By Cynthia Ayala

“Before she was Wonder Woman she was Diana, Princess of the Amazons, trained warrior. When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, she leaves home to fight a war to end all wars, discovering her full powers and true destiny.”

    —IMDB

As a comic book fan and reader, I tend to set my standards high, especially for DC because those are the comics I buy. But ever since The Dark Knight, there hasn’t been a decent DC film. Until now. Personally, they either miss the mark on understanding the characters (Harley Quinn being the exception) or lack the humor needed to keep the audience entertained between all the drama and darkness. Wonder Woman doesn’t do that. Wonder Woman gets everything right and let me say this, it was amazing.

The story focuses on the origins of Wonder Woman, a naïve princess who wants to “go to the War,” determined to put an end to it, determined to put an end to Ares. Especially when she meets one Steve Trevor, played by one wonderful Chris Pine. The story and characterization allowed for the story to remain fluid. There were no stagnated pauses of where the story was going, it was clear from the beginning that the movie would end with the end of the war, with Diana fighting Ares. It was a wonderful story because there was hope in it and there was strength and power in Wonder Woman standing up for what she believed in, standing up to fight against the horrors of the war, to save the innocents. That is Wonder Woman, the woman who will do whatever it takes to save the innocents. The movie captures it amazingly. The story evolved over the two hours, it moved forward with astounding precision and beautiful development.

As a story, this film is a winner in the superhero franchise, because it balances the humor against the seriousness to make such an entertaining film. But more than that, the acting and development of the characters are what really makes this film worth the watch because a good story is nothing without the actors and chemistry to bring it to life.

I was always apprehensive of Gal Gadot in this role, but this film has made me a believer. She worked for this role, she brought it to life and exuded all the great traits that make the character wonderful. Gadot understood the role she was inheriting and she gave this performance her all. Then there was Chris Pine who was simply amazing. He had the charm to carry the role and the chemistry with Gadot to make the dynamic between them more powerful and entertaining to watch. These actors played off each other wonderfully and in doing so brought their characters to life PERFECTLY. It’s hard to truly express how impressed I am with the performances in this film because it’s not something I want to just say, it’s something I want people to experience.

There’s a reason this movie is doing so well and it’s because everything about the film is executed wondrously. Everyone who worked on this film, from the writers to the director to the actors, they understood the characters, they understood the story being told and the development that had to go into making this film such a success. And it is a success, on every level. Wonder Woman gives me some hope for the DCU. (★★★★ | A)

—Film Credits—

Directed by Patty Jenkins

Screenplay by Allan Heinberg

Story by Zack Snyder, Allan Heinberg & Jason Fuchs

Based on Wonder Woman by William Moulton Marston

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Connie Nielsen & Elena Anaya

Rating | Length | Genre: PG-13 | 2h 21min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures