Best DC since Batman SPOILERS

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2017)

There were several reviewer who intimated this movie was the best comic book movie. Gosh, please don't go see it thinking that. It is a GREAT movie, but it doesn't compare to Logan or Dark Knight. Think "Thor" level, I guess, without Loki. Logan and Dark Knight transcended the genre, and this movie does not.
The plot is non-essential, I'm sorry to say. World at war, and all. They picked WWI so as not not mimic Capt America TOO much (though you can switch Cpt America and Peggy Carter and pretty much get WW and Trevor). It is a coming to age story, and is done reasonably well. There is some secret about WW being a living weapon, but frankly we never find out much about the secret through the movie, so it much not have been great.
There are a few great action parts - the action scenes for the most part pretty good - clean, not confusing (not Michael Bay). There is a great leap from Thymiscara to Europe in her abilities, and not much of an explanation. The fight with Aries was normal DC disappointment. A lot of dramatic jumping, which is at least new.
HUGE Wonderwoman fan here, so this movie was going to get an 8 just for picking Gal Gadot. What a great choice! I do not believe her character could have been done better. She has the international flavor, the ancient world look, and has a naivety and sense of hope about that world that makes the rest of the movie better. Other than Gal Gadot, there is one outstanding performance and a few interesting ones. Lucy Davis was astonishing, folk. She was Steve Trevor's assistant. Every scene she had was lifted. Young Diana was played well enough. Sameer was wonderfully played - way to elevate a small part! He was funny enough, interesting, and decently acted. Charlie was really well played - would have like to know more about him, but DC doesn't like characterizations and fullness. "The Chief" - he was just there to make Chris Pine look bad, I guess. Smoke signals? FREAKING SMOKE SIGNALS? The Amazons were throw away characters, which was not fair. They could have had internal squabbling or betrayal or something interesting.
There were a few incredibly good parts about the story. The scene in the cave - well that was funny. Not great, but funny. The dressing scenes in London were great (Etta did that). The dancing scene in the town - wow. Just wow. If quality of directing and the lightness of touch in that scene had pervaded the movie, this movie would have transcended the genre.
The rest of the movie is not great, folk, though it was entertaining. WW never got close to hurt, though she was not invincible. Moving onto the battlefield was useless CGI. The castle scene - WW med Ludendorff - was just weak. Pine as a spy was as subtle as a machete, which is strange as he has played spies before.
Other than the Batman 3, DC has a bad track record with characterization, and other than WW, this is no different. Chris Pine is a little flat as Steve Trevor - I have seen him better. At the end, you couldn't hear him speak, and you realized that his dialogue was never that important throughout the movie. His death (almost the same as Cpt America, which this movie copies faithfully) had none of the drama and deftness of Cpt America's crash scene.
Danny Houston/Ludendorff had a career low here. Nothing good about his performance, nothing good about his characterization. He was supposed to be a red herring, and the plot about him and his acting was so bad that you knew he was a red herring instantly. His death scene was pitiful.
Anyone NOT know that Sir Patrick was Aries? Seriously? From the first minute he spoke? If you weren't sure, by the time Ludendorff had his 3rd or so scene, it was obvious. What a waste of an incredible actor. You suit up Sir Patrick in armor? How did he get there, anyway? While we can assume a God can move quickly, I usually like better tie ins. His acting ALMOST made up for the bad writing, but he should have been menacing or crazy or intense, and was none of those.
There is some poison woman (Dr. Maru) with a strange face plate that is needlessly thrown in for some dramatic need I cannot ascertain. Not sure what happened to her, and definitely didn't have enough invested to care.
All in all, I will probably pay to see it again just for Gal Gadot. If the plot had been tighter, and there were thicker characterizations, this would have been up there with the three Batman movies. Think about the acting in FURY, folk, and think about how good this could have been if each of the minor characters were given fullness. DC is getting good actors, no denying that. As it is, this movie is an impressive move forward for DC, but it is a reminder AGAIN that they need to get better writers.