Movie Review: WONDER WOMAN

Wonder Woman is available on single disc DVD and Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray.


When Wonder Woman opens, pilot Steve Trevor (voiced by Nathan Fillion) crash lands on Themyscira, an island reserved for the Amazon, a race of warrior women watched over by the gods. Ares (Alfred Molina), the god of war, escapes from his prison and begins a reign of terror over the world of men. To combat him, Princess Diana (Keri Russell) journeys back to the outside world with Trevor as an ambassador and savior. She will come to be known as Wonder Woman.

Almost immediately, Wonder Woman distinguishes itself from other films in the DC Animated Universe by being more violent and more humorous. The opening prologue tells the story of a massive battle between Ares and the Amazon which led to his eventual imprisonment. In this sequence, seemingly inspired by 300, people are beheaded, numerous warriors have swords and spears run through them and more blood than we're used to seeing in animated films is spilled. And while this is definitely a unique, attention-grabbing way to begin the story, there's a gratuitous feeling to the entire endeavor. As if the first female superhero's maiden voyage on her on couldn't hold up without a hook.

There's also a bigger problem when it comes to the action sequences: there are simply too many, all of which bully out the story itself. Clocking in at just 74 minutes, Wonder Woman literally runs from action set piece to action set piece, leaving no more than five minutes between battles, skirmishes and other encounters. It begins to feel completely over-the-top around the halfway point, almost as if the creators were purposely recreating a comic book. Thinking about that medium and what it contains, fights are plentiful and character development is sparse...on an individual issue basis. But what an ongoing series has over the film format is the ability to continue relationships over the long term while including a healthy dose of action. Wonder Woman can't do that.

Because of that limitation, the friendship between Trevor and Diana never really gets off the ground in any meaningful way. We're shown they become close in the finale, but we don't believe it. When the filmmakers combine as many battles as they do with such a short running time, there's not a lot of room for anything else. Key questions are left entirely unanswered: why didn't Zeus or Hera step in when Ares escapes from prison? Why does an Amazon turn on her people and fall in love with Ares? Where does WW's invisible jet come from? Aside from chaos and gaining power, what is Ares really after? Why does Hades come off as nothing more than a fat slob? How did all the Amazon warriors figure out Diana was going to need help in the final battle in Washington, D.C.? None of this really matters to the movie, obviously.

Wonder Woman ranks as one of the lesser of the direct-to-video franchise thus far for both of the above reasons. What does it actually have going for it? A couple things, all of which help make the film vastly better than Superman: Doomsday (that's an incredibly low bar, mind you). Chief among them is the voice cast. Again brought together and directed by Andrea Romano-a DC animated universe staple-the cast is a mix of A-list names, recognizable voices and genuine surprises.

Russell and Fillion reunite on Wonder Woman from their film Waitress and they have an easy rapport with one another. Even if she's a bit flat, Fillion more than makes up for it with his slight "drawl," allowing his quips to slip off the tongue with a sense of humor. (More on that in a minute.) Alfred Molina's Ares is menacing and bombastic while the other "heavy hitters"-Marg Helgenberger, Rosario Dawson, Oliver Platt and Virginia Madsen-all slip into their roles with incredible ease.

Then there's the aforementioned humor. Moreso than the other films in the franchise, Wonder Woman has a wit about it, helping to give both main characters a depth of character the script itself doesn't. Just one example is a recurring gag where Trevor has to explain what "crap" is to the Amazon. Diana repeatedly says not to use that kind of language around her...yet utters the word when Ares gains inordinate amounts of power. Sure, it's juvenile and easy humor, but it's a bright spot in an otherwise mundane script. (The animation would be noteworthy if it weren't for repeated hazy shots. I assume this was done on purpose to be "artsy," but it quickly loses whatever merit it might have once had.)