Wonderful Wonder Woman!

I wasn't going to write this, today.  In the wake of yet another terrorist attack in the UK, I was worried that it might not be right to sit here and talk about a movie I went to see, yesterday.  But then, I realised that the message of that movie was one of strength, resilience, doing the right thing and above all else, love.

What better thing to write about, today?

I was nervous about seeing Wonder Woman.  Much had been said and written about this female-directed superhero movie; the first to feature a female superhero since Catwoman (many of the reviews for which were not kind).  The questions I kept seeing being asked were "can a woman superhero bring in the same kind of large audiences as males do?  And is she going to be a heroine that people get excited about?!"

The answer came to me before the film had even started.  As the lights were going down, a young man walked into the cinema, holding the hand of a little girl.  That little girl was probably only six or seven, but she was dressed up as Wonder Woman.  She sat transfixed throughout the movie and, at the end, rushed off down the road, with her superhero cape trailing behind her.

So, yes.  Wonder Woman is a heroine to be very excited about.  Not least because in Wonder Woman, women and girls finally have a superhero who is every inch as bad-ass as her male counterparts and the writers didn't feel the need to make her hyper-sexual, the way so many female characters in these kinds of films have been, over the years.

Instead, Diana (as she is known throughout the film) is strong, brave, fiercely principled, curious and determined.  She believes in love.  She fights for what she feels is right.  She is, in many ways, a pacifist, despite being a fearsome warrior; she fights only because she has to, and because she believes in a peaceful outcome as a result of her efforts.

Watching the film, I was reminded of how I felt as a teenager, when I first switched on Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  I was watching a powerful woman show herself to be every bit equal to any male hero, if not stronger.  I was watching a heroine who was witty, unwilling to be controlled or contained and who was utterly compelled to do the right thing.  It made me feel emboldened.  Strong.  It gave me hope.  It made me proud.

Gal Gadot was superb in the title role; her portrayal of Diana's innocence combined with her enormous emotional and physical strength, to make Diana a fully rounded character, whose story was entirely engaging.  You rooted for her from the very start, because you believed in her.

Chris Pine was warm and witty as Steve, the American spy who literally crashes into Diana's world and is instrumental in her discovering her true abilities, as he leads her into "the war to end all wars."

With genuinely beautiful cinematography, a rich script, full of humour and depth and a stirring score, Wonder Woman had me hooked from start to finish.

Most crucially, that finish featured Diana accepting her role as Wonder Woman being borne out of a belief in love and that good will prevail.  At times like this, Wonder Woman is exactly the heroine the world needs.

I want to be her when I grow up...