One of the few good things to come out of 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice was Gal Gadot’s performance of Diana/ Wonder Woman. It was of no shock to anyone when it was announced that she would be getting her own movie to further delve into the character and set up DC’s cinematic Universe. With the success of Man Of Steel in 2013, and the cinematic messes that were Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad in 2016, there was alot of pressure riding on Wonder Woman to be a success and breathe life back into DC’s universe. Fortunately Director Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot are more than up to the challenge. Taking place long before the events on BvS, Wonder Woman shows how Diana came to be, and her journey to becoming one of the most deadly warriors, as well as showcasing her home of Themyscira in the movies first third.

When spy Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) crashes on a mysterious island paradise, and the Amazons experience a little of the horrors mans world is going through, Diana is determined to take Steve back to the world and help him stop The god of War, Ares from continuing to destroy the world. The movie utilizes the World War 1 setting well, putting Ares in charge of starting the conflict, fusing fact and fiction very well, and keeping it at times grounded in realism; something past DC films have had trouble with. Gal Gadot gets to further dive into the persona of Diana, showing her earliest interactions with her fellow amazons as well as the outside world, giving the film a little bit of humor to play off with her ignorance of how the world works and what is and isn’t acceptable. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor delivers his best work since his break out performance as James Kirk in 2009’s Star Trek. His and Gadot have great chemistry and their relationship carries the movie and makes an almost 2 and a half hour movie breeze by. Danny Huston and Elena Anaya play the movies villains, Ludendorff and Dr. Maru. As far as comic book movies go, they’re a tad above average, giving them grounded and realistic motives, leading the movies equivalent of Nazis. The movie also works better than previous DC entries simply because it doesn’t bite off more than it can chew and focuses on a straight forward narrative and stays on track, without trying into introduce too much or branch off.

The supporting cast including Said Taghmaoui, Ewan Bremner, and Eugene Brave Rock as Steves crew all add a large amount of diversity in an already stand out picture. The musical score composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams is extremely effective, being as stand-out ish as a John Williams score. Wonder Woman being the first female led comic book movie, it is already being hit with high amounts of praise that it deserves. The film, as excellent as it is, is not without flaws. As with the last DC entries, the CGI is off and looks silly when used in the action scenes, the final scene in particular looking not terrible, but noticeable CG that is hard to ignore. CGI being the only really standout and universal complaint, if a little more time were spent on it post production, the movie would be near flawless. Wonder Woman blazes the female led superhero movie trail, and still manages to be a cut above nearly anything DC has put out and even some recent Marvel Studios productons, proving that Patty Jenkins is a new heavy weight in the directors chair, and with a little time and care put into future productions, DC could be making all their movies with the same quality as they did with Wonder Woman.

9 out of 10.

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