Wonder Woman

I was lucky enough to attend the early screening of Wonder Woman at Wondercon '09. Perhaps I was swept up in the excitement of so many fans around me, but I found this to be quite enjoyable. Perhaps the best of any of DC's animated features so far.

It's part action-adventure film and part romantic-comedy. And both parts are done wonderfully that makes this accessible to men, women, geek, and non-geek.

It's not based on any one story, but rather it goes through the typical Wonder Woman origins mixed with a supervillain story. Diana's on the island. A pilot crashes there. She takes him back. Bad guy does bad things. Diana and pilot must stop him. Not entirely original but no complaints here.

When it comes to action there is plenty of it. And violent too though not bloody. In fact I recall only three, maybe four instances of blood actually appearing. Bruce Timm said they did have more in it but it got an R rating and they had to tone it down. This is not necessarily one you would want to show to young kids. There are impalements, decapitations, crotch kicking, neck snapping; and that's all in the prologue not to mention the larger final battle. This isn't television, people die in this. The action itself is done well. It's plenty fun to watch. It's not all that suspenseful so you're not really on the edge of your seats hoping that they get out if it, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

This movie had the theater busting their guts with laughter. From comical moments in fight scenes to the well delivered jokes. But again this isn't necessarily for kids. There's a lot of stuff like that which parents should watch out for. Jokes about sex, Wonder Woman's outfit, just stuff like that. There's different kinds of jokes but generally it's not geared towards kids.

The voice acting is top notch. Everyone does well in their roles. Not a single role is miscast or not done well. My only quibble is the dialog of Zeus, Hera, and Hades. For Greek gods they talk quite modern, even in the prologue. It's distracting since the Amazons talk more formally, like you would expect someone of ancient times to talk. The actors do fine work but I think their few lines should have been rewritten first.

The animation is great except it's just like Justice League. It's not really all that different. It's not exactly the same design but it's very close. So watching this felt like I was watching the series. It's not like Batman: Gotham Knight where it looks completely different than Batman: The Animated Series. It doesn't really feel like Timm is moving forward in the animation.

One guy had a problem with the gender roles in the movie. He didn't like how masculine some of the Amazons were or how feminine one male character was. But the panel was quick to ask why. Cause, that's the real point of the movie. Preconceptions regarding gender roles. Everything in the movie deals with gender roles. How everyone has them and how everyone's views changes by the end. Some of it's subtle, most of it's not. But it never seems like it's hitting you over the head with it.

The movie doesn't shy away from the fact that comic books tend to exaggerate women and it certainly doesn't shy away from the fact that these women, especially Diana, are very beautiful. All the Amazons are called "armored supermodels." Steve the pilot thinks he's died and gone to heaven when he first sees the Amazons (not spoiling anything but that scene truly is a man's fantasy). When Diana first puts on the Wonder Woman costume there's a close up of her large chest. It's certainly in no way animated porn but sensitive parents will want to watch out.

My only real complaint deals with the final battle, which I shall endeavor to not spoil any details. To me it doesn't feel like they built it up enough, like it was rushed into. Another problem is that the bad guy does this one nasty trick which is emotionally powerful, but it's over too quick. My last is one hero goes off to fight, disappears for five minutes while we watch everyone else, it comes back to the hero, they finishes their part, and disappears for the rest of the battle. It just feels like clunky editing.

So to wrap this up: this movie has wonderful humor, exciting action, great acting, and is well made in pretty much every way. It's not for children but it's not meant to be. But when you look at the recent trend in comics and comic book movies you can see that it is being geared less towards children and more towards a mature audience.

Fans of Wonder Woman will love this movie. Fans of Bruce Timm's DC Animated Universe will love this movie. Fans of comic book movies will love this. This is certainly one of the best ventures into animated comic book movies.

Wonder Woman makes her live action solo movie debut in 2017, but that is not her first feature length film. In 2009, the animated Wonder Woman movie was produced by Warner Premiere as part of its then-new direct to video series of movies. Overshadowed by higher profile releases like Batman Gotham Knights (no doubt bolstered by the success of Christopher Nolan's dark knight trilogy), the 2009 Wonder Woman animated movie failed to perform as well in terms of sales. Surprising when you consider that on its own, WONDER WOMAN is a well made, thought provoking, energetic little movie that deserved much more recognition than it got.

Our story opens in ancient times where the amazon women wage a bloody war which ended with he imprisonment of Ares, but at the cost of many lives. As a reward, the Greek gods grant the amazon queen Hippolyta a child fashioned from clay: Diana. The amazons flourish in isolation on paradise island where Diana grows up into a fine young warrior. But a part of her seeks greater adventure outside the boundaries of the island. Her chance comes when pilot Steve Trevor survives a frantic mid air battle and crashes on the island.

As the amazons hold a contest to determine the one most worthy to escort Trevor back to America, Ares escapes with the help of a traitor just as Diana wins the contest. Tasked with tracking down Ares, Trevor opts to help Diana as the enter man's world in search of the missing god of war. But Ares has a far more sinister plan in the work, one that could spell the doom of the world and the extinction of the amazons.

Right from the get go, the first thing that struck me was the dialogue in the movie. Written by comic scribe Gail Simone, the dialogue is witty, clever and mature. Take the visuals out of the equation and it feels like watching a well written live action movie or prime time TV show.

Our characters are brought to life by a perfect cast; Alfred Molina is truly menacing as Ares, Rosario Dawson as the regal queen, and Keri Russell imbuing a nuanced inner strength to Diana.

However the true standout performance is Firefly's Nathan Fillon as daring scoundrel pilot Steve Trevor. Steve is part Han Solo, part Maverick Mitchell from Top Gun and Fillon slips into it perfectly. He completely owns the roll, delivering his dialogue in the most natural way possible, sharing a magnificent chemistry with Russell.

The story is deeper than your average cartoon. Aside from being an origin story for Wonder Woman, showing her growth from reluctant and slightly defiant girl to a champion of the oppressed, the narrative weaves in many underlying themes relevant to our times.

Themes of sexism, gender bias, racial privilege and the differing expectations on man and woman are all interwoven into the narrative and brought to the forefront. It is refreshing to find a movie that is this smart in its handling of such themes; indeed a rarity in American animated works.

Unfortunately, the movie is not without its flaws and WONDER WOMAN's flaws are in the visuals. The animation was done by Moi Animation, a Korean studio who worked on many critically acclaimed works such as Legend of Korra and Young Justice. WONDER WOMAN was their first feature length work, having only done animation in the past for TV shows like TEEN TITANS and BOONDOCKS. The animation is OK. Nothing horrible but nothing as stunning as their later works. The often uninspired way the fight scenes are done does not help matters. Fights either involve one too many cuts or just do not feel as dynamic as other later DC animated movies.

The art work is also up to personal taste. Director Lauren Montgomery brings a look that mixes 90s Disney cartoon aesthetic with the more simplistic designs of the Bruce Timm cartoons, but the mix tends to look a bit lazy at times.

I personally did not like it as all the women looked the same, with big emphasised lips and angular hips, only differentiated by different hair styles. The few attempts at using CGI for vehicles just came off looking cheap and unprofessional.

On the bright side, composer Christopher Drake bring an epic score to the movie, giving otherwise mediocre fight scenes a sense of intensity and danger.

At 75 minutes, some would call the movie short, but i call it succinct. A lot happens in that time, going from paradise island, to America, to the depths of the underworld, and then to a climatic showdown in Washington DC. This brisk pace may leave it up to the viewer to connect some of the sub plots but the main story of Diana's more innocent nature contrasting with the ways of the modern world works to develop her character from sheltered princess into a true warrior and hero. This movie in a word is terrific, let down only by its technical shortcomings. If you can forgive that, that you would be in for a truly wonderful experience.

I am happy to say that this is a very decent movie. Wonder woman has waited so long for her own epic, albeit a straight to DVD release. The story takes us through her roots, where she came from, and more importantly, who she is. The story works, and it has its own originality. What could make it better? If it were live action thats what. If they added a little more to fill it to maybe 100 minutes, and got someone young new and able for the lead part, and maybe removed some of this Steve's chauvinist's attitude, then this Wonder Woman movie in Live action WOULD BE EPIC! This gives me hope that the big screen live action will be close to perfect.

The problem with this animated Wonder Woman movie is that the plot is a little bland for adults, but the level of violence is probably too much for kids. And even though it's only 74 minutes long, the story still feels watered down, and some of the dialogue feels heavy-handed or wooden. That being said, it's a pretty straightforward telling of Wonder Woman's origin story. It's not bad, but I expected it to be better.

This movie made me a fan of this DC Comics super-heroine. Steve Trevor, a U. S. Army fighter pilot, crash-lands on the mystical island of the Amazons called Themyscira. The rebellious and headstrong Princess Diana defies her queenly mother by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Ares, the god of war, has escaped and seeks revenge on the Amazons by starting a world war that could wipe out living beings, beginning with the Amazons. Diana must harness her extraordinary abilities to protect her people and the planet as she transforms into the legendary Wonder Woman!

This is an awesome movie. It is very well written, and the animation is really cool! I thought this was one of the best DC movies, along with the live-action Batman movie. The story was perfect, funny, full of suspense, and really worth the PG-13 rating. I don't single out a particular scene (as I've made clear on multiple occasions), as I appreciate the entire movie equally from start to finish.