Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman, photo courtesy Warner Bros.
2. Wonder Woman
It’s not like this flick needs a lot more laurels thrown at its feet. Wonder Woman has earned praise across the nation, is the year’s second-biggest money-maker (behind Disney’s Beauty and the Beast) and proves that, hey, Warner Bros. and D.C. can still make a pretty tremendous superhero movie.
I think its success is predicated on a certain old-fashioned sensibility. Forget the whole anti-hero thing: Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) makes uncomplicated goodness cool again. Her heroic pedigree is reminiscent of the on-screen personas of John Wayne and Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck and Jimmy Stewart. The movie is thrilling, fun and, like its heroine, pretty pure of heart. I’d forgotten how much I’d missed that clarion sense of goodness on the big screen.
Oh, and did I mention that Wonder Woman is super-duper spiritual, as well?