Review – Wonder Woman

After the mediocre Man of Steel (2013) and the abysmal double-feature of Batman v. Superman (2016) and Suicide Squad (2016), we finally have our first successful film in the DCEU with Wonder Woman.  This movie is triumph.  A game-changer that features spectacular visuals, exhilarating action, deep themes, top-notch direction, and a star-making performance, resulting in the best comic book movie since The Avengers (2012).

Wonder Woman tells the story of Diana (Gal Gadot), princess of the Amazons, who is being trained to be an unconquerable warrior, while being raised on a sheltered island paradise of Themyscira.  When American pilot Steve Trevors (Chris Pine) crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers and her true destiny.

Wonder Woman is unlike any DCEU movie before in that it does every single thing right.  The previous DCEU movies were dark and gloomy in tone, bloated in story, and empty in themes and character development.  Wonder Woman succeeds in all of these aspects and succeeds at the highest level.  The tone is reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, where it is dark and exciting, yet also has scenes of sweetness and humor that guide the movie during the low-action times.  There is a scene in the film where Diana and Steve are on a boat to England and discuss happenings in the modern world and start discussing relationships and sex and it is one of the best scenes in the whole movie. The actors have great chemistry, the conversation is funny and sweet, and you learn more about the characters in that one scene that we learned about any character in all of Batman v. Superman or Suicide Squad.

This is a movie that is big in scale, but the story is a concise one and as pure of an origin film as there is.  We are given a full backstory on Diana’s life on her secluded island and her warrior training and then smoothly transition her into the war and seeing her grow into her powers.  Director Patty Jenkins makes sure we know our hero and that we grow with our hero so that we get a fully realized character that we can sympathize and empathize with throughout the entire movie while also giving us themes of humanity, hope, and honor.  It also helps that Gal Gadot gives a star-making performance as our titular character.  She owns this movie, showing Diana’s vulnerability, determination, and naivety and taking us on this journey and flexing her badass action chips.  This is the biggest performance of 2017 thus far.

Wonder Woman is also filled with great filmmaking and action.  Jenkins knows how to shoot a film and how to set up an action scene.  From the bright, beautiful island paradise of Themyscira to the ashy, war-ridden London, everything looks stunning.  The action sequences are slick and exciting, perfectly shot and edited with excellent use of slow motion.  There were a number of scenes that would have warranted a round of applause had this not been a public screening, but two in particular stood out.  There is a warehouse fight where Wonder Woman takes out a number of German solders by herself and it is just as badass, if not more, than watching Batman clear house in Batman v. Superman.  But there is one scene that is easily one of the best scenes of 2017.  Diana, Steve, and a few other solders set off on a mission crossing their war-torn land.  While traveling through the bunkers, Diana decides it is time to take action and save the solders and the people of this village.  Diana takes her coat off, puts on her golden headband and walks into the middle of no man’s land, deflecting gun fire and allowing the solders to overtake enemy territory.  This is the first time we really Diana become Wonder Woman, donning the red and blue outfit while showing us her powers for the betterment of men.  I got goosebumps watching this scene and it is one that will become the most iconic scene we will ever see from Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman is not only a great DCEU movie, it is a great movie.  With its star-making performance from Gal Gadot, impeccable filmmaking, great story telling, and relevant themes, Wonder Woman is everything you want in a movie.  This is a giant leap forward for the comic book genre, giving the DCEU a string of hope and also giving us an incredibly successful, female-led comic book film.  It is one of the best comic book movies I have ever seen and one of the very, very best movies of 2017.

MY RATING – 4/4

Did you see Wonder Woman?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.