It was bound to happen, and it was about time for it to be due, that a Wonder Woman movie would come around. While the comic book was never nearly as profitable or successful as its other DC JLA counterparts (Superman and Batman especially, not sure on how it did compared to Green Lantern), people love Wonder Woman anyway and its icon status has kept her and the brand name popular for years. Following on the heels of the animated New Frontier movie, where we got to see a kick-ass Wonder Woman fighting for Asian refugees, this time it's an origin story focused on how Princess Diana came to be on the Amazonian island secluded away from the world- especially those icky men, eww- and how she has to go out into the said world (i.e. New York City, Washington DC) to stop Ares, the semi-God who will take over the world.
The short of it is to say that Wonder Woman, at least in this incarnation, is like Gloria Steinem on steroids with a big grab-bad of mythology. Its feminist take on things is so upfront and in-your-face in some little scenes and moments it almost becomes laughable. We get it: women rule, they should be respected, they can kick a guy's ass just as much if not better and with more skill than a man could, uh, kick another ass. But this beat is continued for nearly the entire film, the break in this femi-Nazi ice (yeah, sorry to go to the Nazi place there, do forgive me) is the character Steve Trevor, a pilot who crashes on the island and starts womanizing Wonder Woman. Mistake, at first, but after an outburst in a hospital scene, things change... erm, slightly.
This is basically made for the true-blue Wonder Woman fans. How much it strays from the 1970s TV show I can't say, though I imagine this is far less campy, even in its small doses of (intentional) humor. For the people just looking for a good story it, too, is decent. In fact this might be one of those rare cases for the animated Warner/DC combo, certainly in the recent memory of high-quality output they've been having (Superman Doomsday, New Frontier, the new Green Lantern) where the dialog scenes actually trump the action. A fight at night between Diana and a big monster working for Ares in the NYC streets is nifty, and there's some good swordplay, but the climax feels rushed; it's not that the bases aren't covered, but they go by so quickly that it's like the opposite of a Lord of the Rings battle- instead of too much there's too little in terms of scope and excitement. This being said, it features Nathan Filion as Trevor (everything you'd want from Filion: cocky, fun, a treat for the ladies even in animated form) and Alfred Molina as Ares... and believe you me, it's one of his best performances in years.
The short of it is to say that Wonder Woman, at least in this incarnation, is like Gloria Steinem on steroids with a big grab-bad of mythology. Its feminist take on things is so upfront and in-your-face in some little scenes and moments it almost becomes laughable. We get it: women rule, they should be respected, they can kick a guy's ass just as much if not better and with more skill than a man could, uh, kick another ass. But this beat is continued for nearly the entire film, the break in this femi-Nazi ice (yeah, sorry to go to the Nazi place there, do forgive me) is the character Steve Trevor, a pilot who crashes on the island and starts womanizing Wonder Woman. Mistake, at first, but after an outburst in a hospital scene, things change... erm, slightly.
This is basically made for the true-blue Wonder Woman fans. How much it strays from the 1970s TV show I can't say, though I imagine this is far less campy, even in its small doses of (intentional) humor. For the people just looking for a good story it, too, is decent. In fact this might be one of those rare cases for the animated Warner/DC combo, certainly in the recent memory of high-quality output they've been having (Superman Doomsday, New Frontier, the new Green Lantern) where the dialog scenes actually trump the action. A fight at night between Diana and a big monster working for Ares in the NYC streets is nifty, and there's some good swordplay, but the climax feels rushed; it's not that the bases aren't covered, but they go by so quickly that it's like the opposite of a Lord of the Rings battle- instead of too much there's too little in terms of scope and excitement. This being said, it features Nathan Filion as Trevor (everything you'd want from Filion: cocky, fun, a treat for the ladies even in animated form) and Alfred Molina as Ares... and believe you me, it's one of his best performances in years.