Today I had the opportunity to watch Wonder Woman with a couple of my friends.

I never read the comics, nor did I do any research beforehand, so I can safely say that I had no idea what was going to happen.

If I had to describe the movie in a couple of words, I would say that it’s an “action-packed spectacle”. The majority of what I liked about it were action scenes, where we get to see Diana block bullets and round-house kick her enemies. In fact, I would go far as to say that half of the movie’s credibility is from the action alone.

The first arc of the story tells of Diana’s childhood and how she trained hard to become a great warrior. Then, we see her as a young adult, rescuing a man named Steve Trevor from drowning after his plane crashes into the island. This is followed by the first real fight scene – a showdown between German soldiers who discovered the hidden island and the Amazons. Though the soldiers’ guns definitely outweigh the Amazons’ arrows, the latter group somehow gains the upper hand. During this fight, many die – including General Antiope, Diana’s aunt who trained her in secret.

Fast forward many scenes and we finally get to see the Wonder Woman attire in all its glory -a  golden top and blue skirt that is cut off at random angles. The action is mixed with slow-motion and exploding buildings – a combination that works well sometimes and seems a bit overdone in certain scenes.

Though the sound, the acting and the action were pretty decent, the characters themselves were not at all memorable.

Diana was a “cool” character – it was nice to see her punch, kick and swing her lasso and act as a sort of comic relief at times, with a standard heroine motive behind her actions, but that was it. She seemed a little static at times. Though we saw her become interested in Trevor, their relationship seemed a little bit forced. The bedroom kiss scene, for one, just came out of nowhere. Speaking of Trevor, I didn’t expect him to die – that was honestly a plot twist that I didn’t foreshadow and it really contributed to the storyline in a positive way.

As for the antagonists of the story, there were quite a few – Ludendorff, Isabel Maru and Patrick Morgan/Ares. The one that stood out to me the most was definitely Maru, as she seemed to some sort of evil counterpart for the main heroine. Her mask and what lay underneath it was also very unique. I was secretly hoping for there to be some sort of plot twist where it turns out that she was actually the main villain, but sadly, the final battle featured a Sauron-esque Ares. The visuals were very top notch, though as the battle progressed, it became a little bit ridiculous. There were huge bursts of energy beams coming out nowhere, accompanied by a ton of lightning and exploding buildings.

Overall, the movie was decent,  just a little bit over-the-top, which may be some people’s cup of tea.

I would recommend that people watch it in theaters as opposed to computer or TV screens as a lot of Wonder Woman’s compelling features are rooted in its sound and visuals.