My family and I went to see the new Wonder Woman movie over the weekend and enjoyed it, along with people all over the world. Yes, there is a feminist message inside the movie, which is to be expected when based on a comic book character designed from the very start to be a feminist icon. However, the message was pleasingly low-key and was balanced by the heroism of her male counterparts.

I must confess, after the insanity of creating a “safe space” for women to watch this movie without any men in the audience, I walked into the movie theater with some trepidation, expecting it to be Ms. Magazine with flashy CGI and a soundtrack. This did not happen, partly because director Patty Jenkins realized that a hero (or heroine, in this case) appears more heroic if what they do goes far beyond what even extraordinary humans can do. Fortunately, Steve Trevor (portrayed by Chris Pine) provides a male counterpart whose exploits could be compared (literally) to that of the gods. The female empowerment angle is still there, but it doesn’t get in the way of Wonder Woman being a darn good movie.

Let’s compare that to last summer’s feminist tent-pole movie, the remake of Ghostbusters, which featured an all-female cast. It was marketed from the very start as A Very Important Landmark in feminist cinematic history. And for months before it opened, it was talked up as a movie that will break through the glass ceiling and show the world that sisters are doin’ it for themselves.