Wonder Woman

Carrying the burden of rescuing the DC extended film universe and also being a feminist icon placed a plethora of barriers in the path of success for Wonder Women, thankfully though she smashes right through all of them.

Starting off her journey on the secluded island of Amazons is the perfect introduction to Diana (Gal Gadot) and her stout moral compass. When paradise is interrupted by Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) Diana is confronted by the horrors of the wider world of mankind during World War I and immediately begins questioning her beliefs.

The dark, sullen nature of the previous DC extended universe films is entirely avoided in Wonder Woman as they instead focus on telling a compelling story with a poignant statement about war. Throughout the film, in particular the scenes between Diana and Steve, provide comedic relief to the weighty, philosophical war story elements.

Whilst the action sequences in Wonder Woman are not as technically impressive as the previous DC films these all have a much more defined purpose. Occasionally the fight scenes can become hard to follow as you bask in the spectacle of Diana flipping and contorting herself as she simultaneously attacks her enemy and defends herself. The scene when Diana runs headlong into German machine-gun fire in particular is a standout because it embodies the values and ideals running through Wonder Woman rather than simply being an action sequence for the sake of it.

Overall this is the best film in the extended DC universe offerings and does a wonderful job of resurrecting DC in the battle against Marvel.

★★★★