Powerful, Moving, Wonderful

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2017)

After seeing the film twice, I'm sat at my desk writing this review with the Blu-Ray pre-ordered on Amazon and the film's soundtrack blasting through my stereo. My actions here speak louder than the words in this review.
Warner Bros. and DC Comics have released their fourth installment of the DCEU following Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. These previous films all had a mixed reception between critics and audiences, however, with Wonder Woman, this is not the case. Currently sat at a critical and audience score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes this film is being constantly praised, and too right.
The dramatic and comedic tones were perfectly balanced. Such a glaring omission from the previous DC offerings was any real feeling of levity. Jokes were well timed and delivered perfectly. The comedic lines were not out of place or shoved in to appease those looking for a lighter superhero film, but were relevant to the location or event. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine's chemistry was automatic and more convincing than grass being green. The romance wasn't shoved down our necks straight away, the film took it's time to allow the chemistry to flourish and develop.
Even before Wonder Woman, DC films have one shining quality to them, music. There is something to be said for the theme song of this movie which was featured in Batman v Superman as well. Try to hum the theme to the Avengers. How about Captain America? The most recent Spider- man? The majority of people will not be able to do this, as the music to Marvel films are unrecognizable. However, dating back to Christopher Reeves Superman, all DC films (with a few exceptions) have a recognizable theme. Wonder Woman's theme is visceral and will be immediately recognizable after you've heard it. It's featured in key moments of the film, adding to the weight of the already powerful action.
To me, this film was reminiscent to the original Christopher Reeves Superman films from the 70's and 80's. The film was purely dark and gloomy the entire time, it allowed itself to be hopeful and be whimsical.
As this film is set during World War One, we are treated to an astounding scene in No Man's Land where Diana deflects hundreds of bullets with her shield and forges the path for the British soldiers. Her reasons for doing this was to end the suffering of the soldiers and civilians from the German army. On her way, she encountered many injured from battle and those grieving. Steve Trevor, a realist kept reminding Diana that there was nothing she could do to help them, until she reached No Man's Land and proved that an idealist can also prevail. From her courage and determination she was able to save the British soldiers and liberate a small village that was previously under German control. Diana's innocent and loving ideology is the main theme of this film in every scene and is conveyed so convincingly it brought tears to my eyes at many moments.
Diana's reasoning for being at the front-line was to kill Ares (the God of War) who she believed was the cause and reason of this war. During the film, the audience have no certain idea on who Ares is, giving another sense of mystery and intrigue to the film, other than, "we know who the bad guy is, the hero will find him and kill him yay!". When we see Ares we are treated to an oil painting of stunning visual effects and amazing character development. However, I'm not going to spoil the ending, but one criticism would be how many of the dialogue in the final battle from Ares is very cliché, with lines such as, "I will destroy you!". Do not get me wrong, the scene is incredible, but you cannot help but think it is slightly overused in many films.
Wonder Woman balances loving ideology, Greek mythos, warfare and humor in one masterfully crafted package. The film also lacks predictability and does not have a clichéd "Hollywood Ending". Even if you are someone who is not a fan of superhero films, you can easily watch this film and enjoy it fully.
I could go on for pages and pages writing about how amazing this film is, but this is a review, not a nerdy analysis, so go and see the film. I highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone. This is the superhero film that will hopefully set the tone for Justice League and all other upcoming DC Comics films.
Overall Rating: 10/10