Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman's start as an iconic heroine in DC comics started in 1941 and has been a cultural mainstay in the following years. Her portrayal in non-comic media has mostly been in animation with one notable live action portrayal by Lynda Carter from 1975-1979. From the old classic Super Friends cartoon to the modern animated shows such as Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, her core background has been maintained while being adapted in different manners for the story at hand. An effort has been made in cinema by Warner Bros to launch a DC Extended Universe to create a live action environment for characters beyond Batman to get their live action movie treatment, though the results have been divisive to say the least. Wonder Woman made an intriguing impression in her first film debut in BvS (despite being there for only 15 minutes of screen time) and that brings us here. It also goes to mentioning that the female lead superhero movies in the past have been embarrassingly terrible. The trailers demonstrated a good look of what's to come as well as bringing in the hype train. The reviews for the film from my sources  have been very positive to the point where I'm pretty excited for it. I entered the theater ready to see how the DCEU would rebound itself and I left the theater very satisfied with an ideal experience along with this type of movie that the studio should be aiming for in their future projects.

Plot: The plot follows the origin story of Wonder Woman where she's raised on her Amazon island of Themyscira and venturing out to stop World War I after learning about it from a crashed pilot. The story carries elements of archetypes such as coming of age and fish out of water from Thor and performs them even better as our optimistic heroine is exposed to the world outside of her island. There's a special cheesy that's more than welcome here and is balanced with an effective serious story involving the war at hand. It's fascinating to see how our main protagonist is affected by the harsh realities that contrast from what she would have expected as she moves forward in her adventure. Nothing is sugarcoated in the WWI environment and that part is given the respect it deserves. 

There are story elements that could have been handled better involving some of the background information at the beginning as well as the third act in terms of the writing but it doesn't hurt the experience of overall product that much. The story isn't anything original and is fairly predictable but the manner in which it's handled, including doing a better job of handling some of the Captain America story pieces, provides an effective optimistic and heartfelt background for Wonder Woman. Overall while the plot in Wonder Woman isn't breaking new grounds and falls into one of superhero movie plot pitfalls, it's forgivable enough due to the successful building of the main characters evolution with the story at hand as well as respect being given to the harsh natures of war our heroine is exposed to in her mission.

How are the actors? The actors to focus on are Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. Gal gives a good performance in her portrayal of the iconic super heroine in how she interacts with her environment. While there are a few times her line reading could have been better, it's forgivable due to the actress's charisma and emotional delivery she's capable of in quiet subtle moments. Chris does a great job as a well-meaning guy whose witnessed harsh brutal consequences of war, even furthering his drive to end the war. Both of the main leads share great chemistry with each other and have great standout moments to cover both genders working together in a balanced manner instead of being a misguided attempt of making female characters stronger than men (like the failure in Ghostbusters last year). Their interactions with each other helps both of them in their development over their own ideologies.

Action: The action in Wonder Woman is an awesome spectacle to watch. It's paced and choreographed very well with the settings along with the fact that you can actually see what's actually happening instead of it being in a dark setting. It's spread out very well in terms of the locations in where they take place and are pretty thrilling to watch. Once Diana has reached the point of being prepared for combat, it results in a few standout sequences that deserved to be seen. One thing to keep in mind is how powerful she is from this point in time compared to the battle she takes part in against Doomsday in Batman v Superman. There's one special action sequence that takes place in the second half to keep an eye out for that's one of the best scenes of the movie and one of the best moments in the DCEU. Overall the action in Wonder Woman doesn't disappoint and helps provide another layer of excitement in the film's success for the DCEU.

Overall Consensus: While Wonder Woman isn't breaking new ground, it's a wonderful entertaining experience through a simple but effective story supported by strong lead performances, great action set pieces, and a balance of humor with beautiful quiet moments. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿

Reasons to watch it: You like the iconic super heroine. You like Gal Gadot and/or Chris Pine. You like good DC superhero movies that are better than most of the MCU movies. You want to see the DCEU give a successful movie after divisive results in the past 3 movies. You want to see a good female lead superhero movie. You like movies that balance both genders very well. You and/or your significant other want to see an entertaining film for date night. You want to see the awesome action involved with Wonder Woman, though if you're planning on bringing children, keep in mind it gets pretty violent later on. You want to see how funny and creative it can be with its characters as well as the environment. You got hyped by the trailers and want to see the movie deliver on its premise. You don't mind movies that use a number of slow-motion moments. You want to see one of the great DC movies in a long while since The Dark Knight. You like movies where an iconic female character isn't portrayed as a typical Mary Sue. You like movies that take place in WWI that doesn't sugarcoat the harsh details of war.

Reasons to avoid it: You don't like the iconic character. You don't like any of the aforementioned characters. You don't like superhero movies. You don't like movies with a number of slow-motion moments. You don't like movies that take place in WWI. You don't like superhero movies that get pretty violent in the action scenes.