The movie we need and deserve

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2017)

Directed by Patty Jenkins and starring the amazing Gal Gadot, this film finally delivered what we have been expecting from both DCEU, and superhero films in general, for years. Not only does it have a female superhero as the unchallenged lead character, but it's also a genuinely great film with fantastic characters, an engaging storyline, beautiful action scenes and phenomenal production values.
And this could have gone wrong so easily. Chris Pine could have been made the actual lead character, with Wonder Woman playing a support role in her own title movie. It could have been just as dark and gloomy as the previous DCEU films. It could so easily have been too corny and pandering.
But it's not. Chris Pine is fantastic as the male lead, but this story is about Wonder Woman, and Gadot delivers us one of the best superheros in cinema history. It's so refreshing, almost revolutionary, to see superhero that does good not because she has to, or because she believes she's the only one that can or because she just happened to be there, but because she wants to. Because it's the right thing to do. When you think about it, that's much rarer than you think. There's Captain America. But aside from him, who else? Certainly no one in the DC films. And not all characters can be like that, not all should be like that. But some do.
And that whole ideal permeates the entire film. It's honest and goodhearted. It delivers a straightforward origins story that still has the capacity to talk about the meaning of human life, about responsibility, about corruptibility, about the duality of human morality. It believes that people can do terrible things, but also that they can rise up and stand for what they believe to be right. Its heroine is not some distant god-figure - despite being the only literal god in the DC film canon so far - that flies far above us bringing with her chaos and destruction. Rather she walks amongst us and raises us up to stand next to her.
It even has colours in it. Actual vibrant colours. And the fight scenes are some of the best I've ever see. The characters have depth and forge actual bonds between one another. It's even funny. Actually funny. I laughed multiple times throughout the film.
And yes, the end battle is weaker than the rest of the film. Noticeably so. But it is preceded by a great twist, looks pretty cool and the final ending after that is heartwarming. But the rest of the film is so good that I can forgive that one scene.
I healed a little bit inside as I watched this film. It is an honest film, with no trickery, no wise-cracking at the audience, no emotional manipulation. It isn't afraid to be called cheesy because it knows that you have to take that risk in order to connect emotionally. And by gods, does it succeed. Easily one of the best superhero films ever made. Please, do yourself a favour.