The Goddess of Love: a Perfect response to Batman v Superman

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2017)

"Men are still good." said by Bruce Wayne in the funeral of Clark Kent (aka Superman). The sacrifice of Superman changes Batman, not only to remind him what a hero should be, but there is still good in mankind. One of the most controversial things about BvS is Batman's brutality towards the criminals. He was living in anger, seeking vengeance from Superman for the loss of his loved ones. The Batman we saw in BvS was different from his classic image. He was hopeless, powerless, mad, and angry, because he lost the fundamental nature of the humankind: love.
While BvS is a journey of Batman to rediscover hope and love, Wonder Woman is a story emphasising the importance of love and hope not only in the DC Extended Universe, but also in the mankind. Facing the loss of their love, Diana chose a very different approach from Batman. The later chose to give up love and turn to vengeance, so he could blame someone else for his guilt of being powerless in saving his family and friends. Diana did not choose the same option. From her beloved Steve Trevor, she learned that the darkness of mankind was not anyone's responsibility – men were born in this way. She could not blame Ares for the war. Men chose their own war, and that was their responsibility. However, there are both darkness and light in man. Not every bad person is evil, a sniper would fear to take a shot to his enemy, and a smuggler looking for profit would reject the money from the people he saved. That is the lesson Diana learned in the No Man's Land: When there is light, there must be shadow. What truly influences their choices, is what they believe in, and that is where love is needed. Without love, hatred would bring people into slaughter, to an endless loop with fight and vengeance. This is how Batman failed to execute justice in BvS when he was chasing after Superman. But with love, the acceptance of the flaws in mankind, and the belief in goodness of man, a better world is possible to be achieved. Although fights are still inevitable, hope is once again arose from love. This is what Diana believes in: the possibility of human to be good, and that is love. Here, Diana's choice echoes with Bruce's realisation after Superman's death – "Men are still good".
The different choices made by Diana and Batman has resulted in a different story, so as the reception of their movies. While BvS was intended to be the darkest chapter of the trilogy (Man of Steel, BvS, and Justice League), it was criticised for the deconstruction of characters and the lack of hope for a superhero (Civil War is basically the same, but the different approach of that movie fooled the audiences and critics to get away from this criticism). In contrast, Wonder Woman brings back the core value of the "superhero movies": love and hope. This is why it received a lot more positive receptions from the critics even though technically BvS told a better and deeper story.
Back to the movie, Diana's decision helped her to defeat Ares, and temporarily brought the world in to peace (we all know there was a better sequel called WWII), which was relatively a more hopeful ending. On the other hand, Batman's choice resulted in the death of Superman (a tragedy as bad as the receptions of the movie). The loss of the most powerful guardian of the planet proved how wrong Batman's decision was to hunt down the Man of Steel. His jealously and rage towards the hero did not only expose Earth to a greater danger, but also took away the love from the family and friends of the boy from Smallville, just the same as how he lost his family. Realising all the mistakes he made, Batman chooses to believe in something else this time: hope. "I failed him in life, I won't fail him in death." Batman's redemption makes him determined to ask Wonder Woman for help, and bring the Justice League together, against the upcoming threat that no one else can stop on his/her own. This is how we are going to see the hero we are familiar with in the Justice League movie, where the true Dark Knight returns.
"A hundred years ago I walked away from mankind; from a century of horrors... Men made a world where standing together is impossible."
"Men are still good. We fight, we kill, we betray one another, but we can rebuild. We can do better. We will. We have to."
Both stories are the journeys of the two heroes finding love and hope in the crazy world. While Wonder Woman found love in humankind, she is cynical about the unity of humans. From all the tragedies Batman went through, he once again believes in hope, and is trying his best to unite the world by forming the Justice League. The story of Wonder Woman echoes with BvS, where the complement makes both movies better. Hopefully there will be a conclusion in Justice League that echoes to the theme of all previous movies, and makes the DC Extended Universe a better franchise. It is still an on-going journey for the heroes to learn about the true nature of mankind, but one thing is certain about what these heroes believe in now: No matter how much darkness lives within mankind, men are still good.