Wonder Woman Goddess Movie Review

Wonder Woman Goddess Movie Review

Today I (FINALLY!) went to see the new Wonder Woman movie with one of my best friends and my 5 year old son (he thought it was scary but also asked if we could buy it when it comes out on DVD. Both my friend and I have shared our love of this super heroine and as little girls we would act out Her moves. Before arriving at the theater, I felt slightly concerned that after waiting for MOST of my life to see Wonder Woman on film, the movie wouldn’t live up to my expectations. But it did! I wanted to watch it again, I wanted to just STAY in that movie. She made me feel safe.

It’s been 76 years since this comic strip Goddess was created by the POLYAMOROUS , Ivy League PSYCHOLOGIST, William Marston. There have been 163 AMERICAN SUPER HERO movies, only 3 have been female (Tank Girl & My Super Ex-girlfriend being the other 2) and Wonder Woman is JUST NOW getting Her own film! Needless to say, MILLIONS of women all over the world took their excitement to the theater in the past week and today, WONDER WOMAN is the #1 movie in the world. The wise woman who directed the film, Patty Jenkins, had the BIGGEST opening weekend for a female director and is the FIRST FEMALE EVER to direct a Super Hero film!

That being said, the film opens on the matriarchal picturesque paradise island that the child Diana (Wonder Woman) shares with the older, stunningly strong Amazonian women. The first few scenes are of these extremely athletic actresses (who I read trained for 6 hours a day!) and gives a feel for their story. They roughly (through the eyes of the male writers) and not completely accurately try to explain the Greek Mythology of how Diana came to be.

Soon, adult Diana (portrayed by the otherworldly Israeli actress, Gal Gadot)’s love interest (the WWI spy Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine) falls from the sky from another dimension and Wonder Woman saves him.

Promising to take him home, She leaves the island to find an end to all war.

Diana and Steve arrive in 1918 London where they meet a colorful cast of characters. There we are reminded of the suffragettes and how far society has come in the past 100 years toward the treatment of women and equality at all.

With wardrobe changes and supporting cast in place, they all set off to stop the bad guys (one of whom I was delighted to see was female!) As they all approach the front lines of the battlefield, you experience and feel with Diana. We see Her heart break at the injured boys-turned-soldiers and animals injured and civilians trapped in the middle of a war torn life. And to this, SHE GETS MAD- She gets mad and vengeful the way any mother or woman does when anyone is mistreated. She goes out on that battlefield and KICKS ASS, femininely, using Her strength and Wisdom.

And that’s not the end of it, although She gains a LOT of respect at that point. It’s about at this time I’m reminded that the film’s direction was female because the Officer Steve tells Diana to NOT do something and instead of listening to Her intuition She listens to him and people die. Our lesson: NEVER STOP A WOMAN, they always have the best ideas!

***Spoiler Alert***

At the denouement of the film (although we’d been suspecting it!) we learn that Diana is ACTUALLY A GODDESS. #duh And She puts up one of the most heroic fight sequences I’ve ever seen (not without emotion and loss) on film. And She moves you and reminds us TO LOVE.

I cried at least thrice during the film but I silently WAILED in the bathroom stall after the movie. Seeing an older woman wearing some kind of native-of-somewhere embroidered blouse weeping as I held the bathroom door open floored me. I was reminded of the importance of this film and this message and that EVERY WOMAN REALLY IS WONDER WOMAN. And the ONLY way to achieve world peace is to let the women do what they do and every one else step back and support that power.

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