Wonder Woman (2017)

Director: Patty Jenkins

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine & Robin Wright

Review Author: Shaun

Rating: 4.5/5 pints

Wonder Woman is finally here to save the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) from the pits of critical lambasting. The first film released under DC head, Geoff Johns, sees Gal Gadot portray Diana, an Amazon princess that lives peacefully on an island inhabited only by women warriors. That is until pilot, Steve Trevor, crashes his plane into the water nearby. After saving him, she learns that the world is at war and she decides to help him in order to fulfill the destiny of her people and restore peace all around the planet.

DC isn’t going through a good time. Marvel continues having huge success with most of their movies and TV shows. while the DCEU keeps giving the fans great disappointments, dating all the way back to Man of Steel. Wonder Woman proves the hype was deserved and is by far the best DC movie since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises!

Gal Gadot is one of the best casting choices ever, she’s one of those few people that make me feel like I can’t watch any other actress portray the role of Wonder Woman. She elevated the movie in a way that I never thought an actor/actress could do, so it’s easy to say that she’s definitely the best achievement of the film.

Chris Pine also gives a great performance and the amazing chemistry between him and Gadot makes me care a lot for the characters. Both are well-developed in an excellent slow-paced first half of the movie, which is an unusual feature having in mind previous comic-to-movie adaptations. It proved very efficient because of all that time spent with the main characters, learning about them and what they believe in. It all makes you really care about them so, when the battle arrives and they’re in danger, it all feels way more emotional. THIS is what DC kept failing at: giving us under-developed characters, with no motivations whatsoever, put them in the middle of a fight and expect the fans to appreciate the excessive CGI and explosions.

Patty Jenkins is a great director and this movie proves it: amazing COLORFUL visuals, the stories feel heartfelt and honest, the comedy is surprisingly on point and the dialogue scenes, especially between Diana and Steve, are compelling and captivating. The soundtrack is epic, especially during the action scenes. The first time Wonder Woman goes into the battlefield (the one shown in the trailer) gave me chills all over my body, it’s just E-P-I-C! Even if CGI is present in almost every single one of the action sequences, it’s mostly well-used and it reached the awesomeness levels that I expected.

As for flaws, there’s one that is common to every single comic-book movie, ever; the villain. Once again, this character is weak (it’s actually more than just one character), with no motivations besides “destruction, yeah, war, yeah, let’s kill everyone, yeah”   All of the clichés are put together into one big disappointment. The main villain, Ares, cements the film going back on itself into its safe space, so to speak. If Ares has stayed a man, the villainous side of him would have been more impactful on the audience, however giving him his armour while staying true to its source material, is also very jarring from its time and place therefore his visual appeal is very weak and will most likely displease fans of the comic books.

The final battle is a little too CGI-heavy and there were some brief moments where it almost looked like a video game. However, due to the fact that I cared so much about the characters, this was just a minor issue. The slow-motion worked well in parts, but it got overused by the end of the movie. Finally, I think that the movie is a tiny bit too long, but I guess every superhero movie nowadays needs to have at least a 2-hour runtime or it’s not worth it for the studios, apparently.

Thankfully, Wonder Woman is the savior that the DCEU needed. It not only exceeded the hype and huge anticipation, but it surpassed everything I expected this movie to be. Wonder Woman is leaps and bounds above the other three entries in the DCEU. With a dramatic setting, a few entertaining action scenes, and a strong supporting cast all working together to tell an inspirational Hero’s Journey, it more than offsets some occasionally uneven acting on Gadot’s part and some shaky technical aspects. The messy third act fight, however, is something that has plagued other superhero movies and is something even Wonder Woman cannot overcome. Overall, Wonder Woman is a win because it successfully tells the story of a woman taking on a war-torn world with the power of love. What’s more heroic than that?