Wonder Woman's out which means we have another DCEU (DC Extended Universe) movie to sit through. Even if you're not a fan of the DCEU so far (and believe me, most people aren't), as long as you're into superhero movies, I'm sure you're going to go to the theater and see Wonder Woman.
It's even possible that you already have. Maybe you were at the theater Thursday night, fighting to stay awake during the late night premiere through the trailers and then the movie finally started and you were snapped awake by the hope that maybe, just maybe, this one isn't QUITE as bad as the rest of the DCEU.
That was me.
I knew the previous three were technically terrible messes. I knew that one of them, "Batman vs Superman," was one of the absolute worst, least enjoyable cinematic experiences I have ever had the displeasure to sit through. Yet, I kept coming back.
I kept coming back because every single of the movies in the DCEU had at least something within it that showed promise and untapped potential. "Man of Steel" could have made a great trilogy if Warmer Brothers had had the patience. "Suicide Squad" was a great idea killed by over editing and a lack of character depth. "Batman vs Superman" had Wonder Woman.
Gal Gadot was amazingly well cast in the role of Wonder Woman even if her accent was a bit hard to explain in character and she didn't have all that much to do in "Batman vs Superman." She was confident, beautiful, intelligent and most importantly, badass. She was everything that Wonder Woman needed to be which was doubly impressive given that it was her first time being portrayed in a live action movie. Unfortunately, as I said, the movie she was in was hot garbage. I mean, Batman was an awesome fighter when he was staying true to character but the rest.....ehhhh.....
Therefore, I was honestly really excited for Wonder Woman to be in her own standalone movie. I was even more excited when the trailers actually showed promise. Color. Humor. It was going to be great! I was fully confident in its abilities!
Then I remembered that "Suicide Squad" did the same thing. The trailers for Suicide Squad are among the best I've ever seen (including 10 Cloverfield Lane, the original Star Wars trailer and Alien for those interested) but the movie did not come anywhere close to living up to the promise they delivered, despite the movie being edited BY THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THE TRAILERS (this is a thing that actually happened). I was brought down to earth, back to my safe space of cautious optimism, accepting the fact that as much as I want this movie to be truly great, it could just easily be another pile of used sweat socks. I had no idea if it was going to be terrible or truly great or anywhere in between.
Thankfully, "Wonder Woman" is truly great.
It's easy to think that I'm only saying that in the context of it being the best DCEU movie, which it easily is. After all, if you're given a McDonald's burger after having nothing to eat but toast, it's going to be the best meal you've ever had. That's not the case here though. I guarantee you that Wonder Woman is a legitimately, well crafted, humorous, good looking, interesting movie that you should go to the theater to see. More than once if that's your thing, I won't judge.
Now, that being said, I'm not trying to imply that you're going into to see a masterpiece that will redefine the superhero film genre as we know it. "Wonder Woman" is a great movie, sure, but it's also a very cliche, safe one. Apart from its villains--who I won't name here but are far more "Comic Book-y" than superhero movies have gone as of late--there is nothing in this movie that I would describe as out of the ordinary. The movie has a lot of polish and is more memorable than, say, "Thor: The Dark World" but it's more or less just a well-made cookie cutter movie than it is an experimental, genre defining movie. That's not meant to be an insult, for the record. There's just nothing about Wonder Woman that I haven't seen in countless MCU Movies before it.
In conclusion, I highly, HIGHLY recommend seeing this movie. It's a lot of fun, really encapsulates the essence of the Wonder Woman character and finally injects some life into a universe that up until now has been far too dark and brooding. As long as you remember that what you're getting into isn't going to be anything that blows your mind, you should have the same experience.
