Wonder Woman Reviews: 10 Critical Reactions You Must See

4. The Superman: The Movie Comparisons

Superman The Movie Christopher Reeve
Warner Bros. Pictures

There are a few films Wonder Woman is being compared to, though none of them come from the DCEU. Both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger are mentioned a fair bit as touchstones for the movie, which seem fairly obvious even just based on the premise, but the one comparison being made the most is with Richard Donner's Superman.

Not so much in terms of plot, but the tone of the movie, and Gadot's hero, err much closer to the 1978 film than anything in the DC realm since then.

"The film’s biggest debt is to Superman The Movie. Both structurally — the opening half-hour in Themyscira is akin to the Krypton segment of Richard Donner’s movie — and tonally. Like Christopher Reeve’s Superman, Gal Gadot’s Diana is a bright beacon of hope in a world of greys." - Empire

Uproxx writes: "Watching Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, I felt that same sense of overwhelming good emitting from Gal Gadot’s portrayal as I did with Christopher Reeve’s Superman." Variety also echoes these sentiments, saying: "Never prone to stewing in solitude, and taking more notes from Richard Donner than from Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” provides a welcome respite from DC’s house style of grim darkness."

There's definitely cause of a superhero movie free of cynicism and full of hope in this era, and it seems that Wonder Woman is proving to be the DCEU's version of Superman. Or, as Uproxx say in their review title: "The Superhero We All Really Need Right Now"

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.