Wonder Woman for the Win!

4/5

At this rate, we've seen all we could possibly see in a superhero origin flick: The world is in danger, one person must stop said danger and either fit in a newfound society or hide their newfound powers from society (or just be Iron Man and flaunt it everywhere). That being said, Wonder Woman still manages to be a fresh take on the origin formula yet still remain true to the source material.

Like most origin stories (and unlike Batman v Superman), Wonder Woman stays concise with its story and avoids overbearing itself with unnecessary subplots. Simply put, if you haven't liked any of DC's recent films, you should definitely give this one a shot. Gal Gadot and Chris Pine absolutely nail their roles of Diana/Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor respectively.

With these two leads guiding the film, most of the script and cast surrounding them are pretty solid. Some distracting acting and the fact that the main side cast is almost two-dimensional can be overlooked since the faults in these aspects are few and far in between. That being said, the film still manages to make you empathetic towards Diane and Steve as they go on their adventure. You understand them as people and you can read the emotions written in between the lines, which is something you don't see often (especially in a superhero film).

On top of this solid script is also great direction. Every action sequence becomes more inventive than the last, utilizing slow-motion at its highest grandeur (again, something we really don't see that often). A lot of the cinematography is impressive and the comedy is well-timed and doesn't feel as forced as a typical Marvel film. Zack Snyder's influence is still apparent, but director Patty Jenkins uses Snyder's cinematography as a template and creates an interesting vision of her own. Who knew she could execute action sequences better than Snyder?

Though there are some issues in the third act such as an edit in one of the scenes, a certain casting choice that felt a bit cheesy compared to the rest of the movie, and a lack of a memorable score outside of Hans Zimmers's well-used theme, Wonder Woman still kicks butt and deserves the praise it's been getting.