Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins responds to James Cameron calling the film a 'step backwards'

'If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren't free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven't come very far have we'

Gal Gadot is the Amazon warrior in the new 'Wonder Woman' film (Clay Enos/Warner Bros)

Patty Jenkins has hit back at James Cameron after he said he felt the new Wonder Woman film was a "step backward" for the portrayal of women on screen.

"All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over ‘Wonder Woman’ has been so misguided," he told the Guardian. “She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing!

"I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step backwards," he added.

Jenkins last night tweeted a page of text on Twitter, which read (sic): "James Cameron's inability to understand what Wonder Woman is, or stands for, to women all over the world is unsurprising as, though he is a great filmmaker, he is not a woman. Strong women are great. His praise of my film Monster, and our portrayal of a strong yet damaged woman was so appreciated. But if women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren't free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven't come very far have we. I believe women can and should be EVERYTHING just like male lead characters should be. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman. And the massive female audience who made the film a hit it is, can surely choose and judge their own icons of progress."

Cameron's original criticism came out of a discussion around the re-release of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

“Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon," he said. "She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!"