SPOILERS Ahead

Just saw it and, well, to begin with, it's probably been one of the most enjoyable superhero movies I've seen in recent years.

No, not the best, but definitely it's got a lot of other films from the past few years beat in terms of sheer enjoyment!

WW '84 is actually a throwback to an earlier era of superhero films. It felt a bit like a slicker, more contemporary version of the Richard Lester Superman movies. And there's the DNA of pre-MCU and pre-Nolan superhero fare from the Noughties in ther somewhere too. It's in everything - the characters, the tone, the plot...the whole architecture of the movie.

Gal Gadot is brilliant as usual, and here we finally get to see her as THE Wonder Woman (even if they don't actually use that name in the entire film) in a solo adventure. She's literally Diana out of the pages of a comic-book. And the whole movie is an ode to the Wonder Woman mythos - Themyscera, Steve Trevor, Cheetah, weird mystical stuff...the friggin' INVISIBLE PLANE!!! I love how they found a neat balance between her being a female version of the Donner Superman and her basically being a warrior princess descended from the ultimate God. She's nice and a pillar of virtue, but she's also a badass...and all too emotionally (and at times physically) vulnerable.

Chris Pine was great as Steve Trevor and brought some humor and an emotional core to the film. I also love how his and Diana's love story didn't intrude on the film too much. It played it's part in Diana's arc, and then Steve bows out...and that's the end of it.

Kritin Wiig made for a great Cheetah, and an even better Barbara Minerva. In another major throwback to a bygone era of superhero flicks, she did a great job (intentionally or unintentionally?) channeling Michelle Pfifer's Selina Kyle. And the big message of the movie notwithstanding, I found her a totally sympathetic character for like 90% of the film...I was even rooting for her when she gave a beat-down to that creep in the park!

Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord was a joy to watch, and very much an alum from the Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor school of supervillainy (with a dash of Max Shreck thrown in). And I love how they took a character who's totally hammy and campy, upped the hamminess and campiness to infinity towards the end and STILL had it all make perfect sense and actually be 'realistic'! Let's face it, a 'real' person in the 'real' world would TOTALLY have Max's "I am a God" moment if they had the literal power-trip he had...

Now for the big message of the movie - well, it is a tad simplistic, but perfectly in line with the Wonder Woman mythos. After all, this is a character who's signature weapon is a Lasso of Truth...so it's fitting that the climactic moment of the movie is basically her putting a giant (metaphorical) Lasso of Truth around the world and forcing us all to see the light! The truth triumphing over lies, and everything going back to normal once the lies are exposed is a tad too simplistic and over-optimistic...but then, this is the kind of movie that totally owns its optimism up-front. That said, I do personally prefer the more complex moral message of the first movie to this one.

So...what's next for WW on the big-screen? Most likely, we're moving to the present day. I'm guessing a return to Themyscera, and the return of the Gods, might be in order. Maybe we finally get to see Diana embrace the 'Wonder Woman' persona publicaly?

That said, the movie does hint that Diana was active, in some form, during WW2 so...a JSA movie with Wonder Woman as a member? It could happen! One can only hope...