I have been disappointed in how the DCU has been rolling out. “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (’16) was more like the Yawn of Justice. “Suicide Squad” (’16) was better but not enough to build a movie franchise on. These misses do not instill confidence for the franchise, with the pending release of Justice League all eyes are on “Wonder Woman” to see if there are hopes for the future. I absolutely love this film and hope and pray it’s a turning point. This movie has brought hope that DC Entertainment has finally gotten their act together and can tell a story that gives a new life to a franchise and make it entertaining.
There are some minor changes to her origin story but with every new film we have to look past character choices that a new crew chooses for these characters and look at how it plays as a new interoperation. The director’s (Patty Jenkins) has relatively few projects under her belt. Her first film “Monster” was a hit and she has worked on a few television projects until Wonder Woman. She has proven again that films under her direction as some of the most engaging projects I have seen.
The setting of the WW I is a great backdrop for this version. Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) does a superb job of portraying the two different Diana characters we see if the film. One is older with experiences from a very long life and more self-assured and one that is seeing the outside world for the first time and beams with excitement of a new adventure while fulfilling her destiny. It’s the mark of a good performer to show us stark differences in the same characters journey. She has the attitude and the strength to bring Wonder Woman to the screen.
Only criticism I would have would be a few of the outstanding fight scenes were not as smooth from a CGI standpoint. They blended live action and CGI and sometimes you could see the transition. But that is the only negative I have about the film. Everything else was completely spot on. The balance to story, action and humor was great. The humor in it was well time and in place with the situation. The characters were believable and well liked. They had a wonderful chemistry on screen that was engaging.
This is the movie that should have started us off. It is exactly what we needed to launch a shared DC franchise. The studio needs to make this a new model for the films going forward. It’s nice to see touches of humor and some great color in a hero film. And this proves you can tackle dark subject matter and still provide a vibrant and entraining story. The success of this film makes me wonder where they have been hiding. I have always said that the DC animation studios have always outperformed the live action films in recent years. No more, “Wonder Woman” is here to show us there is still good in the DC Film universe.
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