'Wonder Woman' Lassos Very Positive Early Reviews
Gal Gadot makes her long-awaited solo big-screen debut this Friday in Wonder Woman. While the DC Extended Universe so far has done better at the box office than with critics, it looks like Patty Jenkins’ superhero blow-out will arrive in theaters with the best reviews of any DC franchise installment to date. Read on for highlights of what the critics are saying major Wonder Woman reviews.
Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter
“Had it really broken the mold and come in below the two-hour mark, Wonder Woman could have been a thoroughly transporting film. As it stands, it’s intermittently spot-on, particularly in the pops of humor and romance between the exotically kick-ass yet approachable Gadot and the supremely charismatic Chris Pine as an American working for British intelligence, the first man the Amazon princess has ever met. With eager fans unlikely to bemoan the film’s length or its lapses in narrative energy, Wonder Woman will conquer their hearts as it makes its way around the globe.”
Lindsey Bahr, AP
“Wonder Woman has been the subject of so much superfluous fuss, it’d be easy to forget that behind all of the hand-wringing and both symbolic and real pressure to succeed there’s actually a movie meant to entertain.
“Yet, like the heroine at its center, Wonder Woman the movie rises with powerful grace above the noise. It’s not perfect, but it’s often good, sometimes great, and exceptionally re-watchable.
“Director Patty Jenkins’ film is so threaded with sincerity and goodness it’s a wonder how it got past the pugnacious minds responsible for what’s come before. Wonder Woman evokes not only the spirit of Richard Donner’s Superman, but also Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger, while still being its own thing. Just look to the image of Gal Gadot confidently striding out alone onto an unwinnable battlefield with only a shield, a sword, and a mission — and prevailing. It’s enough to give you goosebumps.”
Kelly Lawler, USA Today
“Wonder Woman (***? out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Thursday night) is a departure from most superhero films you’ve seen. It’s a female superhero film — which is revolutionary enough by itself — but it’s also a genuinely surprising film that plays with genre and throws out the now very tired superhero movie formula. It’s an action film, a romantic comedy, and a coming-of-age story and a period piece and a war movie all in one. Above all, it’s a hopeful story about humanity.
“Wonder Woman is the best movie Marvel rival DC Comics has put out in its own cinematic universe, and unlike the recent parade of bleak superhero tales from both studios, it makes you feel good while you watch it.”
Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
“It would be insane to think that the suits at Warner Bros., the custodians of the DC celluloid franchise, weren’t getting twitchy and envious every time a new Marvel flick hit theaters. But now, with their latest superhero saga, they can finally stopping chewing their cuticles — if there are any left. Wonder Woman is smart, slick, and satisfying in all of the ways superhero films ought to be. How deliciously ironic that in a genre where the boys seem to have all the fun, a female hero and a female director are the ones to show the fellas how it’s done.”
Andrew Barker, Variety
“Wonder Woman is the first major studio superhero film directed by a woman, and it shows in a number of subtle, yet important ways. As skimpy as Gadot’s outfits may get, for example, Jenkins’ camera never leers or lingers gratuitously — Diana is always framed as an agent of power, rather than its object. When she finally unleashes her full fighting potential in an extended battle sequence on the front lines, the movie comes alive in a genuinely exhilarating whirl of slow-motion mayhem, and Diana’s personality is never lost amid all the choreography.”
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
“Her movie is no reinvention of a formula; it’s simply a much better than usual iteration. And yes, it’s about time a woman directed one of these movies, just as it’s about time one of these movies was actually ABOUT A WOMAN. For the first time in a long time, I came out of a DC comic book movie feeling ready for a sequel. It feels right, at this actual historical moment, when men made of something less than steel are bumbling around trying to run things. Paging Paradise Island!”
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