‘Wonder Woman’ Review: Her Time Has Come

“Wonder Woman”

Gal Gadot, Chris Pine

Directed by Patty Jenkins

(Rating: 4 out of 5) 

For the past few months, a lot of ink (print
and virtual) has been spent on how much Warner Bros. studios has riding on “Wonder Woman,” because it’s the first female superhero movie ever; because it cost
more than $150 million; because it’s directed by a woman (Patty Jenkins);
because the last three DCEU comic book movies (“Man of Steel,” “Batman v Superman” and “Suicide Squad”) paled in comparison to what the folks across the
street at Disney were doing with the Marvel movies.

So, let’s cut to the chase and re-direct that
ink to where it really should be going, which is whether or not “Wonder Woman” is actually any good. And the answer to
that is yes, it most definitely is.

In fact, it’s great, and
for many reasons. It has the perfect
blend of action, heart and humor. Gal
Gadot, who stole the show last year when she had her coming out party as Wonder
Woman in “Batman v Superman,” crushes it in her first-of-many stand-alone films, and she has amazing
chemistry with her charming co-star Chris Pine (who plays Steve Trevor, the
World War I pilot who introduces her to the 20th century).

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But most of all, “Wonder Woman” features a key ingredient that has thus far been missing in the previous DCEU movies: It’s FUN.  And it doesn’t take itself too seriously, especially when the Amazon warrior princess finds herself as a fish-out-of-water in early 20th century London. The film has just the right tone, and director Patty Jenkins deftly balances the key elements almost perfectly.

I say “almost perfectly,” because “Wonder Woman” is not perfect. It runs a bit too long (at two hours, 21 minutes), and the final act feels like the kind of formulaic hero-villain showdown that we’ve seen before in countless other superhero movies. (But it is a superhero movie, so what else did you expect?)

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Make no mistake, “Wonder Woman” is one of the best superhero movies ever, and it’s also the best Hollywood movie so far (and by far) this summer.

And yes, Warner Bros. does have a lot riding on “Wonder Woman,” but the studio can rest easy, because it delivers the goods, and then some. It’s also a trailblazer and a gamechanger, because it will not only open the floodgates for movie female superhero movies, but it will also (more importantly) open the door for more women to direct big-budget Hollywood blockbusters.

Her time has come, indeed. And it’s long overdue.

— Scott Mantz