Whether you love or hate the DCEU, this movie is no doubt a smash success! Often called dark, gritty, and bleak, the DCEU offers up their healthiest use of humor, emotion, and action in Wonder Woman! The hype surrounding this movie puts it under a lot of pressure, but no worries, this movie gets the job done.
Gal Gadot was first introduced to audiences in her brief role in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and either hooked fans instantly or kept audiences on the fence. Gadot finally gets her time in the spotlight and she shines bright! Every scene she's in, powerfully executed. The way she turns from anxious warrior to Amazon Goddess is why you should pay to see this movie! Gadot's co-star, Chris Pine, doesn't disappoint either. Steve Trevor adds a lot to each scene he's in and Pine demonstrates how he can hold his own in every scene. Pine and Gadot's chemistry in this movie is one of the highlights as you buy the fact that these two depend on and believe in each other.
The film's plot is a simple one: Find Ares and kill him. Wonder Woman believes that Ares is behind the war, thus if Ares is gone, the war will end. We follow Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, and their team on a quest to stop Danny Huston's General Ludendorff and Elena Anaya's Dr. Poison from giving the enemy an advantage in the war. The pacing in the first half of the movie could be cleaned up a bit, although it needs time to flesh out Diana's character and motivation. The biggest flaw of this movie is the villains. Ludendorff is a laughable villain with no intrigue and Dr. Poison doesn't have enough screen time to enstill a sense of fear in the audience. Ares... Ares is cool when he finally throws down with Wonder Woman at the end, that's all I will say. Keep in mind, this is not a full on action film (Although that No Man's Land battle scene is on par with the Batman Warehouse fight. Might even be better), it's a coming of age story. The battles would have no emotion placed throughout if we didn't feel what Diana was going through. We clearly understand her mission and her desire to rid the world of war.
The DCEU has had a rough time getting on the good side of critics and always leaves fans fighting over which movie was great, mediocre, or down right awful. I can honestly say, Wonder Woman should be the first entry in the DCEU to hold a positive outcome for fans and critics alike! Wonder Woman was funny when it needed to be funny, it was emotional when it needed to be emotional, and it will get you humming that theme song every time Wonder Woman throws down! I give Wonder Woman an 8.9/10