Spoiler Alert: Do I think that Wonder Woman is the best DC movie so far? No, that honor still belongs to The Dark Knight. Wonder Woman is a good movie but it is just not that good. Here’s why:

1. The Plot. If everything feels familiar, then it’s probably because you’ve seen everything before. Where? Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger. The journey of discovery, rise to heroism, and ultimate triumph is a common thread in all origin stories but consider these: the unfortunate reliance on a shield (happily she did not bounce it around as Cap would – maybe in the future?); the participation of a ragtag group of commandos; death of a friend; an ultimate weapon; use of a plane, and the sacrifice play; and, the not-enough-time end to the love story. Admit it, these were all done before in a single movie. They really could have just shifted things to the trenches — that, up to the retaking of the Veld, was the best part — rather than drag the movie the way they did to all those all too familiar end scenes.

2. The CGI Ares. The finale was a let down. After the great, as in really great, assault in the trenches and the retaking of the town — the final showdown was absolutely the opposite. Ares, THE god of war, was out of shape. I mean, the disguise — I just want to say that for my own solace — was understandable for one who does not want to call attention to one’s self while walking in the world of men but when you go fight a god-killer, you want to be at your best. The full armor was ridiculous because we’re talking Greeks here not medieval knights. All that throwing things around using telekinesis or psychokinesis is just total crap. This is Ares! The God of war! Wouldn’t he take pride using his own hands to kill the god-killer? And what was that use of lightning? Ares?! C’mon! Among the pantheon of gods, not even Zeus was god of all the earth. Making Ares an elemental was totally screwed up.

3. The Look. Here’s the real killer. There was too much Zack Snyder in the film. Don’t get me wrong, the direction by Patty Jenkins was good. Maybe not Ant-Man — definitely not Deadpool — level but good, smooth and believable. The shots and effects however made me think it was too Zack Snyder and, sure enough, he was in the credits as screenwriter and producer. He’s not bad but a totally different take would have been welcome. I can imagine Patty wanting to go one direction and Zack nixing it for something more “traditional”. Of course, I don’t really know how much Zack’s hand was dipped in it but I felt it in there and wished it wasn’t.

4. Continuity. Did everyone see what she did to Ares? You wonder why she did not do the same thing with Doomsday in BVS. With the way they told their story, you even ask what really caused the Second World War and all the other wars the world has gone through ever since. I mean if she really killed Ares that is.

The love story was also rushed where “love” might just be “heat” but I won’t touch that further.

Despite all that, it was entertaining. Maybe not as interesting and well-put like The Dark Knight but as DC movies go, this certainly makes a good run with 3/4 of a film being so well executed. It was wonderful to see her kick ass with the lasso. They should just have stuck with that. I mean why rely too much on the shield? She is known for her arm guards, which she did use a lot in the movie — the alley scene was greatly executed — and the lasso. Like I said, it was a good thing she didn’t use her shield as Cap did but it still was a lot of deja vu for what was supposedly a different kind of hero. Only Wonder Woman has the lasso, and having seen what they could do with that, they really should have exploited it to the hilt. Maybe they wanted to make her different from Superman but in doing so, they lost a lot of what made Wonder Woman wonderful. The lasso. Use the lasso. Then she’ll really kick ass. You want a big impact ending — it was supposed to be a war between gods — this one just fizzled. Not my cup of tea.

I hope they treat her better in Justice League but based on the trailers, she’s back with the sword and shield. Wake up DC! You could do so much better, and coming from a Marvel fan, that says a lot.