Wonder-fully making DCU seem relevant after all

Rating: 8/10 (16 August 2018)

This film is a modern origin movie in the DC Comics universe which brings to screen Gal Gadot as the titular character of Wonder Woman. Living and trained by the Amazonians, a tribe of woman hidden away from civilization on the island of Themyscira, Diana - princess to the Amazonians, is finding her place in the world. In her mind she has lots of questions about her origins and her path in life. One day a male pilot, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), crashes on the island shores. He tells stories of a massive conflict raging across the world, which the Amazonians are oblivious of. Diana decides that she want to help, taking what she needs she leaves with the Steve, much to the disappointment of the Amazonians. On her journey she encounters civilization for the first time and sees the travesties of man, a world war in all its gory glory. She feels that the war has been orchestrated by higher powers, so while fighting for humanity and discovering herself and her powers, she's also trying to uncover the source of evil driving humanity to the mass conflict of war.
Directed by Patty Jenkins and written by Zack Synder this film is one of the gems in DC's sorry attempt to rival Marvel as a big player in the comic book to film franchises - sorry, but only a few DC film's found a level of creditability on screen. Set at the end of World War 1, thematically things were great, costumes seemed right, technology seemed right - it even felt like bleak and smoggy which makes the film feel as though it fits its time and place. The score was passionate and driving and fit the film well - to truly have a great superhero they need to have a theme, and Wonder Woman has one that stands up for itself well. The choreography was decent, a lot of the fighting felt like a ballet at times and it was visually please. The pace of the film was a bit cut and paste, long journeys seemed to happen within seconds with no transitioning - but a younger audience wouldn't be put off. The plot isn't really that complex and there are times when it feels like events of the first Henry Carvill Superman are mirrored in this film, down to the boss fight at the end. I think the acting was good, Gal Gadot - she was believable, naive, fierce - and everything you'd need throughout the film (albeit she occasionally adopted a superhero pose too often - maybe to remind people that she was a super). Chris Pine's Steve Trevor was the best character on-screen, he delivered depth and charm. My main issue was to do with the bad guys - the German's seemed very comical at times, rather than the scourge of the world. Dr Maru (Elena Anaya) could have been soo much more but ended up being a one dimensional baddy which seemed to be placed just to give the film a focal point. On to Ares (David Thewlis), where do we start - this is possibly a criticism of all the DCU films so far, like them Ares was a mess of CGI. Looking at him on screen hurt my senses - it was a let-down to have him as the linchpin to the evil in the film, he could have been soo much more. Honestly it looks like the Ares character was taken straight from a Playstation game, rather than something that had been added to the film on his own merit.
All in all, I enjoyed the film. It was refreshing to have a strong female superhero as the lead. I think that from all the recent DCU films (I'm not counting early Superman, Green Lantern, or Batman films - or even Christopher Nolan Batman films), this has to be one of the best put out. It's a decent platform for them to get stronger and stronger. This is a good action film, good fantasy film, and film that can stand on its own should the viewer not be a fan of comics or other DC films. 8 out of 10