Wonder Woman Review

The story for Wonder Woman could have been confusing. It also could have been a long film with too many plot details or a film where certain scenes appeared to be copied and pasted to move the plot along.

Thankfully, the film didn't have any of the above mentioned.

Leading up to its release, many insiders believed Wonder Woman had to be the film to turn the DC Extended Universe around. After Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad failed to please the critics, there seemed to be a panic at DC as to whether or not the DC Extended Universe could succeed on the big screen. Marvel has clearly beaten DC to the punch in that regards and Wonder Woman seemed to be dubbed as the film that could turn things around.

Woman Woman not only saves the DC Extended Universe but is also one of the best superhero films to have graced the big screen since the genre exploded in the early 2000s.

Unlike a couple of its predecessors, Wonder Woman keeps the story basic and doesn't spend a good portion of the film building the backstory. Batman vs Superman, Man of Steel, and Suicide Squad all spent lots of time building the backstory to the point it seemed like each film tried to jam in too much.

With Wonder Woman, key points to the story are mentioned in a way to help move the plot in a timely fashion. Unlike Man of Steel, viewers never sit for a long period of time wondering when key action scenes are going to occur or wonder where the plot is going. Wonder Woman even incorporates parts of Greek mythology into the plot but it is done to provide enough knowledge for viewers to understand key points of the plot later on. Most of the backstories mentioned only take five minutes of the film to explain and keeps the plot moving.

Director Patty Jenkins approach to making the story move quickly and her use of humor is a refreshing approach. As mentioned before, Jenkins keeps the story easy to follow and unlike some of the previous films in the DC Extended Universe, there is a lot of humor and comic relief. This makes the film enjoyable and even helps with character development along the way.

Gal Gadot (Diana Prince - Wonder Woman) and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) have incredible on-screen chemistry. In the film, Diana is an Amazon on an island called Themyscira, which only has female inhabitants. Diana knows men exist but the first time she sees a man in person is when Steve Trevor's plane crashes in the waters of Themyscira. Having never been off the island before, Diana is curious about Trevor's life off the island and it leads to a lot of humorous scenes throughout the film.

Gadot does a great job playing a character that is innocent, curious about another world, and wanting to help others. Her on-screen chemistry with Pine really help build the character development between the characters of Diana and Steve Trevor. Pine manages to make Trevor's character polite and patient as he tries to describe to Diana what is going on with World War I (the time the film takes place). The viewers never feel as if Trevor talks down to Diana or treats her as if she is dumb. Several scenes between Diana and Trevor really develop both their characters and it becomes apparent the two start to care about one another.

Other great performances in the film come from Danny Huston (Ludendorff), Lucy Davis (Etta - Steve Trevor's secretary), Robin Wright (Antiope), and David Thewlis (Sir Patrick). Davis and Wright both come off as being believable with the characters they play and Huston and Thewlis's past experiences with similar films helps bring their characters to life. Huston played William Stryker in Wolverine: Origins and Thewlis's experience in the Harry Potter franchise as well as Dragonheart helps bring his character to the screen as well.

Wonder Woman not only saves the DC Extended Universe but is one of the best superhero films to come out within the past 17 years. Going and seeing it is worth the time and money.