Review
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is the fourth installment of the DC Universe animated movie series. Presented by Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics, it releases on March 3, 2009 in three different versions: single disc DVD, two-disc special edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The animated original movie will also be available OnDemand and Pay-Per-View, as well as available for download day and date, March 3, 2009.
Produced by the multiple Emmy Award winning animation legend Bruce Timm, Wonder Woman is an origin story and features a stellar celebrity voice cast including Keri Russell (Waitress, Felicity), Nathan Fillion (Desperate Housewives), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Rosario Dawson (Sin City), Oliver Platt (The West Wing) and David McCallum (NCIS).
Most avid DC Comics fans are familiar with Wonder Woman's origins as Princess Diana of the immortal race of Amazons residing on the island of Themyscira. Her headstrong and rebellious attitude surfaces when an outsider named Steve Trevor crashes onto their sanctuary. She secretly participates in a tournament to determine who will escort Trevor back home despite her mother's objection. To complicate matters, Ares, escapes his imprisonment on the island and plans to exact revenge on the Amazons and the gods.
After years of the love-hate relationship fans had with Wonder Woman on the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited series, the movie gives a fully formed origin story for the third most famous figure in the DC Comic pantheon. Here, we are given a proper look at the revolt of the Amazons, the birth of Diana, the tournament, the Invisible Jet, and the near World War III.
The fact that Wonder Woman takes much of her background from Greek mythology was always a minor point when she appeared in animated from. The movie takes the opportunity to flesh out the influence of mythology in terms of theme and story. The movie, itself, predates Wonder Woman and starts off as an epic battle between Amazons, barbarians, and monsters. Heads will roll, figuratively and literally. The battlefield is also a who's who in Greek mythology for the analytical eye. Pegasi, Chimera, Cylopses, Minotaurs, Zeus, Hera, Eris, Deimos, and Phobos all appear at one point.
Thematically, the remainder of the film addresses the anachronistic ideology of the Amazons with modern times as Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor grow in their relationship. Despite the best and worst of humanity can exist in even Trevor, love and friendship can bridge two worlds together.
It was a pleasant surprise to see cameos by Etta Candy (who is not obese), Cheetah (who is not Priscilla Rich), and even the staff. It was also interesting to see Ares consistently humbled. In the standard good vs. evil theme, we know Ares will lose somehow but in those scenes when was humbled were unexpected. When he rages at Hippolyta for killing Thrax or when he is reunited with his son in Tartarus, I felt the influence of modern times and it took away from his role as a villain. The constant tide of decapitation quickly made up for this. As an epic, the use of humor gratefully didn't detract the flow of the film. In part, Nathan Fillion's acting skills made Trevor more than just the comedic relief.
Overall, the film is the most mature installment of the DCU series. It is slowly moving away from the shadow of Bruce Timm's much celebrated Timmverse of DC animated characters and establishes itself as the future of animation. Arguably, with all of Superman Doomsday and New Frontier's success, they were large sprawling yet concise story arcs that couldn't be done properly in the 75 minute format. Gotham Knight was a brief departure of short stories embracing the anime industry and closely linked to a 'small artsy film.' Wonder Woman doesn't follow so closely to any one set of material, Golden Age, Silver Age, or live action. It is this hegemony that attracted so many fans to DC animation in the first place. Bruce Timm and company picked what they wanted, invented what made more sense, and created a new singular mythology without the trappings of decades long continuity conflicts and the reoccurring Crisis storyline. Wonder Woman continues this tradition faithfully and should be a welcome relief to fans.