Wonder Woman Review

     Over the past decade, comic book movies have been all the rage. The rise of Disney's "Marvel Cinematic Universe" has brought "nerd" culture to the forefront of the mainstream. The series quickly became the highest grossing film franchise in history, and Warner Bros. wanted a piece of the pie. In 2013, WB released "Man of Steel," a grittier film revolving around the legendary character Superman directed by Zack Snyder. While many were hoping it would be like "The Dark Knight," it was anything but. Drab, boring, and all around bland, it was a bust; but that didn't stop WB. Not only did they confirm they were moving forward with more comic book movies, the announced the "DC Extended Universe." Three years later we received "Batman v. Superman," another dark super hero film that was going to put DC back on top; but it didn't. The film was panned by critics, and while the opening weekend was successful the movie ultimately underwhelmed at the box office. A few months later we got "Suicide Squad," a lighter film about a group of criminals forced by the government to fight an evil force. Much like "BvS," it was panned by critics and made less than the studio was hoping for. Three films, three duds. Many, including myself, had written off the DCEU. Then in comes the most well known female super hero of all. "Wonder Woman" was supposed to be the saving grace for this failing franchise and had fans around the world excited. While I've had my doubts about this movie, publicly saying that I had little to no hope for it, I'm a big enough man to admit I was wrong. "Wonder Woman" is great.

     Diana is a young woman living on the mystical island known as Themyscira, a place meant to shield the Amazonian warriors from the rest of the world. Diana is her people's princess, but has dreams of becoming a warrior herself. She trains daily, and ultimately becomes her people's greatest warrior. One day while on the island's edge she sees something she's never seen before, a plane falling from the sky. She swims out to it and saves the only passenger, Steve Trevor. Trevor explains that he is a spy working for British Intelligence to combat the Germans in World War 1. He has gained information crucial to the war and needs to get it back to the UK. Diana, believing the war is the doing of the god of war Aeries, agrees to help Trevor; and the two travel throughout the Europe to stop the Germans and save the world.

     As you could probably tell, I have not been a fan of the DCEU movies up to this point. They've been all style and no substance, and a waste of incredible source material. But after four years, the fourth movie in the DCEU finally gets it right. "Wonder Woman" may not be perfect, but it's impressive to say the least. First off, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, she's fantastic, and the absolute perfect actress for the role. She really embodies the character and I can't imagine anyone else in the role. It helps that her co-stars all gave solid performances playing likable characters, with Chris Pine being a stand out. The movie's screenplay is well written, often intense and dramatic; it does a great job incorporating history into what was a rather interesting story; with the occasional splash of humor that works much better than any attempts in previous DCEU movies. And I want to credit the writers for paying respect to the source material in a way that other movies in this franchise have not (cough*Suicide Squad*cough). From the characters to the story, any changes made worked but still respected the classic stories that inspired it. And they also did a great job filling it with some kick-ass action sequences. Despite what it did well, there are a few problems that could have been addressed. The movie ends a bit suddenly, between the climactic battle and the end credits is only about five minutes or so, it feels like they wanted more time to wrap things up but weren't given it. And while the heroes were great, the villains were not. The film's antagonists were rather uninteresting and bland, and brought nothing to the movie. Now this isn't anything new to super hero movies, DC or even Marvel, but I just wish the villains in this movie were a bit more compelling. And if I had to nit-pick, a little too much slow motion shots during the action. But even with these issues, I really loved "Wonder Woman." Director Patty Jenkins helmed what is EASILY the best DCEU movie we've seen thus far and single handedly saved this sinking franchise; now I just hope no other directors drop the ball. I want to like the DCEU, but up to this point it has not unimpressed me; until now anyways. It took four years and four movies, by the DCEU finally produced a movie worth everyone's time.

Pros: Gal Gadot is exceptional as wonder woman, solid performances from the cast, well written screenplay, comedy works, great action sequences, likable characters, pays respect to source material, strong direction from Patty Jenkins, interesting story that uses history, best DCEU movie by miles.

Cons: Too much slow motion, ends a bit suddenly, villains are a bit weak.

4/5 Stars