Movie Review: Wonder Woman [SPOILERS]

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I'm usually not into superhero movies, but as a strong, independent woman, I HAD to see Wonder Woman. And this movie did not disappoint!

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I've always been fascinated by ancient mythology, so I loved the Gladiator-like feeling of this film (even Connie Nielsen is in it!). The scenes with the strong women warriors practicing their fighting skills were some of my favorites. And I liked the discussion of ancient gods, and how Wonder Woman (named Diana) was made from clay and Zeus brought her to life. I did a little research into the goddess Diana, goddess of the hunt and childbirth, but I'm still not sure if she is any inspiration for Wonder Woman, or they just happen to share the same name...

The main gist of the movie is that the Amazons live safely on their own little island, but a pilot crashes there (he's an American spy during World War I). Diana saves him, and insists on going to the war to help stop the fighting (she believes the war is the cause of Ares, the god of war). There are lots of impressive fight scenes, but of course stopping the war isn't so easy. In order to help save the day, Chris Pine (the love interest in the movie) has to sacrifice his life. The bad guy does die in the end, but now Wonder Woman (who is immortal?) lives on in modern day without the man she loves. Sad.

BUT I still liked the movie, even with the sad ending. I love the juxtaposition within Wonder Woman's character of her strength and honor along with her naivety of the outside world and mankind. It was really fun watching her see a man for the first time, learning about what kind of clothes people wear (instead of armor), carrying her sword and shield around in the streets of London, things like that. There is definitely humor sprinkled throughout the film which I really enjoyed.

She's never seen a man before, let alone a naked one! Image found here

Also, I loved that we see a naked man in the movie, but not a naked woman. How many times can you say that? Usually female nudity is much more common. Maybe that's what happens when you have a female director!

I think the only thing that really bothered me was that I felt like Wonder Woman wasn't using her full powers all the time. She discovers that she can create an enormous blast of force when she crosses her arms, and yet she only does it a couple of times throughout the film. Why doesn't she just use that power every time she needs to kill?

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The movie wasn't too long, and it wrapped up nicely. No cliffhanger ending, finally! But, one of the previews was for Justice League, so you kind of know what's coming next (2 hours and 50 minutes of it!). Not sure I'll see that movie, but 5 stars for Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman!

I also love that one of the previews was for another girl kick-ass movie, Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron. I want to see that one, too!

*All GIFs found on giphy.com

PS: Here's my blog post about Batman v. Superman, where we first met Gadot as Wonder Woman: http://confidenceiskeyblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/movie-review-batman-vs-superman-spoilers.html