DC Finding Its Groove Back, Wonder Woman is propelled by great direction and Gal Gadot

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2017)

I have been a vocal critic of the Warner Brothers/DC array of entertainment since Dark Knight Rises disappointed me immensely during that one fateful night. And for years after that I have been led down a dark path of pure disillusionment that ranges from the frustrating Snyder saga that gets nearly everything wrong, the unforgivable Teen Titans reboot, the strange cartoons we've seen of Batman, and of course the fiasco involving the animated adaptation of Killing Joke's abysmal first act. It's reached a point in which I was accused of just hating DC altogether. But I have finally seen a good side of DC cinematically, and it's in the shape of Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman isn't perfect, but is hands-down the best product from the DC/Warner Brothers spectrum since The Dark Knight ignited and changed the film industry back in 2008. Whatever issues you can dig up in the movie will be eradicated by a superb cast, great amount of respect for the source material, and an entertaining flick with a nice blend of action, comedy, drama, and comic book flair. The film doesn't try too hard to win you over, as it paces nicely to allow you to warm up to our newest Wonder Woman and her allies.
Damaging some of the momentum of Wonder Woman has nothing to do with the movie, but its actually the timing. If this had been made and released before Batman vs. Superman and the revelation of Justice League it could have had a deeper impact to the DCEU; similar to when the original Iron Man jump-started the ultra-successful Marvel series of films. Wonder Woman sets the correct tone and mood for the DCEU and is the first of the modern DC properties to successfully establish the direction the comic book company was engaging in. It's dark, its gritty, doesn't have much time for jokes, even if we saw plenty of them in the first two acts.
Gal Gadot is absolutely perfect as Wonder Woman. Whatever complaints you may have had about her should be diminished off of the face of the earth because she gave the role life, personality, a sense of wonderment, a layer of feminist power, and the exotic flavor to truly separate her from the rest of the characters in World War 1 Europe. She has great chemistry with everyone around her, especially Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, the WW1 spy that accidentally stumbles upon the hidden world of Themyscira. Trevor's initial appearance allows the plot to move from Diana's hometown to wartorn England, where she wants to find the source of the war and end it as soon as possible using her warrior skillset, determination, and desire to make the world good again. Of course, with war, there is no easy answer, there is no person to point to, which contradicts Princess Diana's viewpoints of the way the world works.
Not sure how Patty Jenkins, a great but quiet director, wound up with the director's chair since she isn't as big a name in Hollywood. Nonetheless, she does a great job with Wonder Woman by spending time with the characters, allowing us to get to know everyone, and showcasing the horrors and consequences of war to complicate a simple plot. Then we have the feminist empowerment imagery and the well-designed action sequences that make up for the budget that isn't quite as high as that of the Marvel blockbusters. The village battle sequence especially is a delight. The final act however behaves a bit much like Marvel when it could have behaved more like the grounded Dark Knight in terms of content and execution (the villain should have been handled differently, common theme in recent comic book films), but it won't ruin the overall experience in the least bit.
Wonder Woman connects better with the audience than the modern Batman and modern Superman. Chalk that up to Snyder and the subpar writing team, but Wonder Woman just might wind up being the new face of the DCEU because of Gadot and the way she has handled the character. This is the one branch of the franchise that needs to be protected from weak sequels and weak decision-making towards the character's future. They have something great here, about as strong as Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man portrayal. I beg they don't mess this up, as Wonder Woman is the best-written and performed cinematic female superhero since Elastigirl from The Incredibles.
We finally have a DC movie on par with Marvel. Even though Wonder Woman imitated Marvel a bit too much in the climax, this is still a step in the right direction. Jenkins, Gadot (especially), Pine, Allen Heinberg (wrote the script), and the rest of the cast should be proud for striking the right combination between comic book mayhem and great emotional depth to allow us to care for the cast. I am silently begging that DC and Snyder doesn't mess this up, even though the track record would say otherwise. Wonder Woman is a long-awaited empowering delight, and hopefully a sign of more great DC-related works to come.