The First Good DCEU Movie

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2017)

Wonder Woman is the newest entry in the DCEU line-up. Amazingly, it's the first truly great film in this universe; I'm surprised and delighted to say. Man of steel I like, but it has its glaring faults, especially in the third act. BVS has its moments but it is a bad film overall. Suicide Squad is just horrible. It was one of the worst movie theater experiences I've had. Thankfully, this film is legitimately good. It not only has great action, but also a plot that makes coherent sense, characters with personality I actually like, and heart. Wonder Woman is basically a mix of Richard Donner's Superman and Captain America the First Avenger. Like Superman, the film is an epic that covers the highlights of Diana's (Wonder Woman) life on her isolated island of amazons, up until becoming a superhero. The film is also a period piece, taking place primarily in a war-torn setting, like Captain America. This time, it's World War I instead of WWII. When Steve Trevor, the first man to set foot on the island, crash lands there he tells Diana about the war outside in the world of man. Diana decides to go with him to destroy Ares, the God of War and stop the war. The rest of the film is basically that, with some character expansion and growth in between. I cannot think of a major fault with this film. It delivered in every way it was supposed to. One minor complaint is that the battles, especially early on, were very slow-motion heavy. Slow-motion has been milked to death since the Matrix, and I'm getting sick of it. It's not a huge issue, but it bothered me a bit. The villains are not the strongest either, which has been a trend in superhero films lately. Other than that the action was on-point, as was the effects, cinematography, and music. Wonder Woman's them in particular was amazing. I think it's one of the best superhero themes to date, up there with Superman's and Iron Man's. The acting is on-point in the film as well from everyone in the cast. I've always been a fan of Chris Pine. He did fine in the new Star Trek films and he was great in Unstoppable, which is underrated. I will say this is probably his best performance yet. Gal Gadot ultimately does a good job as Wonder Woman. I found her a bit wooden in BVS. She was still a bit wooden in the beginning of this film as well, which had me somewhat worried. However, as the film progresses, she does come into the role and gives a worthwhile performance. What this film truly has in its favor is that it has heart, which has been sorely lacking in the DCEU movies. What makes the majority of MCU movies loved my many is that they have heart to them. The characters feel like people rather than plot devices like in BVS or Suicide Squad. While the majority of the film had a rather downbeat tone, it had an upbeat message and feel, which the other DCEU movies up until now didn't really have. Overall, Wonder Woman is certainly a step in the right direction for the DCEU. Let's just hope Justice League doesn't screw it up. As a fan of the character I'm glad to finally have her adapted on the big screen, and done well.