Directed by: Lauren Montgomery
Written by: Gail Simone and Michael Jelenic
Starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Marg Helgenberger, Rosario Dawson
Original Release Date: March 03, 2009
Summary
On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and strength – Princess Diana. When an Army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor, crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile, Ares (the god of War) has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of the Amazonians 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 Princess Diana to save her people and the world by using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!
Positives
The new movie by Patty Jenkins has certainly changed the game in many ways, not only how people perceive superhero films, but how they perceive action films done by women auteurs. Sure, the underappreciated Kathryn Bigelow has been making action films for years and doing it as well as, and most of the time, better than, her male counterparts. So, when DC Animated decided to finally tell Princess Diana of Themyscera’s origin story, I think the company felt the weight it would carry, so they did then, what they did with the current telling of her origin…get a female director.
They grabbed Lauren Montgomery, who would go on to helm some of the more superior films from the DC Animated stable. The positives are all throughout this film and they changed the way I looked at animated films altogether. The well-developed relationships, the use of the current origin, the challenging of societal norms, the variety of female characters, and finally, the dynamics between Keri Russell’s Wonder Woman and Nathan Fillion’s Steve Trevor. I know of Keri Russell from when she was on the show Felicity, and this is where I personally started to see her range as an actor. Nathan Fillion, on the other hand, was someone I was very familiar with. I was always a fan of Firefly, and traces of his easy charm were all over his portrayal of Steve Trevor. As much as I loved these actors’ portrayals, it really was a team effort as the ensemble, which included Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson and Marg Helgenberger, made this film a tour de force and it felt like a motion picture, something both DC and Marvel had not done up until then with their animated outings.
Negatives
No film is flawless, but this one comes close, truly the only complaint I have for it was that it was too short. I could watch a miniseries of this origin story play out.
Verdict (5/5)
Wonder Woman is a movie that I would not necessarily compare to the new film, as both have qualities that make them standout and both certainly had perfect timing. I will say that you should watch both films, not to compare but to complement each other. In my humble opinion, this is a film, once you see it, you will revisit many times over!!
