Just saw Wonder Woman

It instantly became one of my favourite/top superhero movies.

**somewhat spoilery below if you haven’t seen the movie**

Regarding the villains – I thought Elena Anaya was doing some nice understated work as Dr. Maru/Doctor Poison. I particularly liked the scene with her and Steve. It looked like she might have been starting to really respond to him...but then once she saw him notice Diana enter the scene in that blue dress, she was done with him. I also kind of liked the bit where she and Ludendorff released the gas on those men and she had a moment of maniacal laughter by his side.

As for David Thewlis – I think he can play really good villains, and for me he worked best in the scene where he revealed his true self to Diana (with the shots of him through the windows). It was just once he put on the armour that he kind of turned into the typical ‘big bad’ to be fought. Though given it was two gods fighting each other, I thought the effects on display were warranted. At least when they fought, they weren’t destroying buildings with people inside.

Well, I personally like both DC and Marvel movies. My favourite movies are...

The Dark Knight
Superman (1978)
Thor/Captain America: The First Avenger

I realise those last two might not be as 'popular' as the first two, but those are my personal favourites. 

Keeping this^ in mind, Wonder Woman now ranks alongside Superman for me. While there's other movies from both DC and Marvel that I quite like (as well as a lot that I don't), the movies mentioned above are the ones I feel I can rewatch numerous times and not get sick of. There is a bit more 'lightness' in WW compared to the other DCEU movies so far, though I don't think there's 'too much'/so much that it feels out of place in the DCEU. It broadens things out more, and I think will lead to more movies that strike a better balance between 'dark' and 'light' moments. 

Having said that, WW is quite 'dark' at times and especially near the end - it might not be quite what you expect. I think it reaches a 'happy medium' between what one might expect from Marvel movies and DC movies. Of course, this is just my opinion - and considering two of my favourite Marvel movies aren't considered the most 'popular' ones  by the apparent 'majority' of people, I might have very different tastes to most. All I can say is that I wasn't disappointed in Wonder Woman, I think Gal Gadot was indeed 'wonderful', Chris Pine was likeable as Steve Trevor and had really good chemistry with Gal Gadot, seeing Diana in action is stunning (the 'No Man's Land' sequence in particular was amazing) and there's just so many good things about this movie to enjoy. Though I'm sure there'll be plenty who disagree. 

VERY impressed with the film, this is exactly how the DCEU should strive to be in quality and appeal.

I agree with the above reviews. This a great film. It kept your interest from start to finish. Great cast. I can't seen anyone else playing this part but GG. 4.8/5. I remember this coming to my attention a few months ago; a review from a test screening. It was pretty accurate for the most part. Spoilers ahead, proceed with caution: 

**some spoilers below**

I love your post. I so agree with you about Wonder Woman ranking up there with the Superman movie. I've watched Wonder Woman today and I am still someone taken aback that it took WB/DC this long to do this! And yeah...it is every bit as much fun as Superman...but definitely some darker undertones but they don't make the movie depressing.

Thanks for the kind words. I know that some might think positive reviews for the movie are maybe 'overselling it'/overstating just how good the film is...but, honestly, it's very few movies that make me feel so much joy when watching (and even fewer superhero films that do). No matter how long it is since Superman came out, I still enjoy watching it. I think Wonder Woman will be the same for me, It'll be a film I can rewatch and not get tired of. 

I agree it's taken far too long to get here...but if the time spent was to get it to this quality...then I think the time was well-spent/it was worth the wait. I was surprised by the 'darker' tones of the film (and the ending too), but I think it struck the right 'balance'. It wasn't too 'sunny/shiny', but didn't get bogged down in grim/dark/too depressive a tone either. Themyscira was such a great visual, but when Diana got to London and especially in the 'No Man's Land' sequence, her being the one bright colour in the scene *worked* for the film, I thought (I know there's been some complaints about the colour scheme for DC films in general). I think the contrast between her and everything else worked.

Re: Dr. Maru/Dr. Poison...I just wish the movie would have given her a little more background. I was totally intrigued by her and what made her take the position she was taking. As for Ares...well...I loved how that played out in the movie...and again...would LOVE to have known more about him. He was definitely a formidable foe for Wonder Woman. Like you said, it was basically two gods fighting each other and it was done so much better at this point than what happened in MoS.

I agree. I liked the unexpectedness of Ares throwing Doctor Poison down before Diana and telling her to end her, thinking it would help prove the point he was trying to make, but instead she chose not to (I think Diana's point of view on people/war/the world as a whole was very well-written/well-portrayed by Gal Gadot). I liked that it wasn't just the simple female hero vs female villain thing, and that Dr. Maru got away (hopefully that means we'll see more of her). 

Ahh the Ares disapearing act, he really played with her head when he did that.

I just thought that was a really interesting way to play at the 'reveal' scene. It was interestingly shot, and I always appreciate villains when they're more 'subdued' and going for quiet menace rather than yelling (though there was a bit of that later on). I do get that maybe they could've gone for something 'different' in the final battle, as almost every superhero movie winds up being a 'hero fights villain in epic battle' type thing...but I just think it'd be tricky to have a satisfying conclusion if it was just a 'battle of wills' with only talking and them simply standing around. I guess it *could* be done, and maybe one day it will be, but I think people were expecting to see a battle between two gods at the end - and that's what they got, so the special effects were needed to convey the amount of power they both wielded. 

This^ is all just my personal opinion, of course, and I know others will disagree, but it's just been such a long time since I've seen a movie that I've enjoyed this much. It's got so many great moments (both the 'big' moments and the 'smaller' moments) to discuss, I'll probably keep remembering more as time goes on and once I see it again.

Wonder Woman is better than all of the MCU movies.

I saw it on IMAX 3D & kept losing the 3D.
Unlike the Marvel movies where when my head slides sideways, it's a simple thing of straightening up, but for this one I kept having to move my head around to re-align the picture. I swear it was popping our on its own because I wasnt moving around.

Which probably brought the picture down for me. It's the best of DCEU, but not better than most of Marvel.

I'm more Marvel because the characters are more warm. Marvel is humans who become superheroes while DC feels more like heroes with secret identities to hide when they want to.

And that was my issue here. I never really got pulled in to care. I cared about the new characters in Dead Men Tell No Tales, but not any of the characters in WW.

Good enough story, just you could have killed half the cast & it wouldn't phasee