Review of Wonder Woman (2017) by Leyla M — 05 Dec 2017

First of all, it's about damn time that this movie came out. For too long the film industry has ignored female superheroes. Don't get me wrong, I'm no superhero or comic book connoisseur and I'm not going to speak as if I know everything about them. In fact, this review has less to do with the fact that this is just another superhero movie and more to do with the fact that this is a movie about a female superhero who is strong and powerful in her own right. .

When I was a little girl and people used to ask me who my favorite superhero was, I would say Superman without missing a beat. I mean what more could you want in a superhero? He was strong beyond belief, had amazing superpowers, and not to mention extremely hot. And on a side note, he fought for justice and equality. It wasn't until I got older that I eventually started to realize the lack of representation in the film industry of female superheroes. Even when I found out about her, I believed that she was still weaker than most mainstream superheroes like Batman who doesn't even have superpowers for god's sake. Before you lash out about me bashing batman and going on a tangent on how he's amazing, chill. I think he's pretty cool too. While little boys had these amazing superheroes to look up to and pretend to be like, little girls didn't. Since Wonder Woman first appeared in Star Comics #8 in October of 1941, she has become the symbol for female empowerment all over the world. She, just like Superman and all the other heroes, fought for justice. But more than anything she preached love as the strongest power in the world. The Wonder Woman movie represents the rise of female power in the Hollywood film industry. The Wonder Woman movie represents women taking the power back into their own hands. The wonder woman movie is something that little girls can look at and say, "Yes women are strong and powerful too."  .

Now it is not an unknown fact that Gal Gadot, the main lead actress, in her own right is a wonder woman in her own right. Before landing the role, she was planning on quitting the industry all together. I mean with a family, it was a struggle to keep going back and forth from Israel to Los Angeles was difficult for her. Prior to entering into the film industry, Gadot was in the pageant industry. Then she served in the Israeli army for two years as is mandatory of all citizens of Israel. The most kick ass thing about her though is the fact that she was shooting the Wonder Woman movie while she was three months pregnant which probably isn't any news to you if you loved this movie as much as I did and looked up every little possible thing that you could about her. The amount of training, physical strength, and effort was put into this film would be difficult for anybody to do, just imagine how hard it must have been for her being three months pregnant. That's the thing about women, and maybe I'm a little biased in saying this, we do whatever needs to be done.  .

I believe that another thing that makes this a feminist movie is the island of Themyscira. Not the island itself but the woman on the island. Bad ass, powerful, amazon warriors who don't need help from no man. Based on Ancient Greek mythology, the amazons were a tribe of fierce woman who were descendants of Ares, the Greek god of war. Apparently, they were the equal to men. Though yes, their rule of no men allowed except for reproductive purposes isn't true feminism, the fact that they were seen equal to men in ancient Greek times is.  .

The other amazing fact about this is the fact that this movie was directed by a female director named Patty Jenkins, which is also probably something you know already. Not only that but it is the 3rd highest grossing DC comics movie of all time. According to Forbes magazine it is the highest grossing superhero origin film coming at a hot 821.74 million dollars. Jenkins had the honor of being the first female to ever direct a movie that hit over 100 million dollars on opening weekend. I can proudly state that I was and am a part of that statistic. This movie broke records left and right and it really showed what women can do if given the opportunity. Do you really think that anybody thought that a woman could direct a superhero movie before Patty Jenkins did? No, I guarantee you, probably not.  .

Do you see what I mean by this movie stands for a lot more than what it actually is? I mean from the outside perspective it's like, " Yeah just another superhero movie ha. Nothing really special here." But when you ask me, this represents the power, strength, integrity, and the capabilities that each woman possesses.  Gal Gadot herself even said that, "It was the first time for me - as a woman, a girl, a female - that I saw an image of strong women that are beautiful and confident and can take care of themselves." Maybe my opinion is a little biased, but it's mine never the less. This was the first film in my lifetime that I have seen at the big screen and was proud to spend the 15 dollars on.  As long as Hollywood keeps coming out with movies like this, I will keep supporting them with my dollars.  .