Enslaved and betrayed, their men killed and their homes destroyed, Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons finally win their freedom from the oppression of Ares, the God of War, after decades of conflict.
To heal the Amazons’ wounds and spirits, Hera, Queen of the Gods, gives them an island, untouched by time and hidden from the rest of humanity, where they can build a new paradise. To Hippolyta the gods give the daughter she has longed for.
When American pilot Steve Trevor crash-lands on Themyscira, an emissary of the Amazons is chosen by combat to return him home. Before that can happen, the imprisoned Ares escapes and it is up to Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, to save an unprepared world from his ambition and wrath.
This is the origin of Wonder Woman.
In America, it is the popular opinion that animated films are nothing but kiddie-fare and will not hold up to adult expectations. A generation or two has now grown up with comic book titles with compelling storylines and animation from overseas that blows away much of the American film we have come to accept as the best the industry has to offer. Those individuals have gone on to create and prove this opinion wrong for some time now.
With the surprisingly entertaining TV relaunch dead in the water and the live action feature film somewhere in limbo, fans of Diana of Themyscira will be ecstatic to find out there is the fantastic Warner Brothers Animation 2009 film Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman features an all-star cast. Keri Russell (Felicity) is Diana; Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle, Dr Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog) is Steve Trevor, and Alfred Molina (Spiderman 2, Frida) is Ares. The cast also includes Rosario Dawson, Oliver Platt, and Virginia Madsen, among many, many others.
Michael Jelenic (Thundercats [2011], Batman, the animated series) wrote the screenplay from the story written by famed Wonder Woman and DC writer Gail Simone.
The animation is great and the fight scenes are well choreographed and realistic for the superhero genre. The original score was written by Christopher Drake who also wrote the scores for various Hellboy animated films and Batman: Under the Red Hood.
The movie is firmly in the PG-13 arena, violence, blood, and innuendo put this as close to a major studio release as you can get without throwing the actors into tights while still making it accessible to the largest percentage of viewers. This in no way detracts from the impact of this film; it is damn good and very re-watchable.
In fact, this movie is a definite rent and purchase for Wonder Woman and comic book fans all around.
Don't miss out, watch Wonder Woman today!
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