I went and saw Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot last week. All my life I’ve been a fan of comics and comic book movies. For me, this is a great time to be alive.
There have been so many great superhero movies made over the past decade, most of them from Marvel. The other major comic giant, DC however, has lagged behind in a lot of ways, especially in terms of quality.
With their latest installment to the genre however, they have completely set themselves a new, higher standard in terms of film quality. The film has excellent cinematics, storytelling and acting.
It has also drawn a lot of attention; unfortunately the reason for some of that attention is because it is a film directed by a woman with a woman in the lead role.
Some have been astounded that a film that’s not only directed by a woman, but also starring a woman could be such a critical and box office success.
We need to get beyond the point where we find the success of a movie helmed by a woman as something astounding or extraordinary.
While watching the conversation around this movie, I’ve seen some point to the comic book movies of Catwoman (2004) and Elektra (2005) as box office and critical failures which to them make Wonder Woman such an amazing success.
If anything, what Wonder Woman proves is that comic book movies have come a long way as a whole since the early 2000s. While Catwoman and Elektra did happen to feature female leads and were bad so were Daredevil, Superman Returns, Green Lantern, Ghost Rider and of course Batman: Forever.
Not just Hollywood, but also moviegoers need to have faith in female leads and directors. Their skill determines their success and the same goes for their male counter parts.
