Wonder Woman

I have read many reviews citing poor acting, poor writing, shoddy camera work... As a made-for-television pilot, I found all of these to be acceptable. It isn't a feature film after all.

I also had no trouble seeing Adrianne Palicki in the role. She has the right proportions, figure, and face to closely match the classic DC comic heroine.

But where it all falls short - profanely so - is in the complete abandonment of her Story. They seem to have ditched her Greek Mythology origin and made into some kind of female version of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Even her bracers (forged by the god Haephestus for her mother, Hipolita) and lasso aren't divine artifacts, but technological gadgets paid for by marketing clothing lines and action figures.

The show would probably have been picked up if they had used a different outfit and name, but the outcry from the comics community was loud and clear - Don't break the story!

They got the look right. They got the action right. I like the actress. I like the costumes. The rest? Dang, how weird! Plot and dialog no better than the 1970s show--really, really bad. And a real fascist slant to the whom thing. And wonder woman seems to change size pretty drastically throughout. Sometime she looks very amazon tall and imposing, other times not. And her voice sometimes drifts into SoCal valley-speak tones. Anyway...the look of the actress and costume and how she looked kicking add worked. But that's about it. The whole thing seemed kind of ill thought out and a bit rushed. This was from a major producer known mainly for his writing?

Okay, here's everything I have to say/write about the 2011 Wonder Woman pilot.

1. Adrianne Palicki is superb! I'm a fan. I've been a fan since I first saw her in Supernatural and South Beach. I liked her because she is uncommonly sexy and very beautiful. But when I saw her in Friday Night Lights, I quickly realised that she is a supremely talented actress. She brings something to the table that is rare: she makes you believe that there is a lot going on behind her eyes. The most obvious example of this quality is the late Peter Falk. You watch him as Columbo and you believe that he is thinking about... something/everything. Palicki does this in Friday Night Lights and she does it here. So... she's beautiful and sexy and she has - I suppose - gravitas. Or whatever. Here, in the WW pilot she totally nails it.

2. The writer (David E. Kelley) has a specific take on Wonder Woman and runs with it. His shows tend to be shows about the law, his shows tend to be about lawyers. So... he drops WW into a world of laws, corporations, big bucks, legalities/illegalities and - in this one hour of TV - explains why she exists in this world. And, to be honest, it works. It's not MY take on Wonder Woman, but - after seeing this - I would be willing to take a leap and watch HIS take on the character.

3. The action scenes are good.

4. This is not an origin story. This is a case-of-the-week story. This is exactly how I would start a WW series (should anyone care).

5. Some things DON'T work. Sometimes the dialogue makes you cringe. There are a couple of bad scenes, in my humble opinion. The hospital scene, the two scenes with Steve Trevor, the applause scene, etc. Scenes where you roll your eyes. But, because I liked lots of other things, I'm willing to let the bad stuff slide. And, to be honest, even when I was cringing at something, I could appreciate what David E. Kelley was trying to do. It's not perfect, but it has a clarity of vision sadly lacking in the Bionic Woman or Knight Rider reboots. I HATED those. They had no redeeming qualities. This, I didn't hate. It had redeeming qualities. I could see what it was trying to be. And, because it succeeded on a few points (especially the fantastic lead casting), I was willing to go the extra mile and accept the other (weaker) stuff.

6. I liked the main character, and wanted to root for her. The most obvious comparison here is Bionic Woman from 2007. That show was dark and edgy and stuff. And... I never found a reason to like the main character. In one episode she set fire to her kitchen. That baffled me. What was I supposed to do? Laugh at her? Pity her? What? Diana Prince, as written by David E. Kelley, is interesting and likable. She's dark and edgy, I suppose, but she's more than that. She's arrived in our world and established herself an interesting set-up. And she's decided to 'go it alone' for reasons that make sense to her. And kinda to the audience as well. She's self-sacrificing and brave and annoyed by injustice and other stuff that would make me root for her on a weekly basis. Kelley's script has scenes that could, in the hands of a lesser actress, come off as self-pitying and unattractive. Palicki rises above that. Rises about the (sometimes flawed) material and makes us care, even when the on-screen image is something as uninspired as Diana at home alone, with her cat (!!), watching Ryan Gosling's weep-fest The Notebook.

It's not perfect. But it aims high and it's not bad. Worse pilots have made it to TV and spawned series that ran for years! 8/10

Wonder Woman must stop the head of a pharmaceutical company's illegal experiments for financial gain.

Opening with the horror-stricken images of a boy with bleeding eyes, Wonder Woman quickly moves to a foot chase though the streets. There's no origin story which some have highly criticised. Personally I'm a exasperated with origin stories, these superhero characters have become a part of pop culture and can seem some what unnecessary.

The pilot establishes Wonder Woman as a known face in the real world, a vigilant of sorts, with a reputation for knocking down doors, invading privacy, assaulting people and the videos uploaded to YouTube.

Adrianne Palicki is surprising good as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman, and oddly the promotional pictures for the show didn't do her justice. She's tough, rough, sexy and sulky. The plot features a standard Cary Elwes performance as her marketing CEO and Elizabeth Hurley plays the antagonist head of a pharmaceutical company.

It's quite amusing that (in the world of the pilot) she has become marketable merchandise property and makes a remark that the comic version of her is incorrect with Diana stating that the Wonder Woman doll is insulting and she want's it redesigned. "These breast are ridiculous." "Wonder Woman isn't vulgar." "Wonder Woman is perfect, perfect t*ts, perfect ass, perfect teeth." It is apparent that Diana's/Wonder's crime fighting technology is funded by Wonder Woman's merchandising success which is an interesting titbit (no pun intended).

There's establishing flashback for Diana's love interest and some good camera work and effects from director Jeffrey Reiner, the contemporary music is dramatic and adds to the tension in the dialogue scenes. David E. Kelley's story explores briefly the problem of superheroes heavy handiness being unlawful and forever under legal scrutiny.

Wonder Woman is reminiscent of 'The New Adventures of Superman' (1993- 1997) although it does have a darker tone and sleeker look. It moves away from Superman's studio feel and while not particularly true to the comic, Wonder Woman's shot on location look and Kelley relevant poignant dialogue adds to its allure as much as Palicki's costume.

The only big action scene is at the 30 minute mark and is the highlight of the pilot with Palicki's physical prowess and wire-work being most impressive.

Overall, Adrianne Palicki equals Lynda Carter's incarnation and while not spectacular or highly engrossing it's no lesser than other mediocre TV productions that have been given a chance and a longer run. It may have evolved and brought a live action Wonder Woman to another generation but I suppose we may never know, that is until some else has a stab at bringing DC's female flag character to life.

It's hard to believe we were close to having a Wonder Woman television series but it got struck down at the first hurdle.

With just a pilot made and the show not picked up by any network we'll never know if it would have lasted.

At a guess I'd say no, in fact I'd say hell no.

Adrianne Palicki does her best and is a decent enough actress but what she's working with it would have taken a miracle to be considered decent entertainment.

Shoddily written, highly paint by numbers and just all round bad. What makes it worse is it's a prime example of why Hollywood has updated characters costumes to make them more realistic. Here Wonder Woman looks ridiculous and I failed to take her seriously at all! Can you imagine if for example Jeremy Renner played Hawkeye in his original comic book attire? Exactly.

What makes it worse is that this doesn't feel like the pilot, this isn't an origin story and just drops you straight into the world of Diana Prince and what a crappy world it is.

I'm glad this failed as I could imagine it damaging the careers of everyone involved.

The Good:

Adrianne Palicki

The Bad:

The suit really is terrible in live action

Show logo is tacky

Poorly made

Things I Learnt From This Pilot:

Wonderwoman never said to merchandise her tits

Wonder Woman has no issue killing