Wonder Woman Review

Wonder Woman has been in comics for almost eighty years now. While she's had several interpretations in both comics and television, up until now, she's never had a live action film.

Last year, Gal Gadot played Diana in Batman vs. Superman. She was one of the few things I enjoyed about that film (read my review for more details). I was intensely looking forward to watching Wonder Woman this year! However, just like with many of us, I've been burned by the last three DC movies. Will DC finally make a good film in their expanded universe?

Main Characters:

The characters are handled well here. We learn all about Diana's origin, and while I'm normally not a fan of origins, this movie did a great job of holding your interest.

Gal Gadot now has more time to flesh out Diana and does an excellent job with her! Not only does she convince you of how tough she is under pressure, but she also shows her empathy and compassion for humans all throughout the movie. This is something that people often forget about her, it's that while she was always a warrior, she was also always a diplomat and willing to help others.

Chris Pine plays Steve Trevor, and I did like him here. This was a tricky character to pull off, because he's often seen as annoying in both comics and shows. Here, comes across as a charismatic man of action. Personally, I could do without the romance between him and Diana, but it doesn't hurt the film.

Ares is a one that I'm a little mixed on. On one hand, I like the actor that played him and how he was presented. On the the other, I think he was a little shoved in at the last minute and while his fight was cool, it reminded me too much of the Doomsday fight from BvS. Even though the "twist" may have been a little obvious, you can tell they wanted to do something different and they put sincere effort into him. Out of the recent villains that we've had, he's the best one and though he has room for improvement; it shows that DC is going in the right direction for their villains.

Side Characters:

There are some pretty cool side characters here with Etta Candy, Dr. Poison, and Steve's team. I just wish that Etta and Dr. Poison had more things to do in the film. I loved every time they were on screen, just wish there was a little more of it.

Final Thoughts:

It's certainly the best of the DC Expanded Universe so far and the best DC film since Dark Knight. It gives me a glimmer of hope that DC could learn from this example and put this type of effort in future projects. It's entertaining, worth watching multiple times, well paced, and well acted. It has some hiccups, but they're minor. This is a movie that I recommend and you won't be disappointed by.

Next Time:

Spider-Man Homecoming.