Wonder Woman: The CPR of a Cinematic Universe

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2017)

1. With "Man of Steel" being an OK start to DC's cinematic universe and "Batman V Superman" and "Suicide Squad" being downright amateurish especially in their scripts, here comes Wonder Woman to save the sinking ship of DC before it's too late.
2. Right from the beginning I want to say that "Wonder Woman" is not a masterpiece. "The Godfather" is a masterpiece, "The Dark Knight" is a masterpiece, "Citizen Kane" is a masterpiece and keep in mind that those movies have their flaws too. I did not want to start my review with negativity but I hate the early praise for movies. I think "Wonder Woman" started with 8,something in IMDb and in the top 250 and now it's in 8,1 and of course it will fall below that. Stop doing that.
3. So, putting the negativity aside, I want to talk about the script which is amazing. It was perfectly balanced showing a coming of age story and a superhero origins, I'm sure that on paper it would have been an amazing read. But seeing it on the big screen I'd say that it's pretty mediocre. I put a 7/10 because I believe that the story carried over the movie through its terrible CGI, action scenes and bad acting.
4. I am from Hellas (not Greece), so of course I know our mythology very well and also know that our mythology is just that, myths and stories. The gods and the heroes do not exist (or existed) and also I believe that anyone can take these stories and craft something fresh and new. That is not the case for "Wonder Woman" and the Hellenic mythological background of Themyscira. To be honest the mythology is idiotic and it does not make sense. There were moments that I thought "The director will jump off the screen to tell us: Just don't overthink it, please."OK movie! I will not overthink it, what else can you offer? And the answer comes in the form of Chris Pine, the standout performance of this movie. I love him, he even might be the best character of this cinematic universe thus far.
5. Patty Jenkins as the director of the movie was a missed opportunity. She delivered an OK movie but in her technique I saw more Snyder (from the slow-mo-speed-up action scenes) than Jenkins. Speaking of the action-scenes: they were terrible. Just terrible. The only time you could see what was happening is when there was slow motion which of course was fueled with CGI (looked fake). Other moments it was the usual recipe of quick cuts and loud sound effects. Oh, and the movie was dark. Very dark, even when there were bright colors on screen, it was dark. Not very good palette.
6. So, let's recap. We have a movie with: poor direction, poor CGI, poor acting and what remains to discuss is Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Passable. She was OK. As I said the script did the best job in the movie. Gal Gadot could say her lines convincingly but she was limited by her acting skills. She and Chris Pine had very good chemistry and let me say that the writers did their homework. Wonder Woman's character was amazing, she was inspiring and brave and naive and I loved her for being that naive. Sometimes in dark situations like World Wars naivety can go places and reach out the darkest corners. There were moments that I wanted to scream "YES I AGREE WITH YOU!!!" because her simple questions and curiosity is (and was for the movie) what the (her) world needs. Not to over-think and be stuck in technicalities. People need help. So we help the people. Simple as that but we were talking about "Wonder Woman".
7. I almost forgot to talk about the villains of the movie. OK. Forgettable. Boring. One-dimensional. Ares the GOD OF WAR, is practically the devil in the movie, not the GOD OF WAR. In the final showdown I expected to be a sword-fight or something like that, but no. He was just a sorcerer throwing stuff with telekinesis at her. When he decided to wear his armor it was already too late for me to care and too late to be impressed. Almost the entire third act of the movie was OK->bad. Except everything that involved Steve Trevor.
8. Anyway, to wrap up the review. "Wonder Woman" was exactly the movie DC needed for their cinematic universe. Manage your expectations and watch the movie. Wonder Woman is a great hero and protagonist, I will not stand another generations of teens to talk about Twilight or 50 Shaded of who gives a f--. We need great female protagonists, not moronic sex objects.