Wonder Woman, released in June this year, surpassed box office predictions and has gone on to become DC’s most successful movie ever in the US, bringing in a record $330.5 million. It is also the highest grossing film directed by a woman.

Expectations were high from this first female super hero film. But while it may have delivered on the commercial front, it falls short in many other respects.

Gal Gadot stars as Diana and the film opens with the story of her origins on the island of Themyscira, home to the fabled warrior tribe of Amazons. Diana is the Queen’s daughter, formed of clay and given the essence of life by Zeus. After the last great battle and the defeat of Ares, the god of war, Zeus hid the island from men. Diana’s transition from child to adult ­— and dangerous warrior princess — is captured in a mere 20 minutes.

For a film being hailed as a feminist flick, Diana proceeds to fall in love with the first man she meets, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), whom she saves from drowning. The unwelcome arrival of Trevor brings with him news of the First World War, which Diana and her fellow Amazons, shrouded in their isolation, have not heard of. In fact, Diana quickly becomes obsessed with the idea that Ares is behind the war and his defeat will result in peace. Thus begins the paradoxical nature of Wonder Woman, whose paramount concern is securing peace, but who has zero qualms about killing and wreaking devastation in order to obtain it. In fact, the black and white view of WW1 where only the Allies’ lives matter and the other German lives hold no weight, is quite troubling.

This reductionist view is meant to reflect the purity that Diana embodies, but instead translates into naivety and even ignorance. In fact Diana’s entire crusade reeks of a young adolescent trying to prove herself and simply does not do her character any justice. Nor does Diana’s selective knowledge of the outside world make sense. For instance, she is unaware of the many nuances of modern society but she is able to converse in perfectly current French or even Chinese.

While Gal Gadot has won many kudos for her portrayal, Wonder Woman cannot be said to be a true measure of her skill as her expressions primarily veer between concentration during her fights and confusion at the practices of the modern world.

While the film in itself is entertaining, it joins the hordes of action movies that are enjoyable simply in that moment and then translate into little else. It is most certainly not the glass ceiling-shattering movie that many have made it out to be. In fact, critics have even dubbed it as anti-feminist. The formulaic nature of the movie, with over-used action tropes, seem to be simply checking off elements guaranteed to make the movie a commercial success.

The creator behind the superhero, psychologist William Marston, had been quoted as saying, “Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who, I believe, should rule the world.” In the event that a second instalment be released, I hope the producers learn from the mistakes made in the first film in order to create the Wonder Woman of Marston’s imagination.