Wonder Woman Gets It Right

When an American pilot falls out of the sky onto an island inhabited by female warriors, an Amazonian princess gets pulled into World War I, convinced she can stop it. It helps that she has badass fighting skills. Oh, and superpowers. Here's what critics are saying about DC Comics' long-awaited Wonder Woman, which has a 93% positive rating at Rottten Tomatoes:

• Thanks to "a mostly cheerful light touch" from director Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman restores the "escapist fun" that's been missing from DC Comics movies since Christopher Reeve was Superman, Colin Covert writes at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It has "campy charm." At the same time, it "blazes an amusing proto-feminist path," he writes. On the downside, it "lacks a compelling supervillain" and is somewhat bewildering.

• The special effects are "uninspiring" and the action "slightly jerky," but Wonder Woman is still "a cut above nearly all the superhero movies" of the past few summers, writes Stephanie Zacharek at Time. She credits Gal Gadot, who is "simply marvelous" as a heroine both sweet and strong, though Connie Nielsen's "regal presence … elevates even the tiniest role" as Queen Hippolyta.
• It's one of DC Comics' best movies yet, according to Kelly Lawler. Slamming together action, romance, comedy, war, and history, it "throws out the now very tired superhero movie formula" and "makes you feel good while you watch it," she writes at USA Today. "Gadot and [Chris] Pine have fantastic chemistry," she adds, but Gadot is "electric" on her own. And without the clutter of some other superhero action scenes, hers truly shine.
• As Moira MacDonald puts it, Wonder Woman is "everything fans and moviegoers would want it to be: smart, swift, sometimes funny, occasionally dazzling and surprisingly soulful." Jenkins manages to lay the foundation for a franchise while "creating a movie that stands alone, she writes at the Seattle Times. But this is still Gadot's show. In "projecting both endless strength and quiet vulnerability," she makes Wonder Woman all her own.

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