Wonder Woman Movie Review

June 2, 2017

The long awaited fourth installment of the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) Wonder Woman hits the theaters this weekend and the lead up to it comes with a lot of anticipation. Now this movie wasn’t widely promoted up until the month before its release yet that still isn’t going to stop people from going. This is a movie that is going to be making not only history but also money regardless of reviews. DC has beaten Marvel to the punch on having a female lead movie in their expanded universe, but theirs will come in 2019 with Captain Marvel which I am sure will be great as well. Now with the mixed reception from DC’s last two films people for the most part were hoping for better from this film, but not expecting much or so it seemed. With that though I want to paraphrase something Kevin Smith said on his podcast, where a huge multimillion-dollar franchise such as the DCEU is like a ship where if it finds itself on the wrong course it will take a bit longer to adjust and see their corrections.

We see those adjustments here in this movie and boy do they improve the quality of the film. The writing overall enhanced the quality of the movie and is a lot better than the previous films in this continuity. It is very obvious that the people at the helm of this movie took their time with the production of this film and also made a great adaptation while honoring the source material. The character interactions are natural and don’t seem forced; the character development was executed very well and I can tell this because I actually cared about the main characters as well as the supporting ones. The pacing of this film is also superior to the previous two films which struggled with lengthy fight scenes, and monotonous dialogue a lot. Beautifully shot by a director (Patty Jenkins) who isn’t known for her action movies, but with this shows us that she was clearly the right choice to direct. One of the visual flaws for me though was that some of the CGI was not of a great quality, now it only happens a few times throughout the movie but it does happen. Another plus is that this movie doesn’t have a skybeam trash in the sky battle for a climax sequence, and overall it just isn’t as dark and grim looking in tone as the other films in DCEU.

In terms of casting they were right on the money with Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) as the protagonist and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) as the supporting character. The chemistry between them is great from their interactions to their comedic sides, it never seemed forced or fake it seems natural. Gal Gadot proves that she was made for this role despite the initial negative comments on how she didn’t have the build to be Wonder Woman, which quickly leaves your mind as you see her shine in this role. The antagonist of the movie is fleshed out and with a clear motive; the antagonist in this case is also linked to the protagonist’s origins. This origin of Wonder Woman is clear and concise, unlike other origin stories that at times feel just overloaded and way too complex. It is as if they try too hard to get it so right that it comes out wrong, but not in this case. The main portion of this film takes place as we know, and was hinted at in Batman v Superman, during World War I. With that being said you may ask yourself if they even tie this origin story with the present day in their universe, they do and they do it well. It is a nicely crafted film that people need to see.

This shows us that the DCEU is now heading in the right direction; I hope they keep this up as this has me looking forward to Justice League. It also shows us that with the right people and the right ideas, they are perfectly capable of making quality films that can rival Marvel movies. It is also the first DCEU movie to be certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I would honestly say Wonder Woman could be ranked over some of the movies Marvel has to offer. Please go watch it, take your kids too. This is a film that I will surely watch multiple times.

Also if you felt that I didn’t touch on any plot points or covered any of the story you’re not wrong, I didn’t for a reason. I hate spoilers I hate giving away a story that deserve to be seen so seriously get a ticket to the local theater, go to a drive in with a group just get out and see Wonder Woman because it’s definitely not something you want to miss.