Wonder Woman (2009 Video) User Reviews (75)

Wonder Woman: Considerably better than I expected

[Platypuschow · 8/10 · 8 January 2018]

I've never been a Wonder Woman fan, the ridiculous outfit always put me off much alike Superman and at time of writing haven't even watched the live action Gal Gadot film

For this reason I went into this expecting very little so found myself blown away by just how good it is.

Essentially an origin story it follows Diana from birth through to adulthood and her double pronged first mission to return a pilot to the world of man and to defeat Ares God Of War who has escaped confinement.

It never fails to amaze me how good the voice talent is in these things. Here we have Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Marg Helgenberger, Virginia Madsen, David McCallum and one of my favorite actors Oliver Platt.

They do a fantastic job here as do the animators and the writers, I really enjoyed this. Is it ground breaking? Hardly, but considering it was a movie about a character I don't much care for they really knocked it out of the park.

The Good:

I love greek mythology

Very well written

Great voice cast

The Bad:

I still can't take the invisible jet seriously

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Don't believe the lies about the stork or the sex thing, my eyes have been opened! Babies are molded from sand.

Fighter jets float

The man who created Wonder Woman was born in the 1800's, let that sink in

Heroes have no appreciation for property damage

Being attacked by a god causes instant sobriety

The question who ate all the pies has been answered, it was hades

Great animated movie

[dex_90 · 8/10 · 12 April 2009]

...But this movie was the best of the new Animated DC and even Marvel movies coming out yet (maybe with an exception of the Justice League: The New Frontier Movie), which might've been a bit better...

Everything just fit from the Storytelling, Jokes to the Action and even the Voice cast... usually they tend to overdo it (especially on the Action part) but it was just about right in this feature.

More of them in this quality please, I'd even like a TV show if it stays like this :P

I gave it an 8/10 with a tendency upwards.

MOAR!

"Nobody messes with Lincoln!"

[DarthBill · 7/10 · 28 April 2009]

PLOT: In her first solo animated feature, DC's Wonder Woman/Princess Diana gets her basic origin story told & goes about battling Ares, God of War, and bantering with Col. Steve Trevor.

For some strange reason, the First Lady of DC, Wonder Woman seems to be a very difficult character to write for, even when compared to DC's other two big iconic characters, Superman & Batman, respectively. Take the entertaining if imperfect Justice League: The Animated Series/Justice League Unlimited, which for all intents & purposes was the last hurrah of the DCAU that spun off from the 1992 Batman series by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini & the usual suspects for example. Despite being the third most iconic character in the cast opposite the Man of Steel & The Dark Knight, Wonder Woman ended up having quite possibly the weakest characterization of the main players. From the poorly written "Maid of Honor" and "Hawk & Dove" to the ham-fisted attraction Wonder Woman felt for Batman (there were times where she borderline threw herself at him), the writers always seemed to struggle with her. She was even upstaged at times by the considerably less famous Hawkgirl, which is pretty sad. Here of course is an attempt to rectify the error by giving her origin an actual spotlight, something the Justice League series pretty much glossed over (they even admit this in their audio commentary) while acknowledging other aspects of her history. Case in point: taking away her modern age ability to fly & requiring her to get around in that damn Invisible Jet (an outdated Golden Age/Silver Age concept that should be left in the past, where it belongs).

As far as performances are concerned, the voice acting is for the most part top notch, with a special nod to Alfred Molina as Ares, who dominates every scene he's in. Despite some poorly placed jokes (I'm sorry but the "pucker factor" was not funny), Firefly leading man Nathan Fillion has some very funny moments as a very sardonic version of Col. Steve Trevor, better known to most fans as being basically a male version of Lois Lane for Wonder Woman to hang out with. Actually, the modern age revamp of Wonder Woman from the late 80s did away with Trevor as a love interest for our heroine, although he still appeared, he settled down with Etta Candy instead (who in the comics is not the svelte blonde who appears in this feature). And from my own reading of Wonder Woman, Trevor wasn't as much of a cad as he is here.

Sadly, Keri Russell's performance as Wonder Woman was very underwhelming & unimpressive. I like Keri, she's the only reason I watched "Waitress" and "August Rush", but her voice was too soft to make Wonder Woman sound convincing during her more rough & tumble moments. Passable for the bored princess just killing time on paradise island perhaps, maybe even fine for a character such as Lois Lane or Barbara Gordon, but for Wonder Woman Keri's voice lacked the power & forcefulness of a warrior, especially when compared to Lucy Lawless, who voiced WW in New Frontier and Susan Eisenberg of the Justice League series, or even Shannon Farnon, who voiced the character in (most of) the old Super Friends cartoons. Ironically, either Virginia Madsen, who voices WW's mother Queen Hippolyte, or Rosario Dawson, who voices Artemis, would have been better choices for Wonder Woman's voice.

The animation is beautiful, character designs aren't too shabby, they even managed to give the male characters better proportion than what they'd had in the Solo Superman & Justice League series. And yet, Wonder Woman's character design is a disappointment, and the trademark tiara doesn't seem to help. Her mother's character design actually looked better and would have been more fitting for WW. The action is very impressive, despite a lack of blood on the weapons.

Overall: not great, not terrible, uneven at times, still better than say Superman: Doomsday (which isn't exactly difficult). The sad thing is this may actually be better than the live action film (if they ever pull themselves together enough to make one).

Remarkably good, but not brilliant

[sarastro7 · 7/10 · 9 March 2009]

I have read most of the Wonder Woman comics since George Pérez's reinvention of her in 1987. The storyline in this movie is clearly inspired by the first six issues of that series, which featured a battle with Ares. This movie had the major change that the Amazons had actually been created to guard Ares, who in this version sits in a dungeon on Paradise Island itself. I thought that was okay. The circumstances and basic plot have been simplified in a good and manageable way for this movie, and it featured plenty of action-heavy battles, which is really cool. I had no problem with the violence here (even though I agree that superheroes are, ideally, not supposed to kill), as most of it was perpetrated on mythological creatures. If there is to be a really threatening villain, then the violence has to be on at least this sort of level (people should note that this movie is not supposed to be shown on Saturday morning along with kiddie cartoons; this is for an older audience). Ares and his powers and his ultimate demise were handled very, very well here, and I found the ending particularly hilarious.

The problems of characterization owes to the shortness of the movie. Both WW and Steve Trevor lacked depth and development, and this was a shame. Trevor was just any old capable soldier; a typical male. Not the sensitive guy from the comics. Diana indeed was not quite shocked enough about the cultural differences in "man's world", and by the end she'd taken all too easily and uncritically to the usual conventions of femininity. There were also a number of details that could have been handled better. I didn't notice if her boots had high heels, but a major battle was fought without her boots on, and at one point she hurts her opponent with a heel from a woman's shoe in a shopping mall (which is getting wrecked by the fight), and seems to stop to consider it. This detail was not followed up on, although it could easily have been used for something (like making her decide to wear high heels - or not). The pre-Crisis WW did have high heels, while the post-Crisis one did not. I always liked the heel-less WW - seems more natural and less artificially feminine -, but it would have been nice to have the movie at least address this issue.

Even with its faults, this is still the best animated superhero movie I've seen yet. But then, I'm not really a big fan of the younger audiences stuff; I do prefer live action.

Let me say, by the way, that commentator samkay1 does not understand Wonder Woman's world, or DC's use of Greek mythology. There was no time-travel in this movie, nor were Artemis and Persephone supposed to be the original goddesses; they are merely named after them. Artemis, introduced in the comics in the '90s, became a hugely popular character, who took over the mantle of Wonder Woman for a while, and that's why she is included here. Personally, I never cared much for her, but apparently DC feels that she has become a classic character of the Wonder Woman cast.

Anyway, nice superhero action movie, but still somewhat aways from being perfect.

7 out of 10.

Finally Portrayed as the Warrior she is

[brandon_maze · 10/10 · 7 March 2009]

Would just like to disagree with previous comments because i really enjoyed this movie.This time around Wonder Woman was not portrayed as pageant queen with a rope but as a powerhouse warrior.She is not a bouncy beauty queen in a swim suit,she is an amazon.They are born for battle and raised to fight for the greater good.This movie stayed so true to the origin and even gave the characters more personality.She is one kick ass broad and her character in the film could have just as easily been male.Wonder Woman is an icon and a very strong woman who while being kind hearted also knows how to be tough when needed.i recommend this movie to anyone who loves comics and the character and I'm a really picky person when it comes to my DC characters.

A little bland for adults, a little too violent for kids

[cricketbat · 6/10 · 19 March 2021]

The problem with this animated Wonder Woman movie is that the plot is a little bland for adults, but the level of violence is probably too much for kids. And even though it's only 74 minutes long, the story still feels watered down, and some of the dialogue feels heavy-handed or wooden. That being said, it's a pretty straightforward telling of Wonder Woman's origin story. It's not bad, but I expected it to be better.

A Great Movie With Something For Everyone

[ARTaylor · 9/10 · 27 February 2009]

I was lucky enough to attend the early screening of Wonder Woman at Wondercon '09. Perhaps I was swept up in the excitement of so many fans around me, but I found this to be quite enjoyable. Perhaps the best of any of DC's animated features so far.

It's part action-adventure film and part romantic-comedy. And both parts are done wonderfully that makes this accessible to men, women, geek, and non-geek.

It's not based on any one story, but rather it goes through the typical Wonder Woman origins mixed with a supervillain story. Diana's on the island. A pilot crashes there. She takes him back. Bad guy does bad things. Diana and pilot must stop him. Not entirely original but no complaints here.

When it comes to action there is plenty of it. And violent too though not bloody. In fact I recall only three, maybe four instances of blood actually appearing. Bruce Timm said they did have more in it but it got an R rating and they had to tone it down. This is not necessarily one you would want to show to young kids. There are impalements, decapitations, crotch kicking, neck snapping; and that's all in the prologue not to mention the larger final battle. This isn't television, people die in this. The action itself is done well. It's plenty fun to watch. It's not all that suspenseful so you're not really on the edge of your seats hoping that they get out if it, but it's enjoyable nonetheless.

This movie had the theater busting their guts with laughter. From comical moments in fight scenes to the well delivered jokes. But again this isn't necessarily for kids. There's a lot of stuff like that which parents should watch out for. Jokes about sex, Wonder Woman's outfit, just stuff like that. There's different kinds of jokes but generally it's not geared towards kids.

The voice acting is top notch. Everyone does well in their roles. Not a single role is miscast or not done well. My only quibble is the dialog of Zeus, Hera, and Hades. For Greek gods they talk quite modern, even in the prologue. It's distracting since the Amazons talk more formally, like you would expect someone of ancient times to talk. The actors do fine work but I think their few lines should have been rewritten first.

The animation is great except it's just like Justice League. It's not really all that different. It's not exactly the same design but it's very close. So watching this felt like I was watching the series. It's not like Batman: Gotham Knight where it looks completely different than Batman: The Animated Series. It doesn't really feel like Timm is moving forward in the animation.

One guy had a problem with the gender roles in the movie. He didn't like how masculine some of the Amazons were or how feminine one male character was. But the panel was quick to ask why. Cause, that's the real point of the movie. Preconceptions regarding gender roles. Everything in the movie deals with gender roles. How everyone has them and how everyone's views changes by the end. Some of it's subtle, most of it's not. But it never seems like it's hitting you over the head with it.

The movie doesn't shy away from the fact that comic books tend to exaggerate women and it certainly doesn't shy away from the fact that these women, especially Diana, are very beautiful. All the Amazons are called "armored supermodels." Steve the pilot thinks he's died and gone to heaven when he first sees the Amazons (not spoiling anything but that scene truly is a man's fantasy). When Diana first puts on the Wonder Woman costume there's a close up of her large chest. It's certainly in no way animated porn but sensitive parents will want to watch out.

My only real complaint deals with the final battle, which I shall endeavor to not spoil any details. To me it doesn't feel like they built it up enough, like it was rushed into. Another problem is that the bad guy does this one nasty trick which is emotionally powerful, but it's over too quick. My last is one hero goes off to fight, disappears for five minutes while we watch everyone else, it comes back to the hero, they finishes their part, and disappears for the rest of the battle. It just feels like clunky editing.

So to wrap this up: this movie has wonderful humor, exciting action, great acting, and is well made in pretty much every way. It's not for children but it's not meant to be. But when you look at the recent trend in comics and comic book movies you can see that it is being geared less towards children and more towards a mature audience.

Fans of Wonder Woman will love this movie. Fans of Bruce Timm's DC Animated Universe will love this movie. Fans of comic book movies will love this. This is certainly one of the best ventures into animated comic book movies.

I am... Amazonian superhero with a truth-whip, hear me roar (?)

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 12 August 2009]

It was bound to happen, and it was about time for it to be due, that a Wonder Woman movie would come around. While the comic book was never nearly as profitable or successful as its other DC JLA counterparts (Superman and Batman especially, not sure on how it did compared to Green Lantern), people love Wonder Woman anyway and its icon status has kept her and the brand name popular for years. Following on the heels of the animated New Frontier movie, where we got to see a kick-ass Wonder Woman fighting for Asian refugees, this time it's an origin story focused on how Princess Diana came to be on the Amazonian island secluded away from the world- especially those icky men, eww- and how she has to go out into the said world (i.e. New York City, Washington DC) to stop Ares, the semi-God who will take over the world.

The short of it is to say that Wonder Woman, at least in this incarnation, is like Gloria Steinem on steroids with a big grab-bad of mythology. Its feminist take on things is so upfront and in-your-face in some little scenes and moments it almost becomes laughable. We get it: women rule, they should be respected, they can kick a guy's ass just as much if not better and with more skill than a man could, uh, kick another ass. But this beat is continued for nearly the entire film, the break in this femi-Nazi ice (yeah, sorry to go to the Nazi place there, do forgive me) is the character Steve Trevor, a pilot who crashes on the island and starts womanizing Wonder Woman. Mistake, at first, but after an outburst in a hospital scene, things change... erm, slightly.

This is basically made for the true-blue Wonder Woman fans. How much it strays from the 1970s TV show I can't say, though I imagine this is far less campy, even in its small doses of (intentional) humor. For the people just looking for a good story it, too, is decent. In fact this might be one of those rare cases for the animated Warner/DC combo, certainly in the recent memory of high-quality output they've been having (Superman Doomsday, New Frontier, the new Green Lantern) where the dialog scenes actually trump the action. A fight at night between Diana and a big monster working for Ares in the NYC streets is nifty, and there's some good swordplay, but the climax feels rushed; it's not that the bases aren't covered, but they go by so quickly that it's like the opposite of a Lord of the Rings battle- instead of too much there's too little in terms of scope and excitement. This being said, it features Nathan Filion as Trevor (everything you'd want from Filion: cocky, fun, a treat for the ladies even in animated form) and Alfred Molina as Ares... and believe you me, it's one of his best performances in years.

In live action it would be epic!

[killoa2002 · 9/10 · 26 March 2009]

I am happy to say that this is a very decent movie. Wonder woman has waited so long for her own epic, albeit a straight to DVD release. The story takes us through her roots, where she came from, and more importantly, who she is. The story works, and it has its own originality. What could make it better? If it were live action thats what. If they added a little more to fill it to maybe 100 minutes, and got someone young new and able for the lead part, and maybe removed some of this Steve's chauvinist's attitude, then this Wonder Woman movie in Live action WOULD BE EPIC! This gives me hope that the big screen live action will be close to perfect.

Still hungry... For Wonder Woman.

[Rusty_RUSTam · 7/10 · 3 March 2009]

Believe me when I say, that I'm probably one of the most obsessed fans out there. I was at the mall to buy the movie, before FYE even opened (in hopes of getting the free poster as well, which they had a limited amount of). My intense anticipation was finally quenched when I got my hands on the copy.

The beginning of the movie was very promising. The first scene gave hope to the viewer, to expect an epic film. There's plenty of humor, romance, and most certainly action and violence. The story was decent, however, as the movie progresses, it doesn't feel like the official movie - but more like another episode from the Justice League show.

In the end though, I was satisfied. It did slightly feel like a good tease, running only at 74 minutes... And therefore left me wanting more.

If you're mainly interested in the movie... I would go for the single disc edition, because the bonus material on the 2nd disc is really not all that interesting, or worth the watch... Unless you want the holographic slipcover, in which case, go with the 2 disc set.

One of the best DC Comics movies

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 8 September 2009]

Now this movie has got me to love this DC Comics super-heroine. When Steve Trevor an U.S. Army fighter pilot, crash-lands on the mystical island of Amazons called Themyscira. The rebellious and headstrong Princess Diana defies her queenly mother by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile, Ares the god of war, has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of the Amazons and has decided to exact his revenge: intending to start a world war that will not only last for centuries but will wipe out every living being on the planet, starting with the Amazons! It is up to Diana to save her people and the world by using her gifts and becoming Wonder Woman!

This is an awesome movie. It is very well written, and the animation is really cool! One of the best DC movies along with the live-action Batman movie. The story was perfect, funny full of suspense and really worth the PG-13 rating. I don't have a favorite scene (as I said many times), because I love the WHOLE film from beginning to end.

Disturbing Metaphysical Tone

[Man99204 · 6/10 · 25 April 2016]

This is not just a simple animated comic book. This film contains a disturbing "metaphysical tone" which is totally inappropriate for this type of genre.

This is not the classic character you grew up with. These Amazons have become angry and hostile and stridently political. It infers that women have to prove themselves by being violent and hostile.

With one exception the voice actors are outstanding. Nathan Fillion, as the voice of Steve Trevor, makes absolutely no effort to become the Steve Trevor character. He remains at all times the same annoying character he plays on "Castle".

This film is NOT suitable for viewers under 12.

Mostly Tripe

[Animation Wizard · 1/10 · 3 June 2009]

After seeing some truly awesome and wonderful animated DC universe films to come out in the last several years I was completely taken aback by the writhing insipid tripe that this film gloriously and condescendingly decides to offer.

Basics! (Spoilers within)

Wonder Woman, an over achieving and somewhat UNnaturally over-endowed female warrior finds herself on the cusp of eternal adulthood (which is a lot like eternal infancy except you're really, really hot) when a member of the opposite gender suddenly drops into her innocent (i.e. puerile) existence.

Said man (making the kind of obscene jokes feminist over-achievers love to pretend don't offend them ) is your basic troglodyte. Find WOMAN. Find WOMAN. Find WOMAN. His brain doesn't strive much farther then that. And his role in the first thirty minutes of the film seems to reach as far as his thoughts, but don't worry. What good could come from a mere man making sense or adding to the plot anyway?

Suddenly, without any kind of warning (sarcasm) the god of war (the husband of WW's mother but somehow NOT her father.... don't ask) escapes! And this is bad! Because he's evil! Wonder Woman defies mother and sisters (not real sisters... don't ask) and goes out to stop the evil and save the world!

But stops momentarily after stepping out of her invisible jet to aide a young girl who wants to play with boys and the boys don't want to play with young girl! SO SAD! The evil can wait! This needs ATTENTION!!

This was nearly halfway through the film.... and it was there that I finally realized I could take no more and had to TURN it OFF!!

Luckily I survived intact. However, the DVD I unfortunately bought is resting peacefully at my local Hastings store like a copy of the Necronomicon, waiting for the next unsuspecting victim to find it... and unleash the horror within.....

In the end.... I dub this film useless tripe. It tried to be intellectual and entertaining but it turned out insipid and infuriating... or how about just plain insulting? Substituting jokes you find in the public toilet for plot lines is the M.O. of creepy men in basements, not DC heroes. This doesn't impress me. The film makers were obviously under pressure to get this film out before the live action version next year.... although I doubt the end result would have been better even with more time to get it done. This film is just rotten... and the animation isn't that great either.

If you want to watch a good animated DC flick, see the Justice League. Wonder Woman rocks in that film.

A Well Written, Directed, & Acted Fast Paced Superhero Movie

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 7/10 · 19 July 2017]

Though Wonder Woman has seen a tried and failed TV Series and a popular three season TV Series in the '70's the character never had the recognition she deserved after that. So we saw her in the Justice League animation, though not until 2009 did she get a feature length animation to herself. While both Batman and Superman had series and movies to their credit. Not such a good thing for one of DC's Trinity.

This film goes to show that both DC and Warner were wrong to shelf the Amazon Wonder for so long. I still cannot believe that there wasn't a series on the back of this movie. The story which the writers give the audience is one based on the current mythos. After the Amazons help Zeus to defeat Ares - the God of War, Zeus and Hera entrusts them to hold him prisoner on an Island created for that sole purpose - Themyscira. Mystical bracelets shackle him against using his powers. After years of guarding Ares, Diana is born out of her mother's love and Zeus' will, after Queen Hippolyte forges her from clay. More years go by and Diana grows into a young woman learning the ways of the Amazons. until their peace is shattered by a jet fighter crashing on their Island. Under the lasso of truth it's deemed that the pilot, Steve Trevor is no threat and should be returned to his world. During the Games to find an emissary to accompany Trevor, Ares is set free by his guard, his secret lover, Persephone. Now Diana has two missions to accomplish.

The director does a wonderful job of keeping the action sequences coming thick and fast while interweaving some very good drama sequences (of which I particularly like the Steve Trevor lasso interrogation scene and Diana's introduction to Ares). The great thing about animation is that you have a broader scope of what you can bring to life. In this case it's the monster, demons, and ghosts. If this had been made in live action it would have required a much bigger budget.

The story, on the whole, is strong and both the writers do a great job with the Amazons and their time period. The many references and quotes go along way to set an atmosphere and a believability for the audience. The only thing I found wrong with the film was Steve Trevor's character who comes of week and unassured at times. Even Fillion helps to give the character a "Wimpy" feel. Steve Trevor should be the complete opposite of these, with more than a smattering of cocky to boot. I think a rewrite of the character and a voice change would have worked better - David Boreanaz'ish or Ryan Reynold'ish.

I also don't believe that Molina had the strength to voice Ares, who actually comes off kinda Meh! It needed a darker and richer voice, somewhere between Brian Blessed and Tim Curry (circa Legend) to give the God the power he deserves. Russell does a great job as Wonder Woman and in the scene with the ice cream brings out the child in Diana superbly - a very nice scene. Though the stars for me were Virginia Madsen, who was surprisingly brilliant as Hippolyte, and Oliver Platt for his magnificent take on Hades.

I would recommend this for all as it has something for everybody. A strong story, good animation and direction, good acting, fast paced and action packed. This is one film I would be happy to watch again. All DC and Wonder Woman fans shouldn't miss this film.

Just great

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 17 August 2012]

I was in two minds of whether this animated version of Wonder Woman would work, and to my delight it absolutely did. The dialogue between the gods at the beginning wasn't as good as that of the rest of the movie, but this is not enough to hurt the movie too much. The animation is wonderful, very like Justice League but that is a good thing in my eyes, with detailed backgrounds, fluid character designs and bold and atmospheric colours. The action is well paced and compelling, and never feels choppy or flabby. The music has a cool and catchy vibe to it, while the writing is funny and witty yet intelligent and sometimes tense and the story is entertaining and suspenseful. The characters are very likable and you do identify them from the get go, the women especially the titular character are really beautiful especially. The voice acting is very dynamic and expressive. All in all, a great movie and I agree it's one of the best DC movies. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"Wonder Woman" has enough entertainment value

[KineticSeoul · 7/10 · 12 February 2015]

This is a corny superhero movie with a somewhat cool direction. I actually liked the direction they went with one of the most iconic super-heroine in comic book history. And it does have some witty dialogue mixed in with some corny ones. Although most of the jokes are directed towards adults. It's actually a decent movie showing the origin story of Wonder Woman, like where she comes from and what she represents and all that. The animation is well done and the story and direction is fast-paced and entertaining. But also with enough development to at least understand where the characters are coming from and their characteristics. Some may find the plot to be ridiculous like out of some corny 70's flick and yeah, the plot is mostly predictable. But it still has enough entertainment value.

7.2/10

Watch out, Hollywood, this is what WW should looks alike!

[joerg-nezmeskal · 9/10 · 11 May 2009]

Like many other viewers before, I didn't really cared about the character of Wonder Woman before the movie. She seemed to be pretty much an relict from the early days (1940's) of the upcoming feminism movement and therefore irrelevant or even "boring" (to state a overrated Hollywood pretty-face). But that movie really sold me, not just because of the wonderful, old-school animation the big, amazing fight scenes (Amazons vs. Monsters of the Greek mythology, Amazons vs. Zombie Amazons and so on), the cool mythological background and story that progresses out of it but mostly because of the characterization of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. Hell, even the bad guys and evil doers had their reasons and motivations and that's just good storytelling. However, Wonder Woman is portrayed as a kind hearted, sometimes naive, lovable female who's also a absolute bad ass 'cause of her heritage, if she needs to. I also loved that the movie didn't took itself too serious and fooled around with some of the more ridiculous things regarding the WW character (like WW considering Heels, Amazons referred as "armed supermodels", invisible missiles and pretty much everything with the lasso). I can't talk about the original voice cast 'cause I've seen that movie German dubbed (but IMO the German cast was spot on!). My only complaint is, that this movie was just too short. However, if DC should finally be able to produce a Wonder Woman-movie for the big screen, this is what it should feel and look alike!!!

Exciting and thematically rich; better than the live-action film.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 7/10 · 25 June 2018]

After a fantastic, action-packed opening, 'Wonder Woman (2009)' continues to tell its eponymous hero's origin story with a suitably fast pace and refreshing focus on both her Greek god inspired background, with the legends of old being nicely reinterpreted to fit with the characters and world, and her attempts to integrate into modern society with the help of her recent rescuee, who is both the cause of and remedy to much of her disillusionment with the 'world of men'. The fights are epic and exciting, with some brutal and surprising bloodshed compounding their deadly nature. The themes of sexism, gender bias and an otherwise 'man vs woman' mentality are handled, for the most part, incredibly well, woven into the narrative with nuance and poise. The overall piece is an entertaining ride from start to finish that's consistently enjoyable and thematically rich, too, with characters that do their deep comic-book histories justice. It's better than the live-action film, for sure. 7/10

One of the best DC animated movies!

[ivan_flat · 10/10 · 17 May 2012]

Im a big fan of the DC universe.Though I have never been a big fan of wonder woman, never hated her,but never saw anything special in her.So when I decided to watch this I never thought it would be this good. As of now this is one of my favorite animated DC movies.

This is basically wonder womans origin story,and her fight against Ares, the god of war. The story is great and does a great job showing wonder womans interaction with the "real" world and her relationship with both her amazonian sisters and men. The story also does a good job introducing the mythology of the Amazons. The voice acting is excellent and both animation and action is on a very high level. I personally loved the intricacy of the action sequences. While kinda short the movie very fun the whole way.

After watching it,it saddens me that this story was not made into a live action movie because I believe it would be a worthy addition to the DC comics short movie list and a great way to introduce this character to a broader audience.

Not bad, but oh so predictable.

[AlecWingerd · 6/10 · 12 May 2011]

So, here's how the anecdote goes; the land of the Amazons has enjoyed boundless prosperity since time immemorial until the sudden ingress of a strange creature that no one had ever seen before. Flummoxed by his paradisaical environment, this 'man' finds himself quickly captured by ornery women who proceed to drill him for information whereupon he turns out to be a major chauvinist horn dog. How better to drive home the schism between the sexes, eh? Trouble quickly starts brewing in some shape or another and for some reason the man escapes the noose and finds himself stranded in the US of A together with one of the native ladies, who inevitably encounters the most egregious of female oppression and the worst the male species has to offer and comes to realize men are exactly the type of virulent pigs she was warned about. Trouble follows them to the mainland and they get into a battle where he displays his chivalry by saving her life or whatever, following which they have a big falling out and the amazon woman grudgingly accepts that the man isn't so bad after all. They kiss and make up and band together to save the day...

Now, you may call out 'Shock and outrage! You just spoiled the entire plot of Wonder Woman!' You'd only be half right since I wrote pretty much the entire above paragraph before I actually started watching this movie (I put up the spoiler tag just to play it safe). As with most of Marvel and DC Comics, I know virtually nothing about the Wonder Woman comic book series, but if this movie is any indication they're sure doing a good job keeping to the formula, for Zeus's sake. Why must every work of fiction focusing on female empowerment go out of its way depicting men like warlike savages or sex-crazed buffoons? I have several male friends and some of them are alright. Sometimes, I wish movies like these would surprise me just once by doing the exact opposite of what I'd expect of them, like paint the male main character to be a cultured and sensitive person, wide-eyed idealist, pacifist or hopeless romantic or, dare I say it, gay, or make the women out to be rambunctious, down and dirty booze sponges who like the sins of the flesh just as much as the penis-owning crowd. I won't buy for a second that these women never experiment with their own. It's things like these that remind me why I like Futurama's 'Death By Snusnu' episode so much. Then again this is a DC production and after many decades of comic book writing DC is nothing if not formulaic, and I expect that the PG-13 rating may have held them back from going into too much detail on the more interesting and unexplored themes, the abundance of sexual jokes notwithstanding.

It's nice though that despite the treatment the men have been getting there's not much of a double standard; the amazons themselves are depicted as murderous militants with a penchant for beheading and that hold competitions involving getting shot at with arrows. At first, Wonder Woman/Diana's mother, Hippolyta, the amazon queen from myth, came over as no more sympathetic than Ares himself, having killed her own son not because he was her enemy in a war (it's not really made all that clear whether he actually was or not) but simply to spite her former lover, while Ares is what Ares does as a supernatural embodiment of war and strife. Under the rule of a woman like that, I would have expected male intruders to be shot on sight or at least publicly executed, which made the subsequent events in the movie a tad unbelievable. Maybe she just mellowed out over the many centuries; none of the amazons seems to freaking age considering they all look the same as they did in the flashback presumably from ancient times. So either they're all immortal or the last battle against Ares was waged roughly when disco went out of style. Or are they gods as well? Some of them were named after Olympian goddesses... Clearly, these recent Marvel and DC animated features require a certain measure of foreknowledge that I don't have, but I can't blame a movie for not really being part of its target audience.

Having gotten all the negative stuff out of the way though, I have to say this movie was still freaking awesome. The art style was crisp and clean and I swear by the lasso of truth around my neck that the many visceral fight scenes are some of the very best I've ever seen in any western made animated film. Clearly, a lot of work went into this film and I'm sure any Wonder Woman fan will enjoy it greatly for what it is. It's not the smartest or the wittiest movie but it's far from being dumb or unfunny. That scene in the run down bar would've been a lot more interesting though without the amazons' high tolerance for alcohol. Ares' affability made him an interesting bad guy, not so much evil as acting on his instinct as, well, the God of War, and the portrayal of Hades as a decadent fat body was intriguing and excellent. Its superficial flaws don't detract from the experience in the slightest, and Wonder Woman radiates with character and detail. Despite my occasional confusion I definitely had a lot of fun watching it. Two and a half stars.

Before Gal Gadot, there was this wonderful little animated movie

[xamtaro · 9/10 · 31 May 2017]

Wonder Woman makes her live action solo movie debut in 2017, but that is not her first feature length film. In 2009, the animated Wonder Woman movie was produced by Warner Premiere as part of its then-new direct to video series of movies. Overshadowed by higher profile releases like Batman Gotham Knights (no doubt bolstered by the success of Christopher Nolan's dark knight trilogy), the 2009 Wonder Woman animated movie failed to perform as well in terms of sales. Surprising when you consider that on its own, WONDER WOMAN is a well made, thought provoking, energetic little movie that deserved much more recognition than it got.

Our story opens in ancient times where the amazon women wage a bloody war which ended with he imprisonment of Ares, but at the cost of many lives. As a reward, the Greek gods grant the amazon queen Hippolyta a child fashioned from clay: Diana. The amazons flourish in isolation on paradise island where Diana grows up into a fine young warrior. But a part of her seeks greater adventure outside the boundaries of the island. Her chance comes when pilot Steve Trevor survives a frantic mid air battle and crashes on the island.

As the amazons hold a contest to determine the one most worthy to escort Trevor back to America, Ares escapes with the help of a traitor just as Diana wins the contest. Tasked with tracking down Ares, Trevor opts to help Diana as the enter man's world in search of the missing god of war. But Ares has a far more sinister plan in the work, one that could spell the doom of the world and the extinction of the amazons.

Right from the get go, the first thing that struck me was the dialogue in the movie. Written by comic scribe Gail Simone, the dialogue is witty, clever and mature. Take the visuals out of the equation and it feels like watching a well written live action movie or prime time TV show.

Our characters are brought to life by a perfect cast; Alfred Molina is truly menacing as Ares, Rosario Dawson as the regal queen, and Keri Russell imbuing a nuanced inner strength to Diana.

However the true standout performance is Firefly's Nathan Fillon as daring scoundrel pilot Steve Trevor. Steve is part Han Solo, part Maverick Mitchell from Top Gun and Fillon slips into it perfectly. He completely owns the roll, delivering his dialogue in the most natural way possible, sharing a magnificent chemistry with Russell.

The story is deeper than your average cartoon. Aside from being an origin story for Wonder Woman, showing her growth from reluctant and slightly defiant girl to a champion of the oppressed, the narrative weaves in many underlying themes relevant to our times.

Themes of sexism, gender bias, racial privilege and the differing expectations on man and woman are all interwoven into the narrative and brought to the forefront. It is refreshing to find a movie that is this smart in its handling of such themes; indeed a rarity in American animated works.

Unfortunately, the movie is not without its flaws and WONDER WOMAN's flaws are in the visuals. The animation was done by Moi Animation, a Korean studio who worked on many critically acclaimed works such as Legend of Korra and Young Justice. WONDER WOMAN was their first feature length work, having only done animation in the past for TV shows like TEEN TITANS and BOONDOCKS. The animation is OK. Nothing horrible but nothing as stunning as their later works. The often uninspired way the fight scenes are done does not help matters. Fights either involve one too many cuts or just do not feel as dynamic as other later DC animated movies.

The art work is also up to personal taste. Director Lauren Montgomery brings a look that mixes 90s Disney cartoon aesthetic with the more simplistic designs of the Bruce Timm cartoons, but the mix tends to look a bit lazy at times.

I personally did not like it as all the women looked the same, with big emphasised lips and angular hips, only differentiated by different hair styles. The few attempts at using CGI for vehicles just came off looking cheap and unprofessional.

On the bright side, composer Christopher Drake bring an epic score to the movie, giving otherwise mediocre fight scenes a sense of intensity and danger.

At 75 minutes, some would call the movie short, but i call it succinct. A lot happens in that time, going from paradise island, to America, to the depths of the underworld, and then to a climatic showdown in Washington DC. This brisk pace may leave it up to the viewer to connect some of the sub plots but the main story of Diana's more innocent nature contrasting with the ways of the modern world works to develop her character from sheltered princess into a true warrior and hero. This movie in a word is terrific, let down only by its technical shortcomings. If you can forgive that, that you would be in for a truly wonderful experience.

Animated film of the origins of Wonder Woman.

[TxMike · 6 September 2011]

A new Wonder Woman movie is out, and will be available shortly on DVD and BD. I was a big fan of the old Wonder Woman TV series, but didn't recall any particulars of how the character originated. So I found this animated movie at my local public library.

The movie is essentially the origin of Wonder Woman. Without getting into the particulars of the mythology, the tribe of Amazon women ended up on the isolated, secret island, living and thriving there for untold years. Then one day in a military dog fight, a damaged fighter and its pilot make an emergency landing on this uncharted island.

In a series of events, a competition is held to see which one will have the task of getting this pilot back to his own civilization, and the eventual victor is the one which then is destined to become Wonder Woman once they get back to the real world.

All in all a very nice animated movie. Keri Russell, who I have always liked, voices Wonder Woman and Nathan Fillion voices the downed pilot, Steve Trevor.

And no, these Amazon women do not live in the Amazon forest that the Amazon river runs through.

Wonder Woman rendered "Spaghetti Western Style"

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 14 January 2016]

FOLLOWING SEVERAL LIVE action adaptations, this is the first and only animated WONDER WOMAN that we've heard about. And it was only recently that we became of its existence and miraculously found its being shown over one of our thousands of cable channels shortly thereafter.

WELL, YOU CAN call this old and venerable member of the Baby Boomer generation a fuddy-duddy, but it was both a sort of a shock and surprise. It displays some pretty near PG-13 or even higher a rating for violence and (to our way of thinking) has an overextended opening.

THIS SAID OPENING sequence provides us with the origin of Wonder Woman, one that delves deeper into her history as a Princess of the Amazons. This is done with that bloodletting battle scene that is crafted much like those we would see in an Epic Motion picture or on one of those docudrama shows on the History Channel.

THERE IS SO much emphasis placed on this set of happenings in the Ancient World that one begins to forget that our heroine is a lady of the contemporary worked? (or is it now politically correct to say only 'Hero' without regard to gender?)

FURTHERMORE THERE ARE several influences from outside sources that appear to have influenced the style and tone of the movie. We already have mentioned the great, bloody battle scenes; but there are others worth mentioning.

WHAT WITH THR foundation of the theme of Amazons being one of Ancient Hellenic origin. all of the references to the old mythologies of the region and especially the inclusion and invocation of the pagan Greco-Roman gods, one is reminded of how Stan Lee & company portrayed the world of THE MIGHTY THOR. Thor, of course, was of Germanic/Norse origin; but the comparison is valid.

WE SEE THAT the credits list both a female writer and a female director(Lauren Montgomery and Gail Simone respectively. We can only ask, is this how you Ladies view life here on Planet Earth?

WELL SCHULTZ, ALL we can say is: "So that's the gentler sex?"

Ms. Ogeny

[philosofiend · 2/10 · 12 September 2016]

This film is an unoriginal and tired display of the "Battle of the Sexes" trope, thinly veiled as female empowerment. "All men are pigs", "women are emotional", "we like pretty things" and "Oh! Goodness, naughty language." Ironically, these stereotypes are all perpetuated primarily by the female protagonists, rather than by the supporting male characters. For no other reason than to perpetuate her own world view, Wonder Woman will say things like "You're starting to sound like a woman", "It's not polite to hit a lady", and embody the "Catty" stereotype. Don't get me wrong, it had some positive feminist moments (mostly in the form of monologue) but the message is undercut throughout by the hypocrisy of the characters. Seriously, get your crap together.

"I've made a hobby out of fleeing chasing women."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 19 September 2016]

Animated movie that tells Wonder Woman's origin story and her fighting to stop Ares from doing what a god of war tends to do. It's directed by Lauren Montgomery and it's one of the best films from the DCAU that doesn't involve Batman. All the basics are there - the Amazons living in isolation on an island, the golden lasso, Steve Trevor, even the invisible jet. It's nice they were able to cram so much in there while still allowing room for all that violent action these animated movies love to have. Wonder Woman isn't an easy character to "get right," but this film does her justice. That said, there are also some eye-rolling moments and lines of dialogue such as "The Amazons are warriors... but we are women too." Anyway, the animation is pretty good. The action scenes (and there are many) aren't all winners but they are well-animated. The cast is stocked with "face" actors and that's not something I'm usually a fan of with the DCAU movies. But here I admit it works well. Nathan Fillion and Rosario Dawson are both standouts and Keri Russell does an admirable job in the lead. The second half isn't as strong as the first but the drop-off isn't severe. All in all, it's certainly worth your time to give it a shot. We've got a live action Wonder Woman film finally coming out next year. Hopefully after seeing it I will no longer be able to say the best Wonder Woman movie was a straight-to-DVD cartoon.