Wonder Woman poster & wallpaper

Rosario Dawson, Nathan Fillion, Keri Russell

When the Amazon princess Diana escorts pilot Steve Trevor home to the United States after his crash-landing on the mystical island of Themyscria, she must also deal with the ambitions of the Greek god...( read more  read more... ) Ares. Ares intends to use an ancient artifact, the Hand of Rage, to plunge the world into a centuries long war that will also ensure his revenge against Themyscria's Amazons. To save her people and the world, Diana must become Wonder Woman.

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816 ratings

Unrated

Directed by: Lauren Montgomery

Release Date: March 3, 2009

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DVD Release Date: March 3, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (370)

  • DrZeek
    April 28, 2009
    DrZeek
    Wonder Woman: It's all true, isn't it, Steve? Everything my mother warned me about man's world is true. She even told me you'd try to seduce me, and I, like a fool, told her, "For now, let's only expect the best from the pilot." You tried to get me drunk. As if you could out drin...( read more)k an Amazon, you pathetic lightweight.
    Col. Steve Trevor: [Sees thugs approaching] Oh, crap.
    Wonder Woman: [Unaware of the thugs] Yes, I knew exactly what you were trying to do. And please don't use that language around me.

    Another superhero entry from the Warner Premier animated film studio. Its pretty solid as an origin story for Wonder Woman, providing plenty of fast paced story telling, action, and humor. A solid voice cast as well.

    After a big battle opening, we are taken to the mystical island of Themyscria, the home of the Amazons (super hot Greek warrior women), where a Unites States pilot, Steve Trever, voiced by Nathon Fillion, has crash landed. It is soon decided that he must be escorted back by the Amazon princess Diana, voiced by Keri Russell. Problems arise as Diana must also deal with the Greek god Ares, voiced by Alfred Molina, who has escaped from his imprisonment and seeks revenge against the Amazonians.

    The story is very tightly written, putting a lot of focus on the Amazon's distrust of men in general, but as far as accuracy goes, this flick does a very good job at putting all of the elements of Wonder Woman together effectively, even if her invisible jet just sort of enters the scene without much explanation.

    As mentioned, the voice cast is pretty well assembled, also including Rosario Dawson, Virginia Madsen, and Oliver Platt. Molina does good in the villain role. Russell is standard as the hero, but bouncing off of Fillion, who is quite enjoyable, makes it all work nicely enough.

    Hippolyta: Here the true nature of men is laid bare. What other depraved thoughts must you be thinking?
    Col. Steve Trevor: God, your daughter's got a nice rack.

    This film also certainly balances its PG-13 rating well enough to include a lot of very violent battle scenes, which certainly make no excuses about the uses of swords and arrows against flesh and blood people (as well as minotaurs, zombie babes, and griffins).

    I really quite enjoyed this entry into the animated DC catalog.

    President's Adviser: Mr. President, the threat has been neutralized.
    The President: How?
    President's Adviser: It seems by a group of armored supermodels.
  • Gx7
    April 16, 2009
    Gx7
    The film is more of a backstory about the legendary Princess of the Amazons, way before "The JLA" (refering to the original Justice League) and how Dianna ended up being in New York.

    I think it was pretty clever, a little dash of Shakespeare and Greek Mythology mixed with ...( read more)a serious amount of feminist views, some battle scenes were quite epic-esque and the whole film itself was well drawn. They somewhat modernized it but the alterations were pretty clean cut and it still worked well for the film.

    Its not a perfect film, and I think its also more suitable for the older kids (preferrably for ages 13 up), but its actually worth watching. The ladies will like it more than the lads tho.

    Genre: Cartoon Animation
    Re-rated from 5 to 4 stars
  • Beefy
    March 9, 2009
    Beefy
    Another solid film from Warners Animated, this one is a bit more violent than expected and has a welcome, though slightly incongruous, sense of humor courtesy of Nathan Fillion's line deliveries.
  • Collegekid
    March 5, 2009
    Collegekid
    On a geek-scale, I'd rate Wonder Woman a bit higher than this series' previous releases such as Superman Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier. While the comic books those cartoons were based on were fantastic, their DVD incarnations were a bit cluttered, whereas Wonder W...( read more)oman is sleek, streamlined, and contains a lot of excellent action and fight sequences.
    Even as a kid, I never really connected to Wonder Woman as a Barbie-doll fanboy-fantasy; what I like about this DVD is that it makes the Amazonian princess a shrewd warrior. Anyone of any age can watch this tale and get caught up in the adventure and the myth of this enduring character.
    The film opens with the Amazons at war with Ares and his army, led by his son, Thrax, whom he sired with the Amazon queen, Hippolyta (voiced here by Virginia Madsen). As Hippolyta is about to administer the death blow to Ares, she is stopped by Zeus, who will not allow his son to die. Hera, however, intervenes, and -- while being interestingly subservient to Zeus -- creates a compromise in which Ares will remain imprisoned by the Amazons, bound in bracelets that remove his Olympian abilities. In addition, the Amazons would be given Themyscira, an island hidden from the eyes of the world, where they could continue to dwell in timeless peace.

    Moving on, we see the birth of Diana, as her mother molds her out of clay, given life by the gods themselves. We see her grow and train with her sister Amazons, in particular Artemis (Rosario Dawson). But Diana's life of bored exploration of the island experiences a jolt when fighter pilot Steve Trevor (Nathan Fillion) is shot down over Themyscira. Following a brief interrogation with the lasso of truth (in which the Amazons learn the definition of the modern idiom, 'crap'), it is decided that one of them will be selected to escort Trevor back to the world of men.

    Diana (Keri Russell) wants to be the Amazon emissary, but is rejected because her mother says she lacks experience. So Diana hides her face and enters the contest held to select Themyscira's ambassador. Naturally, the princess wins the competition and her mother has no choice but to offer her the position and the ceremonial garb and accoutrements that go with it: the bracelets, the tiara, and the lasso.

    Unbeknownst to the Amazons, however, there's a traitor in their midst, and while the contests were being held, Ares has effected his escape. Now Diana has two missions: return Steve Trevor to the world, and recapture Ares before he rains down death and destruction upon the whole of the world!

    The origin is largely unchanged from canon, and yet is still tweaked enough to appeal to a more modern audience. Trevor is an incorribible flirt, even under danger, which irks Diana to no end. Etta Candy puts in an appearance, re-envisioned as a sexy little number who plays up to the frail stereotype of femininity to get attention from Steve -- a decided departure from the somewhat plump sidekick of the golden age Wonder Woman comics.

    Alfred Molina lets himself have fun with the role of the villain once again, and it comes through in his portrayal of Ares. But what's more fun is the banter between Trevor and Diana, as he tries to learn more about her. Seeing Diana teach a toddler how to swordfight with a stick -- for keeps! -- and watching Trevor put his own truth-eliciting magic (aka, tequila) to work were both highly enjoyable. The big brawls that lead up to the ultimate confrontation with Ares has moments that are both thrilling as well as humorous (as Wonder Woman picks up a few modern American idioms and puts them to linguistic use).

    The film is rated PG-13, and not without reason. The Amazons are warrior women, fighting with swords against mythological monsters. Both sides end up with decapitations, dismemberments, and disembowelments -- all shown on screen, with the requisite blood -- so keep that in mind if you're picking this one up to share with younger children.
  • kiriyamakazou
    February 28, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Wow. So good that it reduces the need for a live action version. The animation is stunning and the story fantastic. We're taken from Wonder Woman's origins through to her current status as hero. Mythology of all sorts rears it head, adding sumptuous visuals and original action se...( read more)quences. There are planes, winged beasties, huge battles and more. The film touches on themes of sexism, but also celebrates femininity without becoming feminist propaganda. The vocal cast is just as good as any Hollywood blockbuster. Molina adds his vocal chords to another villainous comic book role. Fillion is his charming and heroic self and the ladies are all feisty but also carry a certain amount of wisdom. I have a feeling that animation is the perfect medium for Wonder Woman, and I hope many sequels are to come.
  • itbegins2005
    November 2, 2009
    itbegins2005
    I don't like animated movies. Sure, animation's great for Bugs Bunny and Saturday morning, but I've always felt that feature length cartoons don't really qualify as films, theatrical release or no, because they almost uniformally lack the subtlety and nuance of live-action films-...( read more) after all, when your only creative limit is what you're able to draw, why bother with something like subtlety? Interestingly, I am also not a fan of Wonder Woman. Unabashed comic junkie and raging geek though I may be Wonder Woman is one of the few major superheroes- besides Aquaman and maybe the Fantastic Four- that just never really appealled to me; her origin is convoluted, her motivations ar hazy, her powers are ill-defined, and her costume (aside from being a bit skimpy for a feninist icon) makes no sense- why would an Amazon dress in red, white, and star-spangled blue? So taking these facts together, one would think that an animated Wonder Woman movie would would have about as much appeal to me as reading the Complete United States Federal Tax Code from cover to cover. One couldn't be more wrong. Wonder Woman, as it turns out, is the best superhero movie I've seen this year, with a script as solid as bedrock and a cast that can actually do good voice-work (I can't tell you how many dramatic animated features I've seen have just been killed by poor casting). The direction in particular appeals to me: unlike many other animated films, this is a movie that allows the story to unfold at a natural pace, taking the time for character moments and dramatic beats without going too far in the other direction- that is, building huge, minute-burning pauses where the characters just stare each other down or grunt (GOD, I hate Dragonball Z!). (more to come)
  • penelopecat
    October 12, 2009
    penelopecat
    Liked it a lot. It was great to see this version of Wonder Woman's origins.
  • jasonvargo
    September 29, 2009
    jasonvargo
    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 t...( read more)he 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.)
  • deano
    September 20, 2009
    deano
    The DC Comics animated action film is outstanding, especially the fight scenes. The dialogue is good, as is the voice acting including Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Virgina Madsen and more, and all suit the characters very well. I also liked the sto...( read more)ry, though how accurate it is to the DC comic book. I do know it's nice to have a strong female superhero character who can hold her own with any guy, and I don't just mean physically or intellectually. There is actually a pretty funny scene which illustrates this point, but I won't get into it here.
  • NobleKnight
    September 14, 2009
    NobleKnight
    I am sure the animation is very well down, and long with the story line, but I would rather see it in live action.

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