Wonder Woman (2017) - Movie Review

Cast: Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Robin Wright as General Antiope, Danny Huston as General Erich Ludendorff, David Thewlis as Ares, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta and Elena Anaya as Doctor Isabel Maru/Doctor Poison. Directed by Patty Jenkins.

POWER. GRACE. WISDOM. WONDER.

Wonder Woman is the fourth installment in the DC Extended Universe, taking place after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and it is an origin story in which Diana is recollecting/explaining her story to herself. A lot is riding on this movie, some people want this to be a great movie, some want this to be a represent of strong women and there are some in which they want this to save the DCEU and does it deliver, HECK YES!!!!



Now, this is a pretty straightforward movie because it is an origin story. The film starts off with Diana in France and she receives a letter and the photo in which she was trying to obtain in Dawn of Justice. We first see Diana as a young child in Themyscira, the land of the Amazonians, an island mainly with women and in that time Diana wants to become an Amazonian warrior but her mother Queen Hippolyta is against it. However, with General Antiope, she convinces the Queen to allow her to train. Years later, she meets Steve Trevor, a pilot who's plane crashed off the coastline, the very first man in which Diana has ever seen, and he and Diana set out to stop World War I and Ares, the God of War.

If you are worried that you need to watch the other DCEU movies before this one, fear not, you don't really need to but, it does explain certain things in the beginning and end of the movie. Coming into this movie, I was very concerned as to what direction they are going to take this movie, will it be similar to Captain America: The First Avenger, will it have an absurd amount of humour that doesn't really focus on the story etc. And I'm glad they didn't do that. Patty Jenkins really did an amazing job in telling the story of Diana wanting to save the world because she feels it her obligation to do so, this is the chance (done numerous training) that she was waiting for.

You will train her than other on this island. Until she can beat you Antiope.

The first half of the movie is the slow build up of who Diana is, where did she come from and how she enters our world, the world of men, and she arrives in London and she really is a fish out of the water. This is her first time seeing cars, women/men/children in one place and not just women. We get introduced to a couple of the supporting characters in the movie, for instance, Etta Candy, Sameer, Charlie and Chief, and I thought they did a really good job of bringing the humour into the movie. They are not forcing the humour onto us (telling joke after joke) as we've seen with the Marvel Cinematic Universe but, just enough comedic moments to make the audience laugh but, still focus on the story and I like that, a lot. Now granted, those supporting characters don't do much in the movie but, I'm glad they were there.  But, after the No Man's Land scene, which by far was one of the best scenes, that's when the movie starts to pick up people. The fish out of water scenes, the comedy, yeah it's over, time to move forward to the mission.

A fish out of water. Comedic elements felt natural and not forced.

No Man's Land. One of the few actions that you will remember.

The main cast of the movie did a phenomenal job, you can really tell that a lot of care went into this movie and their characters. Almost everyone had a moment to shine and that include the supporting cast. A lot of people were on the fence that Gal Gadot was unfit to become Wonder Woman, claiming she's too skinny, she can't act etc. Well, this movie will shut those haters up because I think she did a great job. She brought the emotional side and her out of touch to the world to her character (she's completely weird when she arrives in London), while at the same time when it came down to the serious moment, she was a badass. But, underneath all that, she shows her humanity to the movie. She wants to help people and she believes that love is the key and she shows compassion to others. She feels pain, loss, love and hope throughout this movie and I thought it was well crafted.

Gal Gadot brings it to this movie. Thank you Zack Snyder for casting her.

And talking again about the comedy, Chris Pine really brought it to this movie, he knew the right time to tell a joke and not have it drag on, it felt natural like any other person in that situation would do. And last but, not least, Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen were great in the movie, especially Robin Wright OMG. In the beach battle scene, she was a demon in the battlefield, clearing guys out like it was nothing. And speaking of the battlefield, the action scenes in this movie were hands down awesome, imagine the warehouse scene with Batman in Dawn of Justice but, multiple that by 3 to 5 times. YEAH, IT'S THAT GOOD.

Robin Wright (middle) was a welcome addition to the movie.

The score during the movie is rememerable

Now with all the positives out of the way, time to move onto the negatives. One of my main issues that I had with the movie were the slow-mos. I really thought that we would not be getting so many slow-mos scenes in the movie, now granted the trailers did show that and I was expecting it but, there were some that felt unnecessary and I think Zack Snyder or someone thought it would be a good idea. Some worked well, while others didn't. So I hope for the sequel they scale it back a bit. Some of the humour didn't land for me personally and that isn't the movie's fault, it's mine because I watched trailers and I knew it was coming. That's why I made a rule to myself to watch only ONE comic book movie trailer.

The movie is more of a coming of age story, than an action movie. It 's actually a very personal story for her, she's just discovering her powers and she doesn't know how to fully utillize them yet. And there is a scene where Diana and Steve are talking about humanity and it had such good dialogue, probably one of my favourite scenes to be honest.

It is our sacred duty to defend the world. And it is what I am going to do.

All in all, Wonder Woman pretty much exceeds expectation. It managed to hit every point in which fans and critics were complaining about with the DCEU. The action sequences were great, the cast and the people behind the movie (Geoff Johns, Zack & Deborah Snyder, Jon Berg etc) were fantastic and Patty Jenkins was the right director for the job. The score/soundtrack is so iconic and that is DCEU strongests aspects, something in which Marvel needs to do. I really can't remember a single character theme, other than Spider-Man's.

I hope Patty Jenkins directs the sequel. I encourage you to see this movie and the screening that I went to, there was a lot of women that showed up for the movie. Almost the same size as men. It goes to show that this was the movie that women wanted. If you are a newcomer to the DCEU, I'm pretty sure that you are going to walk away being happy and I personally can't wait for Justice League. This will be a hard rating to give but, I'm going to give Wonder Woman:

Grade A - Perfect movie in the series or as an individual (Buy it on Blu-Ray on DAY ONE)

So, Wonder Woman, have you seen it and what do you think about it? What was your favorite moment in the movie? Are you excited for Justice League? Do you think this 'saved' the DCEU? Comment below, spread this article around, tell your friends to watch it and follow me on twitter (@dmyxxxx) and I'll see you next time. Later.

P.S. Remember that RUMOUR last year where an ex-employee said that Wonder Woman was a mess and Patty Jenkins responded. Now look at the movie, critically acclaimed and I'm sure it will dominate the box office. It goes to show that you shouldn't trust what the internet says.