Today’s Prayer Focus
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MOVIE REVIEW

Wonder Woman

also known as “Mulher Maravilha,” “La mujer maravilla,” “Mujer Maravilla,” “Nuostabioji moteris,” “Cudezna zenska,” “Nu Than Chien Binh”
MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA) for sequences of violence and action, and some suggestive content.

Reviewed by: Blake Wilson
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: • Adults • Young-Adults • Teens
Genre: Superhero Fantasy War Action Adventure
Length: 2 hr. 21 min.
Year of Release: 2017
USA Release: June 2, 2017 (wide—4,165 theaters)
DVD: September 19, 2017
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Relevant Issues

Biblical women with admirable character, include: Mrs. Noah, Mary (mother of Jesus), Esther, Deborah, and Milcah, daugher of Zelophehad

What is goodness? And righteousness?

Women in the Bible

Biblical super strength: Samson

Lies versus truth

Courage / bravery / self-sacrifice

Paradise

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Greek pagan mythology and idolatry

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Feminist subtext of the film—What about Feminism and Women’s Lib?

Swords in the Bible

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the horrors of World War I

What is the Biblical perspective on war? Answer

War in the Bible

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WHO IS GAL GADOT?
She is an Israeli model, former Miss Israel and now an actress who served in the Israeli army as a combat instructor. She is married to multi-millionaire Israeli real estate developer Yaron Varsano. Their faith is Judaism, but they met at a retreat for yoga, chakras and healthy eating. They are based in Tel Aviv.

Featuring Gal GadotDiana Prince / Wonder Woman
Chris PineSteve Trevor
Robin WrightGeneral Antiope
David ThewlisSir Patrick
Connie NielsenQueen Hippolyta
Elena Anaya … Maru / Doctor Poison
Lucy Davis … Etta Candy
Doutzen Kroes … Venelia
Ewen Bremner … Charlie
Danny HustonGeneral Erich Ludendorff
Mayling Ng … Orana
See all »
Director Patty Jenkins — “Monster” (2003)
Producer Charles Roven
Deborah Snyder
See all »
Distributor Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures. Trademark logo.Warner Bros. Pictures

Sequel: “Wonder Woman 84” (2020)

On the secret island of Themyscira, Diana (Gal Gadot) is raised among a group of women warriors named the Amazons. When she grows up, something unusual happens. A man finds the island! Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), an American spy working for the British army, crashes his plane into the sea. Diana saves his life, only to unintentionally bring additional trouble.

It turns out, a German brigade chased Captain Trevor to the island. After a scuffle with the Amazons that causes catastrophe on both sides, Captain Trevor is held captive by the Amazons until they know his mission. Using the “lasso of truth,” he tells Diana and the Amazons about World War I, and all the devastation it has caused. Upon hearing this, Diana believes that the war is being caused by Ares, the Greek god of war who has the power to influence others for his benefit. In the meantime, he also reportedly killed many other gods in the past.

Diana decides to leave Themyscira to try and stop Ares. But, trying to adjust to a world completely different than hers, as well as trying to stop a world war is going to prove more challenging than she would ever imagine.

Entertainment Quality

For the most part, the film’s action scenes are a refreshing break from the CGI-heavy effects of recent action blockbusters. The battle scenes are pulse-pounding, painstakingly well-shot, and succeeded in keeping me glued to the screen. It’s only at the very end when things finally start relying a little too heavily on CGI effects. The script is tight and to the point. It also wisely avoids spending too much time on backstory as well as trying to connect the dots with past and future DC movies. As we get to the end, the script brings in some surprising depth that I haven’t often found in superhero films.

Following her first appearance as the character in “Batman v. Superman,” Gadot once again shines. She does a terrific job of depicting the multi-faceted personality for which Diana/Wonder Woman is known. From her kindness and innocence to her toughness and unwavering bravery, she does a great job. Pine also gives a great performance as Captain Trevor, with some heart and humor along the way. Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen play Diana’s aunt and mom (Queen Hippolyta), and despite relatively limited screentime, they are both convincing. Also, Lucy Davis provides a few humorous moments as Captain Trevor’s secretary, Etta Candy. She isn’t given a lot to do, however, and I would have liked to hear more from her.

Rupert Gregson-Williams” music score often soars. The costumes and sets are all fantastic. The contrast of colors between the bright, peaceful Themyscira and the darkness of Earth during wartime is well done. One other worthy note here is that with a female director (…Patty Jenkins) and female lead, I was a little concerned that the film could have chosen to limit men or treat them as dimwitted or not as strong as the females involved. I will say, I was pleasantly surprised. Jenkins portrays Captain Trevor to be just as much of a hero as Diana herself. And other male soldiers that fight in the war are also portrayed respectfully.

Positive Messages

For the most part, Diana represents a true, honest hero. She looks out for others ahead of herself, and only desires to protect the world. She cares for everyone who comes to know her. We see her devastated and nearly moved to tears by observing all the injured in the war. In many ways, she looks at the world with a naiveté similar to Giselle from “Enchanted.” Ultimately, her selflessness and love for humanity is very inspiring and brings to mind 1 Corinthians 13.

Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV

Characters repeatedly sacrifice their lives to save others. The movie goes into a surprisingly thoughtful discussion about how honest love makes a real difference in the world.

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Wonder Woman is given the chance to destroy a human villain [a female], before ultimately deciding not to. She is scolded for this decision, and is told, “They don’t deserve your protection!”

She replies, “It’s not about deserving, it’s about what you believe. And I believe in love.” Later she admits, “I believe only love can save the world.”

As Christians, we know that to be true. I thought about John 3:16, as it shows that God’s love for imperfect beings truly made a difference and redeemed the undeserving.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. …He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already… And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” —John 3:16, 18-19 NKJV

In this part of the movie, Wonder Woman decides that war is not necessarily based on influence from any divine power; it’s based on free will. Everyone is given a choice to do good or evil. In the film, war is condemned, and positive choices are shown to be honorable.

Negative Content

Language: I was happy not to hear the s-word or Jesus’ name misused. Vulgar and profane language is refreshingly rare here. I did catch 4 uses of “h*ll,” one of “bloody” and one of “d**n it.” “Oh my g*d” is interjected in shock one time, and there may have been one other use, though it was hard to distinguish.

Sexual Content/Nudity: Diana accidentally walks in on Captain Trevor as he is getting out of a bath (the camera focuses on his chest up). She asks, “What’s that?” He stutters to answer, thinking she’s referring to his anatomy. A few seconds later, it’s revealed that she was actually asking about his watch. As he then walks out, the camera glimpses his whole body at a distance for a few seconds (with his hands covering his private parts). Diana questions whether or not he is average for the male species. He replies, “Above average.”

Later, while on a boat, Diana innocently asks Steve to sleep next to her on a blanket. Steve hesitates to do so, as he believes it is “impolite to do so outside the bounds of marriage.” They both discuss the ideas of procreation and “pleasures of the flesh.” Diana says she read a book that told her all about it. She also mentions that the book says men are necessary for procreation, but not for recreation. He then asks if she has the book with her.

In one scene, Captain Trevor takes Diana into a room for the night. He then closes the door behind him, kisses her, and the scene ends. The audience is left with the implication that they slept together. On a positive note, we don’t see anything beyond a kiss. However, considering Diana’s character, it is particularly disappointing.

The Amazons all wear tight, leotard-like outfits that are meant to help them in a similar way a leotard helps a gymnast. Wonder Woman dons a similar battle outfit that is somewhat low-cut. The camera resists the temptation to ogle Diana and the Amazons, but men do clearly ogle Diana, at times. One man says, “I’m both frightened and aroused.” One piece of art shows Amazons crawling out of the water unclothed, though their sensitive areas are obscured by water or their arms.

Violence: A couple of battle scenes are shown to some realistic effect, with lots of gunfire and weaponry, but with very little bloodshed. On Themyscira, soldiers and horses are hit and killed with arrows. Amazons are shown hanging dead after a gunshot. In the war, things are more grim. We see rapid fire. Diana defends with her shield and bracelets, resulting in a boomerang effect to the shooter. Diana throws a tank against a building, and runs right through a church steeple, causing the top of the building to crumple and fall.

A plane explodes in the distance. A poisonous gas causes a gas mask to break apart, and a handful of people die off-screen, with some coughing/gasping heard. We see an ugly scar on someone’s face. Wonder Woman is nearly squeezed to death at one point. In one scene, we briefly witness a soldier who apparently has lost part of a leg. Horses are briefly whipped. In a bar fight, someone receives multiple punches to the face. Someone is slammed against a wall. Characters are accosted in an alley, and are nearly hit with a gunshot. The war is described as women and children being killed, and millions of people dying.

Drugs/Alcohol: A bar scene shows some alcohol being consumed, and a couple of characters appear inebriated. A few characters toast with beer bottles at one point. Alcohol is offered during a dance.

Other: Being a spy, Captain Trevor does deceive others as a part of his job (though Diana clearly isn’t thrilled with this). The film discusses Zeus and other Greek gods, and Ares plays a role. According to a friend who attended the movie with me, the overall mythology presented here isn’t in line with real Greek pagan idolatry.

Conclusion

In an age of superhero movies, “Wonder Woman” stands out as something different. Up to this point, there has been no movie in this rapidly-expanding genre with a female superhero lead. I had heard of the character before, having seen moments of Lynda Carter’s “Wonder Woman” TV show with my parents, but I didn’t know much about the character.

Her first big feature film is better than I was expecting. The film is entertaining, and despite being almost 2½ hours, it never seemed too slow or too long. It has an old-school, old-fashioned feel that reminds me of “Captain America: The First Avenger.” And despite a CGI-heavy ending, the movie packs in some surprising emotional depth, particularly towards the end. The film’s discussions about humanity, free will and the cost of war are particularly moving. In the meantime, some strong Biblical messages show up that might leave believers pleasantly surprised.

Overall, “Wonder Woman” is a cleaner film than many of its superhero movie brethren. This doesn’t mean this movie is appropriate for all ages. There are intense war scenes, and the movie regrettably does include a couple of awkward, uncomfortable conversations that suggest inappropriate and mature ideas, as well as a scene of near complete male nudity.

Being rated PG-13, parents are especially advised to take the content problems into consideration before making a decision for their family. “Wonder Woman” is definitely one of the better, more inspiring superhero movies I’ve seen to date.

  • Violence: Very Heavy
  • Profane language: Moderate— • My G*d (1) • OMG (1) • h*ll (5) • d*mn it (1)
  • Vulgar/Crude language: • bloody (1) • bug*er (1)
  • Nudity: Moderate— • nude man (only slightly covered) • passionate kiss • couples kissing • inferred fornication • skimpy female costumes • cleavage
  • Sex: • sexual comments and innuendos • reference to lesbianism
  • Occult: • ancient Greek mythology about gods and their powers

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William Moulton Marston in 1942
Feminist themed drawing by Harry G. Peter that appeared in an article by Dr. Marston
Editor’s Note to Parents:
  • The creator of Wonder Woman was originally a secret. It eventually came to light with the headline, “Noted Psychologist Revealed as Author of Best-Selling ‘Wonder Woman’”. The character and original stories were created by American psychologist William Moulton Marston, Ph.D. (and drawn by Harry Peter who had previously been doing editorial cartoons featuring suffragists). Marston invented the polygraph, hence the Lasso of Truth was featured in his stories.

  • “FREE LOVE” without restriction— Marston had a mistress (Olive Byrne—a staff writer for Family Circle magazine under the pseudonym Olive Richard—and formerly Dr. Martson’s student in psychology class. She lived with him and his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston in a long-term polyamorous sexual relationship. (There was at least one other woman in this relationship—Marjorie W. Huntley.) Byrne is credited as being his inspiration for the character’s appearance and the bracelets. Dr. Marston gave the bracelets to Olive as a symbol of their love.

    “During the years when she lived with Marston and Holloway, she wore, instead of a wedding ring, a pair of bracelets. Wonder Woman wears those same cuffs.”

  • BISEXUAL— “She was a little slinky; she was very kinky,” wrote researcher Jill Lepore (Smithsonian Magazine). Wonder Woman DC Comics writer Greg Rucka clearly stated that the character’s sexual orientation is bisexual, and gave her a backstory that includes relationships with women.

  • Dr. Marston was a fan of PARAPSYCHOLOGY, METAPHYSICS, EROTICISM, BONDAGE AND SUBMISSION, and he worked these into his Wonder Woman stories. Her appearance was similar to Esquire’s Varga pin-up girls (centerfolds) at that time (1940s).

    Prior to writing Wonder Woman, he wrote a BDSM novel, Venus With Us. In his Wonder Woman stories, characters are frequently tied up, and her Amazon sisters engage “in frequent wrestling and bondage play… in his other writings and interviews he referred to submission as a noble practice and did not shy away from the sexual implications…”

    Her abilities included ESP, astral projection of herself, magic, telepathy, the ability to speak any language and to leave the planet through meditation.

  • FEMINISM—In writing Wonder Woman, Dr. Marston was strongly inspired by early Feminists, especially contraceptionist and anti-Christian Feminist Margaret Sanger, who secretly was a member of his family—Olive’s aunt.

    “Marston hired Joy Hummel to help write Wonder Woman. And Marston’s mistress, Olive, gave her one book and told her to read this and you’ll know how to write Wonder Woman. And that book was… Margaret Sanger’s Woman and the New Race.”

    Sanger claimed that promoting sexual abstinence was ridiculous and “is injurious—often highly so.” Her book directly opposed Biblical teachings and attempted to create “a new sex morality,” as well as promoting population control and eugenics to eliminate groups of people she called “defectives” “…to raise the human race on to a higher level.” Sanger insisted that a woman’s “mission is not to enhance the masculine spirit… not to preserve a man-made world, but to create a human world by the infusion of the feminine element into all of its activities.” Out of her work grew a militant Feminist political movement and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.

    Years later, Mrs. Marston “boasted about how well she had known Sanger.” “I spent a lot of time with M.S., both at her home and mine.”

    In 1937 (4 years before Wonder Woman’s introduction), Dr. “Marston held a press conference in which he predicted that women would one day rule the world.” After creating and writing Wonder Woman stories, he said,

    “Frankly, Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world.”

    Thus, in “Wonder Woman,” a female run society is a virtual paradise—on an island resembling Lesbos. Most of the women are wonderful and good. Without men, most everything is beautiful, and the women mostly live in harmony with Nature. That is, until a MAN appears on the island bringing war in his wake, and everything that is ugly, brutal, corrupt and incompetent.

    Premiere issue of Ms. magazine. Cover illustrated by Murphy Anderson.
    Ms. cover, Fall 2012.

    FEMINIST ICON—“Wonder Woman evolved as a frontrunner of emancipation for the suffragettes who fought for the rights of women in the early 20th century.” In 1971, self-described “radical Feminist” and well known atheist, abortion activist, and Liberal political activist Gloria Steinem placed the character on the cover of Ms. magazine and said,

    “Looking back now at these Wonder Woman stories from the ’40s, I am amazed by the strength of their feminist message.”

    Wonder Woman was named a “Symbol of Feminist Revolt.” In 1972, Dr. Marston’s wife walked into the offices of Ms. and said, “Hello, I’m Elizabeth Marston, and I know all about Wonder Woman.” She told the staff that she was “100% with them in what they are trying to do and to ‘charge ahead!’” (The following year, abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court.)

    Wonder Woman Researcher Jill Lepore reports that the character owes a debt not only to Feminism, but also “to Greenwich Village bohemianism, socialism, free love, androgyny, sex radicalism…,” etc.

    scene from “Wonder Woman.” Copyright, Warner Bros. Pictures

    CELEBRATION OF FEMALE EMPOWERMENT—The design decisions for this new “Wonder Woman” film reportedly came primarily from Director …Patty Jenkins and costume designer Lindy Hemming as a “celebration of female empowerment.”

    “Hemming crafted a look to show off the Amazons’ ripped shoulders and toned legs, emphasized by wrist braces and heeled sandals, because, Jenkins explained, ‘As a woman, I want Wonder Woman to fight and look great at the same time.’”

    Thus, the film gives us a hot Amazon supermodel secretary with super powers—a woman who has no idea how attractive she is, and has the strength to defeat any man and can toss a tank.

    In 2016, the United Nations named Wonder Woman a UN Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. Later, due to controversy, she was dropped.

  • PAGAN RELIGION—The character is a demigoddess. “A distinctive trait of her characterization is a group of signature mythological exclamations, such as ‘Great Aphrodite!’… ‘Great Hera!’, ‘Merciful Minerva!’, and ‘Suffering Sappho!’” (Sappho is a symbol of female homosexuality or bisexuality.) Some of these exclamations “were contributed by Elizabeth Holloway Marston.” Eventually, Wonder Woman rises to full godhood as the Goddess of Truth.

Sources: The Secret History of Wonder Woman—Knopf 2014, Smithsonian Magazine, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Sanger Papers, Wikipedia, etc.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—Given the track of DC films as of late, I had decided that “Wonder Woman” was going to be their last chance to keep me as an audience member. And surprisingly, they’ve succeeded, as “Wonder Woman” is the best movie about a DC superhero since Nolan’s revered Dark Knight trilogy. It shines like a ray of sunshine in the dark and gritty cinematic world we’ve seen thus far; there’s humor, emotional depth, and an actual hero (whom Gal Gadot portrays beautifully)! The old-fashioned vibe—particularly present in the second act—is reminiscent of Marvel’s “Captain America: The First Avenger.”

Not that “Wonder Woman” is without faults. There is no shortage of beautiful Amazons, and while I can praise the film for not taking gratuitous advantage of this, there is a scene where Diana interrupts Steve Trevor [Chris Pine] bathing—a distant shot shows him almost entirely naked. Much later in the film, it is implied that these two sleep together (a move which seems wildly out of character for both). See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Christina, age 24 (USA)
Positive—I went into this movie expected feminist undertones (due to the feminist group using Wonder Woman as their mascot), but was relieved and pleased to find that there weren’t any. It exposed Diana Prince as what she is, a woman. Even though she had abilities that made her stronger than men, she still acted like a lady. She was ignorant in several circumstances for lack of being exposed to the real world, but never acted superior to men. So that was refreshing!

Offenses: It’s implied she and the soldier sleep together, but doesn’t show anything. She mentions they have books in the library that she read that mentions that women don’t need men when it comes to pleasure. The last is that he’s in the tub, she walks in, and he tries getting out of the tub, covering his front, but still there’s some bodily exposure. Loose language is used, but to a moderate extent. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Paulina, age 23 (USA)
Positive—At last we have it “Wonder Woman” the DC comics hero in her first live film, and it is very good. To start off DC comics has not had a very good reputation regarding its latest entries; however I will disagree that 2013 “Man of Steel” was a fail. This is untrue, and there is way to many haters on the newest Superman film. Perhaps there are too many fan boys and girls whom are not familiar with the character and his depth (which is not much to begin with) and whom are stuck in the 70s… well you can have it. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Jake, age 38 (USA)
Positive—…To speculate that the sequel might be immoral is misleading as no one knows. Let’s wait and see, shall we. One other criticism, would you all feel better removing the intense CGI fire and destruction with actual fire and destruction that puts the cast in serious peril? There is a push to denounce CGI and push for practical effects only. There is nothing wrong with CGI… only bad CGI. Let’s concentrate on that, instead.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Sherman, age 52 (USA)
Positive—Having seen episodes of the classic “Wonder Woman” television series when I was very young (too young to understand the storylines, but old enough to have a crush on Wonder Woman) and seen the character make her motion picture debut in last year’s BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, I was more than excited to see this prelude to a prologue (BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE) to a massive superhero crossover (JUSTICE LEAGUE—coming this November). And I was not disappointed in any way. The acting, writing, musical score, costume design, and directing are all spot-on.

Biblically-speaking, there is a shot of near full male nudity, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Either way, it was gratuitous, and should have been cut. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
D, age 31 (USA)
Positive—I don’t understand all the negativity following this movie! I understand it’s based on Greek mythology, but most people know that going into the movie. There is an understanding that this is a fictional story and that it isn’t christian. So, if you are going in the movie expecting a Christian story line, you’ll actually get pretty close to one! The parallels of God and Satan are so there that it’s amazing! Diana asks herself, are humans worth saving, when the reality, is humans choose to do evil acts and aren’t forced by Satan. She thinks that evil, once removed, will stop the war, but realizes that humans are actually the agents.

***SPOILER*** She still chooses to anyways! Sound familiar? ***END SPOILER***

The god of war is jealous of Zeus’s creation and how much Zeus loves them. Sound familiar? I’m amazed no one has picked up on this sooner! It is comparable to Narnia. Clearly fictional, but with an amazing underlying truth! Every adult should see it and even young women. It places value on women. That in God’s plan we are just as important and capable. This personally made me want to be on the good side even more. It makes this fight on Earth worth it. That, yes, we will fail, but we can be redeemed.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Jessica Hampton, age 27 (USA)
Positive—The pagan themes may be too much for some, but this is not an anti-Christian film. Wonder Woman is a good character, and this is a film that empowers women without dissing men. I wouldn’t recommend it to younger viewers, but if you are looking for a good action flick, without a ton of questionable content, I’d recommend it to older children. 5 stars.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Helen (USA)
—Come on Christians. You think Christians would love a film where sacrificial love saves humankind, where love is found to be more important than fighting, where the heroine spares rather than kills her enemy (a physically and spiritually-wounded German poison gas scientist) and where the Satanic figure does his evil by tempting and taking advantage of the inclination of people to do evil. This film is full of meditations on the reasons for the violence and wars that plague us. Instead so many reviewers are bent out of shape because of a double entendre involving getting out of a bathtub, a scene behind closed doors where love happens and sexual intercourse may or may not happen, another where a sniper is killed off in a church tower (something similar happens in in “Saving Private Ryan”) and where people have more troubles with the Greek God’s than the Apostle Paul did in Greece where people believed in them. And of course, a strong female superhero suggests the various baggages of “feminism.” And some fairly mild cussing.

This is of course a superhero film and functions within the conventions of the genre, good heroes in a ragtag band, evil villains, dysfunctional bureaucrats, and lots of sanitized CGI martial arts violence. Still the message should be one Christians approve of.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Stanley Hirtle, age 73 (USA)
Neutral
Neutral—I want to share that I did know the history of Wonder Woman, because I knew that she was from the Amazon women. I use to watch the Lynda Carter shows as a teenager. I did not know about the bisexual part about Wonder Woman, but it does make logical sense, because she is from an island full of women and absolutely no men. If you have not seen this film, I would like to advise that there are two semi-nude scenes of men in this movie. In one scene, Steve Trevor is caught bathing by Dianna, and, in another scene, Ares shares of being knocked to the Earth, and he is stripped of his armor. In both scenes, the men have just a hand covering their front.

If you are unaware of Greek mythology, Wonder Woman is based upon the Amazon Women. Greek mythology is all about lusts of every kind. This movie has some strong implications of that. I felt that this movie review was helpful in pointing out this fact. I want to inform that Greek mythology is about the gods and goddesses. I say this because I notice that some people were upset that “gods” are mentioned in the film. I saw people with small children in the theater watching this film. I would recommend children 14 years old and up. This is not a little child’s movie.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Karen, age 50 (USA)
Neutral—I didn’t realize that the story of Wonder Woman is based on Greek Mythology. Diana is the daughter of Zeus and is on a quest to destroy Ares, the God of War. At the beginning, it is shown how Diana grows up in a kingdom created by Zeus where women are learning to be fighters, and she is an amazon princess. There are no men in this world, and so Zeus creates Diana out of Clay, and she is the only child living there. She is intrigued as she watches the women fighting, and so her aunt teaches her to fight when she is a young girl, even though it is against the wishes of her queen mother. This is a society where there is no need for men.

When she is a woman, Diana saves the life of a spy, Steve Trevor, and winds up fighting against war in the “War to End All Wars,” the First World War. Although there is very little swearing or profanity to speak of, God’s name is used once in an exclamation of surprise with OMG. I also heard replacements for swear words such as “cripe.” There is some sexual innuendo. The most offensive part is when Diana comes across Steve when he is swimming. He stands up, obviously naked, and she asks, “What is that?” which makes the viewer feel she is referring to male anatomy, something we assume she has not seen in a female only society. We see frontal nudity with his hand covering his private parts. Later in the film, we see them kissing, and the assumption could be made that they make love, although there are no remarks about it later to indicate that anything happened. There is also an earlier scene when Steve says that sex should not be assumed unless you are married. There is talk that only love can save the world. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Kathy Pj, age 57 (Canada)
Negative
Negative—The heroine murders countless people in this film, but because it is WWI, and she’s fighting Germans (more like proto-Nazis), it’s “okay.” Very well-made film with extremely high production values, good acting, and good story (with a few very good moments), but the agenda and “moral” of the picture are crystal clear: believe in yourself, rise to your own “godhood”, we’re all to blame for the problems in the world, but we can choose to be a part of the solution, we all have light and darkness within us, and only love conquers the darkness.

Sounds good, eh? (only if you don’t know your Bible and haven’t been born again, perhaps). However… Jesus is not the Son of God in this film, and the Father isn’t even God. It’s Zeus and the Greek pantheon.

I have no problem with a fantasy film, but to put this “theology” into a more contemporary setting, and even have the heroine blow up a church steeple and bell tower (where a sniper was hiding), then to stand upon it in triumph is a not-so-subtle message of what “works” and what doesn’t. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Chris A., age 52 (USA)
Negative—While visually attractive, there is a huge undercurrent of spiritual tension in this film. Let me explain: this movie informs us that Father God, the creator of the universe, has died. Who killed him? Why, it was his son——the “God of Truth” named “Ares” (also referred to as the “God of War”).

Compelled to speak the truth (being bound by Wonder Woman’s, er, “lasso of truth”), the first sentence Ares utters is “I am.” Which happens to be the personal name of God in the Bible. Anyway, all gods are dead except for two: Ares and Diana (a.k.a. Wonder Woman). Ares wants to destroy humanity and starts World War I. Diana believes in us, kills Ares, and ends the war. Now, there’s a single god alive—Diana.

This movie is entertaining, no doubt. But these spiritual undertones appear to be purposeful.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality:
Sonam (Australia)
NegativeI was looking forward to seeing this, but I am disappointed how much they went into this mythological story of where she came from. They talked about it a lot, through the whole movie, too. They talked about how this mythological creature created man. Then they called her the god killer, that she was to kill this god with this sword. Not what I thought the movie was going to be about.

It was very slow the first hour and much didn’t happen after the beginning, lots of talking, which was surprising. The real action didn’t happen until the end, and the movie was 2 hours and 20 minutes. I was surprised this was such a huge hit, but, also, it’s sad because there are so many confused people out there with spirituality and that will only confuse them more. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3
Stephanie, age 43 (USA)
Negative—I agree with the negative comments here. I enjoyed the initial fantasy world—the beautiful island scenery, the unusual setting and the super strong women, but then the movie changed into a grim and violent war film that was too hard for me to handle, and I left about ⅔ of the way through. I was also a little thrown by the fantasy concepts of the birth of the main character and the “gods” of the story. Theologically, this is a very peculiar movie.

In retrospect, I did not like the juxtaposition of fantasy and reality and the very odd presence of humor that had no place in such a serious movie about people and nations killing each other. PG-13 is not an adequate rating.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
Halyna Barannik, age 71 (USA)
Negative—DISLIKES 1—This movie is far too long and inflated with unnecessary lines. Diana’s self-righteous monologues and dialogues sound rather artificial, since she is indeed a seductive-looking war princess.

2—This is a fantasy/action movie, but there is not much action, and the mixing of fantasy with an element of warped history does not help, either. Of course, the producers were aware of what they were doing. They deliberately depicted the Turks as the partners of the Nazi Germans who developed chemical weapons during WWI. Sorry, I am not a 5 year old, and I know for sure that Nazi Germany had not existed until 1930s and the Turks had stayed neutral during WWII. Actually, to the contrary of what the movie shows, the Turks saved a lot of Jews from the hands of the Nazis. See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
Andre Rane, age 52 (France)
Negative—Some good things first… What I enjoyed was a movie where the viewer could connect with the women, even if they are not women themselves, by observing how they defended their honor and protected their island. I also felt that they were attired appropriately for battle, as one of my initial misgivings about the film was the quality of their clothing… which was not alluring, once you began watching the film. If you are a male and did not grow up in a country where the women are clothed from head to foot, then you can quickly ignore the semi-exposed women in this film and focus on the action and storyline without becoming distracted. This last point leads me to the second positive thing about this movie.

One good thing stands out… the women are not victims. Gal Gadot, the actress who plays Wonder Woman, does not have any misgivings about what she is about to do… she simply does it. Each of the Amazons does not let a man take control of her, sending the clear message that a single woman does not belong to any man who happens to come along.

Yet, this leads me to the final point… which is negative. We can see that although Wonder Woman is not owned by any man, the viewer can easily see that she, or any Amazon, will not be (I didn’t say cannot be) romantically involved with just one man. Feminism takes the worst qualities of males and gives them to females, with the only difference being that how a woman expresses these qualities is generally more subtle.

Instead of showing over-the-top bravado like a man, she will assert opinions with force… both man and woman doing so without considering if their opinion is actually valid. Or, the propensity of males to capture women in the ancient days and have a harem full of victories might not be exactly copied by a feminist, but she will leave a string of men behind her as her emotional conquests. I did not appreciate the fact that Diana said she could swing either way, or that men were seen (in the Amazon philosophy as a whole) as merely a means to an end… intimacy between a man and a woman is seen as amounting to nothing in this movie, except where Captain Kirk, the alpha male, proves her wrong… for a time.

Overall, the feeling of this movie is not about equality of woman and men, it is about the divinely implied nature of women and the demented, deteriorated, bull-headed, insufferable, though sometimes tolerated, and affectionized men… even though Zeus created the Amazons and was a male.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
Luke, age 34 (USA)
Negative—Reading the Word of God (Bible), I am starting to feel convicted watching secular Hollywood movies like these in the theatre. The last one I watched was Transformers 3, a while ago, and recently in June, I watched “Wonder Woman” with my family. This was the final straw; I realized that never again will I ever go to a movie theatre and indulge in the sin of pleasuring my flesh on the expense of God’s values. Not only was God blasphemed, where false “gods” are exalted with the godless audience clapping and praising such silliness, but with the amount of sexual vileness (once again with the audience laughing and clapping at all wicked scenes), I am just amazed how any true believer is not at least a bit convicted.

Some may say that this is no big deal, it is similar to when Paul says if eating food offered to idols is sin to one, then let it be sin to one, but, quite honestly, this isn’t that, this is something worse. It isn’t about how mature one is, one can be really strong and mature in Christ, but even that person will sense something off about watching such filth in the movie theatres. I can understand watching it at home with only a family of believers or friends, where certain scenes can be skipped and such, but a movie theatre where Hollywood is directly being contributed? It is almost like going to a pagan temple, where you and the rest of the unbelievers gather together, and then tithe (pay) to pleasure your flesh and view mockery of God and His values, blaspheming Jesus, perversions, and all forms of wickedness, as you and the others (unbelievers) laugh, clap, and essentially participate in a form of “worship.” See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
—Neil, age 23 (Canada)
Negative—Maybe I’m getting too old for these comic book flics, but the quality of the script didn’t match the excellent sets, acting, cinematography and special effects. There was little comic relief, unless you could laugh at the ridiculous references to history and chemistry.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 2½
Brian Schacht, age 70 (Canada)
Negative—I didn’t expect to like this movie, and I proved myself right. The only interesting part is the first 15 or so minutes in the Amazon, or wherever it is. The training scene between Gal Gadot and Robin Wright is very entertaining, not because it’s woman against woman, but because it’s refreshing to see female battle / training scenes for once. The scenery during those first 15 minutes is very beautiful.

Now the rest of the movie is just extremely boring, and, as an animal lover, the scene that upset me the most was the scene where people were mistreating some horses, I looked on the IMDb plot keywords before watching, and there was no warning of that at all, if there was, I wouldn’t have watched this.

Overall, this is just a non-fun flick.
My Ratings: Moral rating: / Moviemaking quality: no opinion
Nadine, age 34 (United Kingdom)
Negative—Please don’t watch this movie. It’s so outrageous. It’s just a radical feminist movie. We can only see Gal Gadot walking in skimpy clothes in this and nothing else. It’s so revealing and vulgar.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality:
John, age 22 (USA)
Comments from young people
Positive—My Aunt took my brother and cousins and myself to see the movie, and we thought that it was really good. I’m am so glad that there was no f-words in it, and no using God’s name in vain. But there was a scene in the movie where Steve Trevor was inside the cave where he was taking a bath, but when he stepped out, he was fully nude, but he had his hands on his personal lower part of his body—which was brief, but still it was uncalled for. For parents with small children with the ages of 2-10 shouldn’t be allowed to see this movie, but I give this movie a 10.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Charlene, age n/a (USA)
Neutral—“Wonder Woman” the movie—like action, and lighting was great, but the end of story with her man dying was terrible. How come the first Strong—lead woman movie’s man has to die, when Superman, Thor, Flash, and even Green lantern get to have their woman alive or get to save them. I loved the movie until then. I cried so much that I had wished that I had not seen it. Even the movie “Cat Woman” man did love, but it was not happy, unlike most every other Marvel make superhero—at least the most important ones. I think that if there will be a “Wonder Woman 2,” then you should bring the guy back to life as in he would come off like he ejected from the plane. Good luck.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Melody Hawkins, age 15 (USA)
Positive—Went to see this movie today, and loved it. It was very clean for a PG-13 film. There definitely was a lot of violence.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Lauren, age 14 (USA)
Positive—In most superhero movies, the hero saves people, either because they want to be a hero or because they think people deserve to live. Wonder Woman, however, deals with a different side: That some people are evil and don’t deserve to be saved, but that they should be saved anyway. And I think that’s important, especially since we live in a world where it’s all about “me”. “If killing them makes it easier for me to live, then why wouldn’t I?” for example, seems to be a common message in movies. Wonder Woman was the opposite.

Some of the messages and themes in the movie often paralleled important Biblical themes. For instance, that love is the strongest thing in the world (like God saved us because he loved us), and, of course, the whole “it doesn’t matter if people deserve to be saved” (We sure didn’t deserve for Jesus to die for us, but he did because he loved us). See all »
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Becca, age 16 (USA)
Positive—…“Wonder Woman” is a good film overall. Some things I don’t agree with though. Based on what the mythology says the Greek God’s cannot be killed. Not once does it mention that the Greek God’s can be killed. Yes they can be reduced to a state of formlessness from which they are unable to return but cannot be killed just like their ancestors the titans cannot be killed. The titans are stronger than the gods, so when the gods are reduced to a state of formlessness from which they cannot return it would just affect them more than it would the titans. So how did Aries supposedly kill the gods.

What also came to mind was that in the stories Hades was only allowed on Mount Olympus on the Summer and Winter solstice. So if Aries supposedly killed all the gods it would have to be one of those days and if it wasn’t then Hades perfectly healthy sitting on his throne in the underworld. Say it was the summer or winter solstice then how would Aries be able to take on 7 gods and 6 goddesses. Yes he is the god of war but that doesn’t mean he would be able to take all of them on at the same time.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 4
Jaylynn, age 13 (USA)

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

Comments from non-viewers
Negative—Reading the reviews on this movie, the history of “Wonder Woman,” and the pervasive anti-male message of the movie, which ultimately is anti-family, it’s a no brainer to me. I won’t be supporting this with my hard earned dollars. Usually, if I’m not sure about content, I reserve some movies for the dollar theatre, but I won’t be viewing this one anywhere (i.e., boycotting “Wonder Woman”).

If so many of us “Christians,” weren’t more or less unscrupulous about the entertainment we purchase (Christianity is still the majority religion), then Hollywood wouldn’t be able to afford constantly indoctrinating our youth with these propaganda films. We get what we’re paying for. When mainstream Christians realize that we’re being assaulted in a culture war, and that we are losing, maybe people will begin putting their money where it counts, and we’ll start making a difference. It’s time for “deplorables” to boycott Hollywood!
Harry, age 45 (USA)
Neutral—Have not seen the movie yet, but probably will see it in the future. After reading the history of WONDER WOMAN and the man that thought her up, don’t expect the sequel to be clean like this one.
My Ratings: Moral rating: / Moviemaking quality:
David, age 65 (USA)