Wonder Woman: A knock-out blow for feminism?

Reviews have just come in for the comic superhero adaptation Wonder Woman, released in UK cinemas this week. While many are calling it a feminist triumph, others are less impressed.

The film, directed by Monster's Patty Jenkins, shifts the original World War II-set superhero tale to the First World War, with Gal Gadot starring as the Amazonian princess Diana.

When Diana finds a US military pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) washed ashore on her home island of Themyscira and learns about the devastating events of the war, she feels compelled to leave her idyllic home and travel to London to help end the terrible conflict.

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Robbie Collin in the Daily Telegraph points out that of the 55 comic-book films produced by Hollywood in the past decade, "zero have been centred on a solo female character", which is "two fewer than have been centred on dogs".

Collin argues that in a genre where "fanboy entitlement" calls the tune, Wonder Woman is not only "a rarity" but also "thrillingly staged" and a "knockout blow for feminism".

Angie Han on Mashable agrees that Wonder Woman's setting on Themyscira offers "a tantalising vision of a world in which female-driven narratives are a pleasant norm, rather than a dramatic oddity".

The critic also calls the film "the most inspiring superhero film in years".

Andrew Barker in Variety notes that Wonder Woman is also the first major studio superhero film directed by a woman. He says it shows in "subtle, yet important ways".

The critic admits that Diana's outfit may be skimpy, but says the camera "never leers or lingers over it gratuitously" and her character is always framed as "an agent of power, rather than its object". And when it comes to action, says Barker, "the movie comes alive in a genuinely exhilarating whirl of slow-motion mayhem".

Chris Hewitt in Empire adds that seeing the world through the eyes of Diana, "a woman who’s never seen a bloke before" let alone taken orders from one, "is hugely refreshing".

The critic praises Gadot as "excellent", saying she can "handle the kicking and the punching", but she's also funny. The film, adds Hewitt, is the DC Extended Universe's "first truly terrific entry".

But not everyone is so in awe.

Steve Rose in The Guardian says those "hoping a shot of oestrogen would generate a new kind of comic-book movie" need to lower their expectations.

What promised to be "a glass-ceiling-smashing blockbuster" is more like "a future camp classic," and the opportunities for "patriarchy-upending subversion", or even "romcom sparks" are left unexplored.

As big-budget trash, it's "great fun", admits Rose, but "there were hopes for something more".

Wonder Woman is released in UK cinemas on 1 June.