"My father told me once, he said, 'If you see something wrong happening in the world, you can either do nothing, or you can do something.' And I already tried 'nothing'."

The movie Wonder Woman takes place about one hundred years before the events of the character’s first appearance in Batman v Superman, during World War I. It starts off rather traditionally, with Wonder Woman, or Diana, in her childhood years on the island of Themyscira, an island separate and hidden from the rest of the world, full of women warriors, until she grows up, showing all of her training and all of that. The movie really starts, though, when a sudden plane enters their hidden atmosphere (almost like a bubble surrounding their island). It turns out to be a U.S. war spy by the name of Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, who is then soon followed by a bunch of people on the other side of the war that the Amazons have to fight against. After the fight, the Amazons discuss what to do with this Steve character, and Diana Prince convinces them to let her join him in the war, as she believes Ares, the god of war, is behind World War I.

I think I would say that the first Wonder Woman, while not being my personal favorite DCEU movie up to that point, had the best overall story and writing. This is mainly because I don’t think it had as many frustrating plot holes as Man of Steel, wasn’t as overstuffed with ideas as Batman v Superman, and wasn’t as messy as Suicide Squad. It was really the first DCEU movie that the majority of people agreed on was good, creating new faith in this franchise at the time. I’ll get into all of these soon, but it has the best, most fleshed-out characters and character development out of the first four movies, and it’s the most grounded in terms of these aspects.

I think Wonder Woman as a character is a really compelling and interesting character. She’s only known good all of her life on Themyscira, and so the concept that a war across the entire world is going on outside of her little bubble is insane to her. It becomes a sort of “fish out of water” story, where she goes out of her way to protect people and do the morally correct things, even though it doesn’t make sense from the perspective of a war, because that is all she knows. She loves and values human life above anything else, even those who are obviously on the wrong side and are evil, which makes her easily stand out from everyone else, especially the higher-ups in the war.

Despite being the title character, however, I wouldn’t say she’s my favorite character in the movie. That would have to be Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine. He plays a perfect contrast to Diana, where he’s absolutely, without a doubt, a really good person, but he knows he can’t do everything or save everyone to stop this war. He’s the grounded character in the story, providing a more realistic side of things, which makes his dynamic with Diana really compelling. They both strive for the same thing: good over evil. However, Diana grew up in a world that knew nothing but peace, while Steve has fully experienced the struggles and everyday life of a real human being, having also been in a war. This makes him not have as much of a “black and white” perspective on good and evil in the world.

This movie has some really good action as well. The standout sequences are easily the ones with Wonder Woman during the battles, with the No Man’s Land one being the standout. I honestly haven’t particularly been a big fan of Wonder Woman (not that I dislike her or anything), even though I’ve seen this movie before, but seeing her powers kind of made me think of her as a cooler character, to be honest. The action scenes aren’t only epic, but reflective of what is going on inside of Diana, and she eventually learns that despite all of her powers, she can’t, in fact, save everyone. A lot of slow motion is used during these sequences, not in vain, though, like a lot of Zack Snyder’s films (including the ones I love), but to emphasize the moral and internal struggle of Diana even more.

The visuals themselves are also really good throughout. Themyscira is a really believable and well-done-looking world, but honestly, the best part is how immersive the human world is. I actually believed that this was taking place during World War I. The set pieces are entirely convincing, CGI or not, and the war sequences are kind of even on the same level of immersion as some full-on war movies.

When it comes to the one thing that I wish was more prominent and developed in this film, though, I would have to mention Steve and Diana’s relationship. I think it is really interesting, seeing two completely different characters fall in love, but I think the movie kind of puts it on the side a little bit too much the further and further we go along, which was definitely a bit disappointing to me. At the beginning, I was almost entirely convinced I was going to love how their relationship was handled throughout, but to be honest, the film really did lose sight of it. It was one of the things that got me hooked on the story towards the beginning. There is even a point where Diana and Steve have a compelling argument that further elaborates the completely different life experiences the two of them have had, and you think they are going to sort of go their own separate ways for a while, but it’s very quickly resolved. The reason I wouldn’t say it’s an outright negative, though, is that it does end in a very emotionally powerful way.

Now, when it does come to my downright negatives, I of course have to mention the third act. This is easily, without question, the thing that gets the most flak in this movie, and what a lot of people claim keeps this movie from being great, and I think I would kind of agree with that, to an extent. The nature of the entire story is obviously not grounded, as it is a superhero film, but when it comes to the characters and themes, it certainly is, which is what made this movie special in the first place. However, it sort of turns into a completely different movie for a bit in the third act. It becomes a lot more of a typical, generic, and “tropey” superhero movie once a certain reveal happens, and it definitely took me out of the story part of the movie for a bit. It turns into a full-on CGI fest, with easily the weakest CGI of the entire film, and it kind of ignores the emotional parts of the story for a while. I will say, though, it’s still entertaining and has an emotionally powerful moment that keeps it from completely falling off for me.

The last negative I’ll say is Gal Gadot’s performance. I’ve only really seen her in the DCEU movies, so I don’t know if this is entirely fair for me to say, but I don’t think she is a great actress. Her performance is pretty stale throughout, and harder to believe at certain points. The “fish out of water” stuff is definitely the worst part of it, and even pretty cringe at points. I don’t think she was a terrible pick for Wonder Woman, because she physically looks the part, but I think a better actress could have been chosen. I see a version of this movie where that easily could have ruined it, but thankfully, the writing and story keep that from happening.

So, while I wouldn’t say that Wonder Woman is my favorite movie in the DCEU, I would easily say it has one of the most emotionally grounded and fleshed-out stories, making it one of the better ones for sure.