Wonder Woman

I hold that Man of Steel was a decent movie, although it changes Superman dramatically – from a man of hope to a man of angst. Batman v Superman, the Ultimate Edition cut, is a decent movie – though it was drab, dour and dark to the point of making audiences depressed. Yes, there’s also Suicide Squad which was OK, but was a mess. All three of these first entries into the new DC movie universe come with that “but” stipulation – “it’s good, but…”, “it’s OK, but…”

Wonder Woman, I can say for certain is an excellent movie.

This is a fun movie that is laced with well-placed humor and characters that are let free to develop and speak like humans. Wonder Woman, the film and the character, is optimistic, full of hope and a belief that man is more than what we are – that we can be better.

I am so happy that DC did not push for this film to be more “darker” or for it to be “gritty”. That is not Wonder Woman, what we get in this movie is joyful, colorful and hopeful. This is Wonder Woman and this is what makes the film so good.

Gal Gadot embraces her role as Wonder Woman and there can be no other for this role. She is perfectly cast and does a great job with the role. Chris Pine is sly and charming onscreen and brings life to his Captain Steve Trevor, he gets some of the funniest and most memorable lines in the film.

The action in the film is stunningly beautiful, yet very brutal. And instead of the action being a nebulous thing that happens for spectacle (like with the first three DC movies), the action in Wonder Woman is intimate to the Wonder Woman character. Unlike Man of Steel where Superman is fighting aliens from destroying Earth; or Batman v Superman where they are fighting aliens from destroying Earth; or Suicide Squad where they are fighting demons from (yes, you guessed it) destroying Earth… Wonder Woman is fighting battles that are personal, close and relatable. She saves a village and she fights to stop a world war.

Patty Jenkins masterfully puts together a movie that is at once entertaining and poignant. Kudos to her for making Wonder Woman one of my favorite super-hero movies (DC or otherwise).

The score by Rupert Gregson-Williams incorporates Junkie XL’s very memorable theme for Wonder Woman, but makes it his own. It was a decent score and I am looking forward to listening to it when I get my order of it. It is a notch above the unmemorable super-hero scores from Marvel films.

I have come complaints about the film, but they are minor ones. Pine’s character is a British spy, but has no British accent. The supporting characters seem interesting, but were not given time to develop – like the character shown to have PTSD, but that PTSD story was dropped abruptly. The film does run a tad long at 141 minutes, the crazy DC finale fight could have been trimmed and the film would have benefitted from it. Minor complaints for a rather excellent film.

Stop reading this and go see Wonder Woman.