I Wanna Be Like Wonder Woman

I never followed the DC universe, until now. There was only one movie worthy of making me want to crawl out from my little rock and glue my eyes to what was happening.

And that movie, was Wonder Woman. 

There have been many movies out there where women are strong and independent before this one came out. But I feel like Wonder Woman brings back the media’s attention about the importance of having more roles for women in the film industry like this. Seriously, this is what I call an influential movie; I would rather see little girls and teens of today’s generation be inspired by Diana instead of….well…..Ana Steele or Bella Swan. So here, I’m going to be sharing my thoughts about the movie.

I’ve always loved superhero movies, but whenever we had a woman kicking ass in them, those were always minor roles, until now. Diana lives in a secluded island of female warriors created by Zeus to protect the world from the threat of the God of War, Ares. Until the events of World War I collide with the Amazons, Diana sets out to stop Ares, believing he is responsible for what is happening in the outside world. Over time she comes to realize her power and abilities, and to fight for what is right. That is what makes me love her even more, she fights for what she truly believes in.

The movie has some intense action, and also funny moments too: especially when Diana comes to London and is amazed by her surroundings like the baby she sees, and when she tries fighting stances in the clothes Etta and Steve get for her. Speaking of which, I know I’ve said numerous times that I do not like too much sexuality with women who can fight. But this, I can definitely make an exception. Even though Diana’s armor is quite skimpy, my hat is off to the writers and the director for not making it too sexual, especially when she’s in battle. I may have said this before, but before I even was a fan, it seems like the way I designed my Dragon Master anime-like character of myself, her outfit was inspired by Wonder Woman’s without me even knowing it! The only difference was that my character had wings.

Diana fights with the weapons you would consider typical for a warrior, regardless of gender would use. If she was using a weapon like boob projectiles, or BDSM-ish stuff, then I would have a problem (No, the lasso does not count) and that would have been too sexual. Diana is not that kind of person thank God. When she climbs over the top and crosses no man’s land to save the village of Veld, that is one of the best parts of the movie. It is where we learn what she believes in. “No. But it’s what I’m going to do.” She doesn’t care about authority or what the main objective of a mission is. She has a strong sense of compassion and feels that if innocent lives are in danger, she will go to save them, even if that’s not what everyone else came to do.

Through it all, she also struggles to find what mankind is like, her power, and her purpose in life; as there is much she does not know about her past until the very end. Yet, all the while she is focused on stopping Ares, only to be met with shock at the end.

Ares himself I found the most unpredictable. Who would’ve thunk he was in human form all along that was supposed to be on Steve and Diana’s side? We all thought it was Ludendorff; he seemed to fit the personality of Ares in the myths, or so I’ve heard, like the way he inhales that gas to enhance his strength. He’s got Dr. Maru to influence him, and she’s a madwoman. But, I’m still going to cover Patrick Morgan/Ares here instead.

It was a plot twist for me to discover he was Ares, and it was one that worked. Now that I think about it, it would have been too straightforward and less exciting if Ludendorff had been Ares when Diana killed him. Diana was so fixated on Ludendorff being Ares and wanting to put an end to the threat he posed, that she never considered the other possibilities of who might be the God of War in disguise.

However, it is said that he had influence on humanity’s actions during the war in this movie. After retreating to Earth he donned his disguise while seemingly sided with the British, but also secretly helping Ludendorff and Dr. Poison with the deadly gas, in hopes of wiping out all of mankind: Zeus’s creation. Double-crosser much? That would explain why he tempted Diana to see that it was humanity that deserved death and not him. 

I gotta say, his armor was badass, even if it came from piles of debris! Ares was an unpredictable villain in this movie and it just makes me want to read more about him in the books and poems in Greek literature…heh, might as well consider the same for Athena too. My brother had to read the Iliad in one of his classes at uni.

I found Steve to be the witty character of the movie, who always felt the need to direct Diana in the right path, and Etta was just that charming character in her own unique way.

It’s like there’s not a single bad thing I have to say about this movie, other than we finally get one with a female superhero that doesn’t overdo the sexuality. Of course, I don’t deny there have been many strong women in movies that are the same way like Ripley, Sarah Conner, Mako Mori, etc. but Wonder Woman is the one most people will know and DC delivered it fantastically. I saw Wonder Woman here and there while I was growing up, but stayed under a rock, why oh why did I do that? No matter, DC has my attention now, and I want to see Justice League. Got three movies in the next few months to look forward too.

A+ all the way, and it makes me so happy to see girls influenced by Diana, and now, I want to be like her too.

👽Emily