Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Wonder Woman

The second solo film in the new DC Extended Universe explains the origin of Diana Prince, AKA Wonder Woman. A clay-sculpted child of Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), Diana grow up in the care of the Amazons, a tribe of women whose goal is to protect the world from the dominion of men. Their creation, by the Greek god Zeus, is at first a failure, causing them to seek magical isolation on the mysterious island of Themyscira where they train for the day when the war god Ares returns to destroy men through incitement and conflict.

In adulthood, Diana (Gal Gadot) rescues a fallen American spy (Chris Pine) who inadvertently leads German soldiers to the Amazons’ doorstep. There, thanks to her able training by famed warrior Antiope (Robin Wright), Diana helps fend off the onslaught with few, but notable casualties. Believing that Ares is behind the war that Steve Trevor (Pine) describes to them, she sneaks off in the night with sword, shield, and truth-inducing lasso in hand to seek out the nefarious god and bring an end to him.

Brooding superheroes seem to be DC’s stock in trade. Where the Marvel Cinematic Universe has its share, their films are lighter, more jovial affairs whereas the DC films are darker and more pessimistic. Wonder Woman is a wonderful breath of fresh air in such a dark universe. While the film itself has plenty of grief and malicious underpinnings, Wonder Woman herself is a stoic, imperturbable figure who stands up against the misery and destruction as a light against the evil. Gadot is perfectly attuned to this type of role, her Israel Defense Force training (and position as a combat instructor) serving her well. She has the noble majesty her character demands and the charismatic presence the audience desires.

Standing alongside the atypically dour, miserable Clark Kent/Superman (Henry Cavill) of the franchise, and the aged misanthropy of Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck), Diane Prince/Wonder Woman is a fine and refreshing counterpoint to all of it. This is the kind of rousing, exciting adventure film that Marvel used to make and DC needs to do better at imitating. Whether her origin, directed by the masterful Patty Jenkins, marks a turning point for the series or a blip in the lineup remains to be seen, but unless Warner Bros. can heed the lessons the film teaches, they are destined to come up short compared to the Marvel universe even if Disney’s franchise is fading fast.