Spoilers ahead...
In many ways I found it very formulaic. The story is basically the Clash of the Titans remake (ancient Greeks contending with rogue gods) cleaved to Captain America (superhero helps defeat the evil Germans). The effects look like things we've seen countless times before -- and are not especially convincing. The cliched "slo-mo" shots got very tiresome (the Matrix is two decades old now -- how about something new?).
In terms of story, a lot of things didn't really make sense to me. Why does it take place in World War I, when Wonder Woman was a hero of World War II? Why doesn't the German ship off the coast of Themyscira use more of its men (and superior firepower) to defeat the Amazons and secure the island (especially when the ship is obviously in need of repair)? The inference is also that the ship was pursuing Steve Trevor's plane -- but how can a ship pursue a fast-moving aircraft? Why is Steve Trevor working for British intelligence and under the command of English generals if he is American? And the "clever twist", when it is revealed that
David Thewlis is actually Aries (ooooh, aaahh!) was completely contrived because it was so out of left field. (Nor was it especially fresh or inventive for Thewlis to transform into a Sauron lookalike.)
The P.C. touches were irritating, like the Middle Eastern character who bemoaned "I wanted to be an actor, but I was the wrong color!" The Native American character was obviously only inserted into the film so someone could tell Wonder Woman that "We were wiped out by
his people" (i.e. the Americans). (Wouldn't it have been nice to have a black character who could have instead told her "We were slaves once too -- but we were freed by
his people.")
The scene near the end, after Aries is destroyed and all the former enemies suddenly "make nice" came off as silly to me. I half-expected Dan Aykroyd to appear and say "Hey, I love you!"
The score -- like so many others these days -- is the usual Zimmer-esque "wallpaper" that provides the requisite drum loops for the action and white sound for the "suspenseful" moments -- but does little to express the characters' actual inner emotional state (and that electric guitar riff is a serious contender for most annoying movie "theme" of all time -- heavens, I'd have preferred they used the old song from the Lynda Carter TV show!)
I also felt the movie started to drag from the London scenes until they reach the battlefield.
Patty Jenkins is a wonderful director (Monster was an
excellent film), but it's pretty obvious she was hired because it's "good PR" for Wonder Woman to be directed by a woman (and also, someone who hasn't made a feature since 2003 is more easily controlled by the studio). I'm all for women directing films (and sincerely admire Jenkins as an artist), but since this movie is little more than a stringent checklist of formula, it's hardly "Jenkins' film" on any level.
Yet all the same, I did find it overall watchable. What saves this movie for me is Gal Gadot, who is so sincere, so endearing -- and so
passionate in the role, that she manages to sell the whole thing. To me, Gadot is one of the most beautiful women on earth (no surprise, seeing as she hails from Israel!) and her physique is also refreshingly
non-anorexic, and she's genuinely bad-ass in real life, having served in the Israel Defense Force...
She was also five months pregnant when shooting the film's action sequences. "Wonder Woman" indeed!
I also appreciated that the film depicted a strong female lead who actually enters into a relationship with a man, and didn't depict male characters as disposable (as Brave and Frozen did) or simply evil (as in Malificent). Diana is strong and independent, but is no weaker for falling in love with Steve, and their love story is handled in a wonderfully delicate, touching way (I'd hazard a guess this area is where Jenkins actually got the chance to put her own stamp on the material).
So, for all its copious faults, I more or less enjoyed it, thanks mainly to Gadot. I'd even go to see a sequel -- except there probably won't be once, since Steve Trevor was killed off.