'Wonder Woman' Is the DC Superhero Movie You've Been Waiting For, Critics Say

Since "Man of Steel" hit theaters in 2013, "Wonder Woman" is the first DC Comics movie to be certified "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes, currently holding on to an impressive 96 percent approval rating from 54 critics counted. Zack Snyder's first Superman movie in the

Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) made her debut in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which was hammered by critics and fans, scoring a mere 28 percent approval rating from hundreds of critics counted on the review aggregator, while "Suicide Squad" fared even worse with just a 25 percent approval rating.

The latest superhero movie from Warner Bros. was directed by Patty Jenkins, and co-stars Chris Pine and Robin Wright. "Thrilling, earnest, and buoyed by Gal Gadot's charismatic performance, 'Wonder Woman' succeeds in spectacular fashion," Rotten Tomatoes wrote for its "critics consensus."

Read 7 of the best reviews for "Wonder Woman" below.

Associated Press critic Lindsey Bahr:

"Director Patty Jenkins' film is so threaded with sincerity and goodness it's a wonder how it got past the pugnacious minds responsible for what's come before. 'Wonder Woman' evokes not only the spirit of Richard Donner's 'Superman,' but also Joe Johnston's “Captain America: The First Avenger,” while still being its own thing. Just look to the image of Gal Gadot confidently striding out alone onto an unwinnable battlefield with only a shield, a sword and a mission — and prevailing. It's enough to give you goosebumps."

"She is the perfect Wonder Woman — a true blue hero who's as believable in her bafflement of women's fashions and social mores as she is dead-lifting a tank and swatting away machine gun fire with only her arm cuff."

"I never cared about Wonder Woman before. Now I do."

Entertainment Weekly critic Chris Nashawaty:

"Wonder Woman is smart, slick, and satisfying in all of the ways superhero films ought to be. 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."

"It's hard to quibble about what's wrong with a movie that gets so much right, especially when it comes to Gadot's revelatory portrayal of Wonder Woman. The wait is over, folks. The DC movie you've been waiting for has finally arrived."

Variety critic Andrew Barker:

"It may have taken four films to get there, but the DC Extended Universe has finally produced a good old-fashioned superhero. Sure, previous entries in the Warner Bros. assembly line have given us sporadically successful, demythified takes on Batman and Superman, but they've all seemed skeptical, if not downright hostile, toward the sort of unabashed do-gooderism that DC Comics' golden-age heroes exemplified. 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 — boisterous, earnest, sometimes sloppy, yet consistently entertaining — with star Gal Gadot proving an inspired choice for this avatar of truth, justice and the Amazonian way."

Hollywood Reporter critic Sheri Linden:

"As the world's most well-adjusted superhero, Wonder Woman breaks the genre mold. She's openhearted, not angsty — an anomaly within the DC Universe, 'extended' or otherwise. So, too, is her long-awaited foray into the live-action big-screen spotlight: that openheartedness makes the movie something of an outlier. Its relative lightness would set it apart even if it didn't arrive on the heels of the Sturm und Drang of 'Batman v. Superman,' the 2016 feature that introduced Gal Gadot as the demigoddess who believes it's her sacred duty to rid the world of war."

Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips

"The director of 'Wonder Woman' had to wait 14 years between big-screen projects; her last film was 'Monster,' for which Charlize Theron won an Oscar, back in 2003. That says it all when it comes to the odds against women in the film industry. Her movie is no reinvention of a formula; it's simply a much better than usual iteration. And yes, it's about time a woman directed one of these movies, just as it's about time one of these movies was actually ABOUT A WOMAN. For the first time in a long time, I came out of a DC comic book movie feeling ready for a sequel. It feels right, at this actual historical moment, when men made of something less than steel are bumbling around trying to run things. Paging Paradise Island!"

USA Today critic Kelly Lawler:

"Diana is genuine in her love for ice cream. She and the film are genuine about everything, which is what makes it feel so special. In a time when the public discourse is fraught and full of misinformation and hatred, watching Wonder Woman fight so hard and so earnestly for love is a profound experience. It's hard not to feel, well, wonderful."

The Wrap critic Alonso Duralde:

"Gal Gadot's turn as Princess Diana of Themyscira was a refreshing standout amidst the sludge of 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,' and she's as good if not better headlining her own solo adventure. It's a film that not only improves upon many of the seemingly built-in shortcomings of superhero movies, but also mixes smarts, sentiment and adrenaline in the best Hollywood style. This is a superior popcorn movie, no matter what the genre."