4k UHD/Movie Review: Wonder Woman

 

Wonder Woman is the 2017 entry in the "Snyderverse" version of the DCEU. It is the follow-up to Batman v. Superman, telling Diana's origin story (mostly through flashbacks during World War I. There are a couple of scenes set in the present that have tie-ins to both Batman v. Superman and the upcoming (at that point) Justice League movie, but most of the movie is set in the past. It was directed by Patty Jenkins and starred Gal Gadot (reprising her role from Batman v. Superman), Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, and David Thewlis.

This movie was one that people saw as saving the DCEU, as pretty much all of the other movies had been shit on by critics, unfairly for the most part. However, this movie had a lot better character development and setup, and honestly, it should have been a follow-up to Man of Steel. I think if the sequence of films had gone Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, a stand-alone Batman movie to introduce Ben Affleck's version of Batman/Bruce Wayne as well as Joker and Harley Quinn, then Batman v Superman, the Snyderverse would have fared much better than it did.

As I mentioned above, most of the story in this movie is set during World War I. There are some scenes with a young Diana growing up on Themyscira, but the bulk of the story comes after Steve Trevor (played by Chris Pine) accidentally ends up in Themyscira while fleeing the Germans. He tells Diana about the war, and she is convinced that it is the doing of the god Aries, and sets out to find and kill Aries. From there, it is mostly a period piece with Diana trying to integrate into early 1900s society, help fight in battles, and aid Trevor and his team to find a weapon being developed by an evil German doctor. 

For those who get the 4K disc, it is a two-disc set with just the movie on the UHD disc and all the extras on a regular Blu-ray disc. The movie looks and sounds great in UHD, especially if you have a large screen and a soundbar. There are over two hours' worth of extras, including several behind-the-scenes features on making the movie and several features on the overall character of Wonder Woman and how the character has evolved over time.

Overall, the movie is great. It has a great blend of action and humor. It does have a message, but it does not get too preachy about it. Gal Gadot does a great job with the character. There was, of course, a lot of consternation when she was cast, especially since she did not fit the mold of Lynda Carter, the only other woman to play the character in live-action. Carter was definitely bigger than Gadot (although Gadot is slightly taller) and in other areas (boob size) that even Gadot joked about. However, Gadot is much more athletic than Lynda Carter, so she brought a lot more to the fight scenes than was ever done in the TV show. The script was good, and all of the actors did a great job with their parts. It is still probably the best movie in the DCEU and is definitely worth watching.