In this direct-to-video animated release of Wonder Woman, the plot is based on George Perez’ reboot of the character. Specifically, the “Gods and Mortals” arc that started the character’s second volume back in 1987. The film presumes that Wonder Woman exists in a world of her own and there are no references to the greater DCU, allowing for greater exploration of Wonder Woman’s origins. In classic mythology, the Amazons were made up of female warriors believed to live somewhere around the Black Sea. In this new Warner Brothers movie, we get the original back story of her life, which explains she was of Amazonian lineage.
The film begins sometime before the existence of Ancient Greece, where a battle is raging between the Amazons, lead by their Queen, Hippolyta (voiced by Virginia Madsen), and the army of Ares (Alfred Molina), the god of war. It seems men have enslaved women long enough and the women are fighting back. Ares is the villain of the piece, dedicated to battle, fear, hatred, bloodshed, destruction, and chaos. Zeus and Hera (voiced by David McCallum and Marg Helgenberger) intervene and spare Ares’ life. In return for saving Ares’ life, Hera gives Hippolyta and her female followers their own mystical island paradise, Themyscira, invisible to the outside world, and Hera gives Hippolyta a child, Princess Diana (Keri Russell).Meanwhile, Zeus is thrown in a dudgeon, where he uses the time to plot his revenge.
Thousands of years pass and the Amazons have been living rather happily on their island.Themyscira seems like a very pleasant place to live. The inhabitants don’t appear to age and their all beautiful and curvaceous. Diana has grown into womanhood and learned the warrior creed of her people; she has also become the most talented tactician of martial arts in the group.
One day, a jet fighter pilot, Col. Steve Trevor (Nathan Fillion), downs his plane on the island; Diana bests the captain of Hippolyta’s armies, the powerful swordsmaster Artemis (Rosario Dawson), and wins the honor of returning him to civilization and reestablishing contact with the outside world. At the same time, Ares persuades an Amazon guard, Persephone (Vicki Lewis), to help him escape. As a result, Diana has the job of tracking down Ares as well.
When Diana arrives in Trevor’s hometown of New York City, she finally becomes the Wonder Woman we all recognize. She must defeat Ares (who finds a whole cult army waiting for him to lead), save the world, and carry on romance with Trevor. But first she has to kick some butt, starting with some would-be muggers.
The 2-D art work shows up in nice detailed in the background scenery but the character drawings are rather limited. The animation displays limited character movement, usually just the lips working and the figures remaining stationary, with persons walking in awkward, jerky motions.
The film is undermined by some mediocre voice acting. Amazonians speak in methodical, emotionless tones, but Russell, Dawson, and Madsen’s plodding deliveries make it sound as if they’re reading their lines for the first time. More distracting is Molina, whose vocal intonations simply don’t match the face and stature of the menacing warrior-god portrayed on screen. The only standout performance comes from Nathan Fillion. His quips sound natural, his voice reflects genuine emotion, and he seems far more invested in the project than everyone else.
Despite its problems, I still congratulate Wonder Woman for capturing my imagination and outclassing most other direct-to-video DC and Marvel animated films. In fact, were it not for such uneven voice work, Wonder Woman would be real stand out. Fans and non-fans alike should really give this one a look.
The video engineers did a good job reproducing the movie’s imagery and its 1.78:1 aspect ratio in anamorphic widescreen. The colors are bright, yet never overpowering, just pleasing to the eye. The screen is as clean as we might expect from a newly made cartoon, with objects well delineated and only some minor edge enhancement in evidence.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is OK but nothing special. It is quite front-heavy, putting only the occasional random noise into the surrounds, such as in the big battle scenes, along with the merest hint of musical ambience reinforcement. The soundtrack does its job satisfactorily by reproducing dialogue and special effects smoothly.
The disc contains the feature film, plus an assortment of extras. They begin with an audio commentary by Gregory Noveck, Senior Vice President of Creative Affairs at DC Comics; Bruce Timm, the film’s producer; Lauren Montgomery, the director; and Michael Jelenic, who wrote the screenplay. Next, we get ten-minute glimpses at four DC Première animated video movies: The Green Lantern, The Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight, and the present Wonder Woman. The disc contains English as the only spoken language, French subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired. There is no scene-selection list in the disc’s menu, but you can access ten chapters by using your remote.
Check out a clip below.
