Harry here... I just got finished watching the action packed HULK VS Blu Ray. The two abbreviated films were indeed fun. However, they were short films. Exciting, fun... but not as satisfying as a feature film. So imagine my joy when today I opened up my mail and found a very early... hot off the presses dvd of WONDER WOMAN, the animated feature that's due out March 1st on DVD and BLU RAY. What I saw was a standard def version of the feature alone. None of the extras, and certainly not the early look at the upcoming GREEN LANTERN feature that will be on the eventual final product.
Whomever is looking at making a feature film of WONDER WOMAN, they should look at this, the first animated Wonder Woman feature for inspiration. It is directed by Lauren Montgomery (SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY) and she has out done herself with WONDER WOMAN.
The film begins with an amazing battle with all sorts of bizarre mythological creatures and what the viewer would think was the Amazonians and Wonder Woman. The battle is furious and brutal. Head lobbings, arm dismemberments... well, you get the idea, it's a war. And the woman that I thought was Wonder Woman... that was Queen Hippolyta (voiced by Virginia Madsen) in her prime. She has that headband thing Wonder Woman wears and the golden lasso. It is... both are used more brutally than I've seen before.
Soon, she's fighting the big baddie of the war, none other than Ares, God of War, himself. Ares is wonderfully voiced by Alfred Molina. The battle rages - and right as Hippolyta is to behead Aries, Zeus (voiced by U.N.C.L.E. agent, David McCallum) interferes and Aries is bound by arm bracelets that keep him from thriving on the energies associated with the suffering of war. At the same time, the women in Queen Hippolyta's charge are to be taken to a sacred secret island where she and the women with her would be kept safe forever in a tropical paradise.
Essentially this is a Wonder Woman origin story, but the origin is told quickly and concisely - all while introducing us to all the wonderful characters. You have Keri Russell as Wonder Woman, Rosario Dawson as Artemis and the latest inhabitant to the island is crashed pilot, Colonel Steve Trevor voiced by Captain Malcolm Reynolds, who was played by Captain Hammer, but is known by geeks as Nathan Fillion.
Nathan's Trevor is textbook Fillion. He's annoyed by Diana's assumption of male chauvinism - though he does admit to being a bit of a womanizer. But he isn't a joke character. Trevor is Wonder Woman's look at a modern man, not the brutal barbarian's that her mother knew.
After Diana wins the mission to take Trevor back to his homeland - and track down Ares, who due to the usual bad guy treachery - is loose upon the world causing mayhem. And just wait till you see Oliver Platt's Hades... classic stuff.
The film is more adult than you would expect. Nothing overtly wrong for a kid, I feel... but more than enough to maintain a story and a feature that would entertain all adult comic fans.
This is really a great flick. As with NEW FRONTIER and DOOMSDAY, the DC Animated Video titles continue to be vastly superior to the Marvel entries. This is one I can't wait to see on BLU-RAY - if only so I can better appreciate the animation, but also I can't wait to check out all the special features, especially our first look at GREEN LANTERN!
Spoiler:
oomsday, so I have a feeling I'll like this one too.
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