*Directed by Patty Jenkins
*Starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Lucy Davis, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ewen Bremner, and Eugene Brave Rock
The Plot: From a faraway island called Themyscira inhabited only by women, a determined young warrior named Diana leaves home and joins an American spy to fight in the time of World War I in hopes to destroy the enemy's leader in order to end said war, as prophesied from a Greek myth which would then bring about a peaceful balance throughout the world.
Unlike most people I'm actually on the bandwagon of people who enjoyed the movies in the DC Extended Universe. I don't mind Warner Bros at all bringing about the whole shared universe franchise deal because I've liked the films they had going to have them all connected. Sure, they might be playing catch up to be like Marvel, but the way in which they're releasing their stuff and telling their stories is different than what Marvel puts out. I actually really commend them in that regard and while I liked Man of Steel, didn't really like Batman V Superman until the Ultimate Cut and then kinda loved Suicide Squad there still wasn't that film in the franchise that really blew my socks off. Now I can finally say Wonder Woman is that film because I really loved this movie!
After seeing this movie I would not mind Patty Jenkins directing every comic book movie in the world. Her vision telling the story of Diana was utterly fantastic and that she didn't just make another glossy comic book movie where everything works out perfectly and the hero/heroine saves the day. The way she just executes that inner emotion of this heroine's journey was perfect and really made Diana such a great lead character you cared about and could really latch onto. Speaking of Diana, Gal Gadot actually gave a really good performance as this character and on top of such great execution in terms of directing and great writing she gave a lot to her character's personality to make you really feel a deep connection to her as a person and you could really understand her motivations.
Of course, as she proved in Batman V Superman she really had the action chops and in this film it's no different. She completely owns this character on screen when she's bringing out the warrior persona, but what's also behind why she's a warrior, her just as a person, was just as strong. She was able to carry this film and not just be strong as a lead heroine inside the action, but outside the action as well. Speaking of action scenes, every battle scene was directed beautifully with really great stunt choreography and camerawork. They were orchestrated in the finest fashion that on top of a compelling story I could also be invested in the action scenes stringing the story together.
I mention how strong Diana was as a character, but even the side characters she was with on this journey were incredibly well balanced as well. I love Chris Pine and think he's a very underrated actor nowadays and I really liked the character he portrayed in Steve Trevor. He was very charismatic and motivated like Diana, but in his own right. I really enjoyed seeing the chemistry these characters had together and it really could've been easy to have their romance be so one note, but for the context of the entire film I thought that aspect worked very well. Steve Trevor's small band of military allies were fun characters, too, in Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui), Charlie (Ewen Bremner) and The Chief (Eugene Brave Rock).
I'm glad they actually fleshed these characters out a bit and not necessarily a whole lot of back story to make you feel for them, but just enough information to get who they are across. As opposed to the small military band of characters in Captain America: The First Avenger who joined Cap and Bucky, which for the record is a film I really enjoy, I wish we got to know the characters a little more, but they were just fun to watch and likable and that was it. I was fine with how they handled them in that movie, but I liked this time around that there was more a connection to these characters beside them being really fun and likable.
I also really loved the mythos behind the Amazons and found that aspect to be very interesting on top of the historical aspect. I thought the aspects bringing me into that fantasy world with the various set pieces and costume design were pitch perfect. The characters in Hippolyta (Connie Neilsen) and Antiope (Robin Wright) were also very compelling mentor characters for Diana. I loved the importance they served for the story in order for Diana to got through with her hero's journey.
The score was also fantastic and the theme they introduced for Wonder Woman in Batman V Superman was incorporated extraordinarily well this time around. I couldn't have been more happier with the turn out. Not to mention the villain they utilized in this film, whom I will not spoil, was used perfectly. It could've been easy for me to judge how that aspect would've ended, but the way the film just snuck up on me and gave me something that's not like your typical comic book film is something highly commendable.
There is really not one issue I disliked about this movie, other than one minor nitpick from a filmmaking perspective. There was a battle scene from early on in the film that I thought looked great, but the aspect that took me out a little bit was that there were shots going at a higher shutter speed than others. It wasn't necessarily frame rate, like the motion looked smoother in some shots than others that had really fast paced motion. It was a little distracting for me, but other than that I had a tremendous time watching such a great standalone film in Wonder Woman. Patty Jenkins absolutely knocks it out of the park directing with Gal Gadot doing such fabulous work carrying this film as the main lead.
Verdict: A
If Spider-Man Homecoming, Thor Ragnarok and Justice League are all super amazing, this could be the BEST year for superhero comic book movies in my personal opinion. Everyone loved Logan, I really dug Lego Batman and I know not everyone was on the same page as me, but I thought Guardians 2 was flawless. If this streak keeps up, this'll be my new favorite year for superhero movies period. Cannot wait to see Wonder Woman again because this was a superhero origin story done right once again. These aren't great superhero movies I've seen all year, but great movies I've seen all year and I can definitely see why critics think so.
Next plans for my blog are hopefully a review for The Mummy starring Tom Cruise next weekend and in preparation for Transformers The Last Knight I have a Transformers Retrospective in the works because...I can. In all seriousness it's about intelligent discussion about cinema and that's what I love to give you guys. For more updates be sure to follow me in the social media links below:
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Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this review and as always be sure to see some movies and all that good stuff.
Take care. :-)
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