several directors and writers including Ivan Reitman and Joss Whedon have been involved at one point or another. Every A-List actress from Sandra Bullock to Angelina Jolie has been rumored to be up for the lead. Making this movie has had more twists and turns than an overwritten comic book. Now, after all the time and effort, we finally get to see the Amazon princess on the big screen. It was worth the wait.

“Wonder Woman” is successful primarily due to the performance of Gal Gadot. While the audience wants to see the super heroic daring do, the script by Allan Heinberg gives us a Diana that is certainly unprepared for everything other than fighting. The role of women in the 1910’s is certainly foreign to the Amazon as well as the fashion of the time. The hierarchy of government and the military also doesn’t make much sense to her as well as the cold reality of letting soldiers die to avoid upsetting the armistice negotiations. We watch Diana not only discover her place as a hero, we see her learn about a world that isn’t as black and white as life and Themyscira. Some of these are harder lessons than she is expecting and Gadot manages to avoid playing the role like a child. Diana asks legitimate questions that still have no satisfactory answers to this day.

Chris Pine is also very good as Steve Trevor. The spy with skills but and “aw shucks” attitude transforms from a pretty good guy to a very good person over the course of the film. It’s nice that some of what makes Diana a hero rubs off on the soldier. It is a subtle but convincing performance that never strains your willingness to believe.

What might shake your confidence is some of the CGI during the battle scenes. Of course the actions shown on screen would be impossible in real life but the CG characters don’t look real at times especially when Diana is throwing people around with the lasso. While the movements are impressive, the visuals are lacking. I would have preferred something that was maybe a bit less showy and looked more realistic.

The story also drags a bit early on when Diana and Steve are in London. While I enjoyed the humor of the scenes of Diana trying on clothes and questioning how she could be expected to fight in them they did go on too long. Also, when our main characters are reporting what Ludendorff and Maru are plotting to the government that also feels a padded out. Maybe the idea was to hammer home the inequality women faced no matter how qualified or experienced they might be but it seemed like unnecessarily beating a dead horse.

“Wonder Woman” is rated PG-13 for some suggestive content, sequences of violence and action. Since the film is set in World War I there are scenes of battle and shooting with people shown dead or with significant injuries including missing limbs. We also see people shot and killed with arrows. Wonder Woman also doesn’t mind ending the life of a bad guy and does so in various ways including with her sword but no gore is shown. A male character is shown nude covering his genitals with his hand. There is little to no foul language.

Unlike “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Wonder Woman” is actually lighthearted at times. The uncomfortable but sweet chemistry early on between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine is adorable and parts of Diana adjusting to the human world are funny. I hope this signifies a change in tone for future DC films as a superhero movie shouldn’t make you want to end your life. We’ll have to wait and see if the lighter trend continues when “Justice League” comes out in November. Until then we have a DC film that is actually enjoyable with only a few minor issues that don’t include a humorless tone and confusing editing. What a nice change of pace.

“Wonder Woman” gets four stars out of five.

This week things that go bump in the night, four-legged loyalty and the possible beginning of a new monster movie franchise are arriving on screens near you. I’ll see and review at least one of the following:

It Comes at Night—

Megan Leavey—

The Mummy—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.