Wonder Woman opens Friday with the fate of not just the world on her Amazonian (well, Themysciran) shoulders. Warner Bros. execs under Lasso of Truth would have to admit, the super heroine also holds the future of the DC Cinematic Universe in her hands.
That’s because after the first three critically-panned entries in Warner Bros.’s attempt to build a cinematic universe to match arch-rival Marvel Studios—2013’s Man of Steel and last year’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad—the studio needed a super hit.
And it looks like they finally have one.
The embargo has lifted on reviews for Wonder Woman, and the critics sound like a bunch of fanboys and fangirls entering a comic store on a Wednesday over the Patty Jenkins–directed film with Gal Gadot as the titular hero.
“It may have taken four films to get there, but the DC Extended Universe has finally produced a good old-fashioned superhero,” wrote Variety‘s Andrew Barker.
Hollywood Reporter reviewer Sheri Linden found Gadot’s heroine, “openhearted, not angsty—an anomaly within the DC Universe, ‘extended’ or otherwise”; while IndieWire‘s Kate Erbland called it an “origin story that functions beautifully on its own while also bolstering excitement for the franchise’s future.”
“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,” effused Entertainment Weekly‘s Chris Nashawaty in his review.
Others echoed that praise.
“Remember when superhero movies used to be fun?,” writes Stephen Whitty of NJ.com. “When superheroes were uncomplicated role models, free of phobias and daddy issues, dedicated to fighting for peace and justice? Wonder Woman does.
“And it gives us the kind of hero a lot of us fell in love with back in those 12-cent days of truth, justice, and the American way—and the kind of movie we haven’t seen since Christopher Reeve first flew into our lives.”
Holy hyperbole, Batman!
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