Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice", "Man of Steel", "Captain America: The First Avenger", "Thor"

Thrilling and engaging from start to beginning, Gal Gadot is extremely charismatic as Wonder Woman and we're glad she proved the initial naysayers over her casting wrong.

So does this mean that finally, oh, finally the DCEU has delivered? Yes, the answer is most certainly a yes.

Wonder Woman/Diana Prince is the Beyonce of the superhero world and it's not just the thunder thighs that they both have in common.

The first ever big screen solo-outing for the Amazonian hero has successfully established Wonder Woman as a strong, inspiring and a much needed positive icon for the girls of today who have long enough been beleaguered into thinking that they should be rainbow-unicorns-hipster-fairy-princess-mermaids to be considered beautiful.

At the beginning, we're brought to the all-female inhabited island of Themyscira, where it is all about empowerment and being a strong independent woman (who need no man), that pushes aside all female stereotypes we have been exposed to in past superhero films where the females are usually: 1. Attractive sidekicks 2. Attractive damsel in distress, or 3. An attractive love interest.

Unlike previous DCEU films which have all been set in contemporary times, "Wonder Woman's" setting of World War I and on the island is a breath of fresh air. Although both these places do invoke similar vibes as seen in the World War II driven "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "Thor's" realm of Asgard.

We expected the whole swords and sandals fare set on the island on Themyscira to be rather corny, and we were ready to cringe at the weird accents and the possibility of over the top moments (as these type of films usually do), but surprisingly, the execution of the island plot didn't feel tacky at all.

The emotional scenes between Diana and her mother (Connie Nielsen), and with her mentor, General Antiope (Robin Wright) felt natural, down to Earth, and most importantly, relatable. The fight scenes were brilliantly executed and felt like it had the serious tones of an actual war film fight scene. Man, do these women have balls or what?

If that scene alone doesn't convince you to hit the gym, we don't know what will.

With such a feminist-feel movie, we're not all that surprised that Warner Bros. had decided to go with a female director this time around. This is after all "Wonder Woman" we're talking about, the 21st century's most iconic female superhero upon which all the other female superheroes were in parts carved from.

Patty Jenkins has proven herself as a versatile filmmaker and mind you, superhero movies are not easy to make. Her 2003's "Monster" was a great movie that got Charlize Theron her Oscar. Shockingly, Jenkins hasn't made a big movie since then. What does this say of Hollywood which took them this long to finally give Jenkins a blockbuster to helm? Thankfully it has now all payed off. If we had to see Zack Synder direct this film, we'll be getting a very different "Wonder Woman" indeed.

We have to gush for Chris Pine as Diana's love interest, Captain Steve Trevor of the United States Army Air Service who is very likable, and you can't help but to root for the pair all along. Pine knows when to step back and to let Wonder Woman shine and the scenes between the two were such a delight to watch, especially when Steve brings Diana into the 'Man's World' and often fumbles to explain the ways of the world. It's like watching Thor first entering into the human world once again, but only better.

The less said about the movie's main villain the better, as its reveal eventually leads to the big finish which we much rather not spoil for you. All we can say is that unlike Doomsday of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" which embarrassingly took all three: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to defeat, the villain here seems like a much worthy adversary for the greatness that is "Wonder Woman".

Anyway, who cares about Batman and Superman, we will be watching 'Justice League: Part One" for more of Wonder Woman alone!


Cinema Online, 31 May 2017