The absolute best movie of the DCEU so far

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2017)

First impression? Wow. Second impression? Wow.
This is what Man of Steel should have been. Wonder Woman is a better Superman movie than the one we got. It has heart, it has style, it has hope, it has love, it has comedy, it has action. Patti Jenkins did a fantastic job directing this movie. This is not a great female superhero film. It's not a great superhero film. It is a great film.
Gal Gadot plays a tremendous Diana Prince. Lilly Aspell plays an adorable young Diana. I feel like she nailed it as well. Not only was she very cute, but she showed a lot of the same determination that Diana shows. The other Amazons were also really good. Patti made a good choice having all the extras be real life athletes and such play the parts. Every single one of them look like they could kick your ass.
I feel Steve's introduction was handled well, and the interaction between him and her was perfect. Like the film itself, it had heart, style, laughter, and love. Not that the it made a big deal about them loving each other. It was done very organically in my opinion. You could see and feel the connection growing between the two of them, but it never felt that it was over done.
I absolutely loved Lucy Davis as Etta. This is another good quality on display here. It's still done in a "realistic" sort of way. Etta is still a strong woman, but she is still a woman of her time. She's not weak at all, in fact she is quite strong. But she doesn't suddenly become a hero just because she's a woman. She's stronger than you might expect, but not in an exaggerated way. Instead she's also quite human. Cute and funny, yes, but still a woman from that era.
Which brings me to another point. I'll admit I had some doubts about how awesome this would be. The hype from some of the more hard-core feminists made me worry that it was going to be a typical "strong woman" movie. The ones where the women can do everything and the men are just bumbling idiots (to be fair, this does happen the other way around, and it's irritating then too). But Patti didn't do that.
It is a female led superhero movie, but it doesn't feel like it was directed that way. Instead Patti just focused on making a good movie. Yes, the star is female, Yes, the director is female. And yes, there are quite a few powerful women, but the kicker is that it wasn't the goal. It wasn't even really the heart of the movie. It doesn't feel like there's any "agenda". It's just a very well done movie.
Diana is very clearly the star (as she should be) and doesn't take a back seat to Steve at all. However, he is definitely not worthless. He's still a very competent soldier and Diana would have run into serious problems if she had tried to go solo. Which makes sense, she is unfamiliar with our world. She has spent her entire life on Themyscira and was clearly naive about our world.
Which humanized her. She was clearly a goddess and a powerful being, but unlike Man of Steel, she was shown to have heart and was someone you could relate to. Or as Patti put it, she's a warrior and a goddess, but she's still a woman. And there's nothing wrong with that! I've known similar women in my life. Women who seem about as girly as a pile of mud, but offer them flowers or something pretty and they get all giddy. Not that Diana gets giddy, but she shows clear signs of still being a woman. Despite the fact that she could kill just about anyone. Back to the movie itself.
I also feel that it is very well paced. There's action before it ever gets boring. There's well placed and appropriate dialogue. There's a variety of emotions and scenery. This film very much stands out from the rest of the DCEU. The other films so far have seemed rather dark and dreary, this film has hope. There are dark and dreary parts, but they are interspersed with light and beauty. It has balance, something lacking in the rest of the DCEU offerings.
OK, so that's a partial list of my praises for the movie (Did I mention it's awesome?). Now on to the critiques.
Most of them are minor and are basically common movie complaints. The first battle scene was pretty cool, but I felt the Amazonians came across as a bit stupid. Which they wouldn't be. Couple of other small things like that here and there, but nothing particularly memorable.
Except for the ending. The final fight. It had some cool parts and it was well choreographed, but it didn't feel like it belonged in this movie. It went from Patti's movie to Synder's movie. It's possible Snyder wasn't involved at all in the final fight sequence, but it certainly felt like he was. Compared to the rest of the movie this was mostly lackluster and rather typical. I'm not saying it was horrible, it just isn't nearly as good as the rest of the film.
Overall I easily give this a 9/10. It's good enough that I watched it twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times.
People who should watch this movie.
People who like comic book movies and/or superheroes People who like strong female heroes People who like movies set in a war zone People who like movies with great dialogue Â… People who like movies.