Originally posted 2nd June 2017.

To call Wonder Woman the best DC Extended Universe movie yet does it a disservice, because up until now, those films have been dogshit.

I'm very happy to report that Wonder Woman bucks that trend and delivers, if not a groundbreaking masterpiece, a very solid superhero movie.

Imagine DC's take on the first Thor. Now imagine that, if DC were capable of making a competent, coherent film. That's pretty much what this is. We spend a bit of time in a high-fantasy world of ancient gods and, just as it's starting to wear a bit too thin, The Great War comes smashing into the plot and invigorates everything.

The characterisation is largely on point with particularly good chemistry between and performances from Gal Gadot and Chris Pine (who regular listeners will remember that I've decided I really do like). The backdrop of the Great War does wonders to keep things interesting both visually and in terms of plot. Perhaps, most remarkably, this is the first time I've actually been emotionally invested in the romantic subplot that's always crammed into films of this genre since Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films.

I do feel that it's important to temper expectations somewhat given the VERY high praise the film seems to be receiving so far. It's good but there were a large number of cringey moments scattered throughout, be it the awkward overuse of slow-motion that feels forced upon the film in order to maintain a tone established by Zack Snyder, be it the occasional, poorly-explained and overblown bit of high-fantasy nonsense that makes you feel like you're watching Power Rangers or be it the unneccesarily bloated running time. It's a good film but on the heels of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, The LEGO Batman Movie and, of course, Logan, it's not even the best superhero film released this year so far.

Still, it's nice to see DC pull their shit together somewhat and it bodes very well for the future of their universe. Hopefully they'll continue to build it on blocks of sincerity and continue to move past the unnecessarily gritty ways of the franchise to date.

7/10

Related episodes:
"Suicide Squad"
"Review of the Year 2017: Part 1"