Reviews - Single Disc DVD
Street Date: March 3rd, 2009
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French
Run Time: 74
Rating: PG-13
Media Quantity: 1 (DVD 9)
Packaging Type: Single Amaray |
Aspect Ratio:
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78 Widescreen [16:9 Transfer]
Sound Quality:
English: Dolby Surround 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Surround Stereo
|
DVD Features:
• Audio Commentary: featuring commentary by Gregory Noveck (Senior Vice
President, Creative Affairs, DC Comics), Bruce Timm (Producer), Lauren
Montgomery (Director) and Michael Jelenic (Screenplay).
• Sneak Peek of the next upcoming DC Universe title
• Trailers
Synopsis: 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!
Review (James Harvey)
Wonder Woman has always been a
hard-sell it seems, and unfairly so. While I can understand the
somewhat reluctance to get involved with a character that can be
difficult to relate to, you have to admit that she's a great
romantic figure, one that reminds me, personally, of some of the
best characters in classic literature. An Amazon born of the
clay, she rose to become an ambassador of peace, falling in love
with the world she's never seen. How classic does that sound?
Regardless of that, and save for a hit live-action series from
the 1970s, she's had a difficult history in the media. Even
though she's an influencial character, Wonder Woman has never
really broke out of the shadow of Batman and Superman, her male
DC Comics counterparts. Well, hopefully that will all change
with Wonder Woman, one of the best DC Universe Animated
Original Movie DVD releases to date. Let's get that pesky
synopsis out of the way and dig a little deeper into this new
animated feature.
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!
The opening battle sequence for Wonder Woman is a
sight to behold, full of sharp directing and beautiful
animation. While the battlefield is littered with corpses and
combative foes, the backgrounds are detailed and lush. It's an
absolutely stunning opening, and also pretty violent. Swords
clash and heads fly as the Amazons struggle to defeat an evil
foe. And this sequence is literally just the beginning. All this
sequence does is provide the backdrop for the rest of the movie.
Once the words "Wonder Woman" blaze across the screen, the movie
picks up with the leading character, Princess Diana, front and
center. And, thankfully, the movie does live up to the promise
of the opening sequence, even if it does falter a little here
and there.
Without a doubt, Wonder Woman is a fun
movie, full of striking visuals and great performances. Nathan
Fillion is absolutely perfect as Steve Trevor, who has some of
the best dialogue bits in the movie. Fillion manages to play up
the cocky nature of Trevor without it becoming too overbearing
or tiresome. There's one moment in particular, when Fillion
bares his soul after unknowingly stepping into Wonder Woman's
Lasso of Truth, where we get an understanding of who Trevor
really is. Keri Russell also manages to hold her own in this
movie. I'll admit I was initially skeptical of her being cast as
Wonder Woman when the news originally broke, but she does a good
job with the role. She really does push herself into the role
admirably and manages to pull it off. I don't think she
absolutely nails is like Fillion with Trevor, but she does solid
work as Wonder Woman, even resulting in some really hilarious
moments here and there. Russell's voice also helps define
Diana's age in the movie, too. She's still young and, I suppose,
a bit fresh when it comes to the world around her, and we see
that. There's one amusing scene where Wonder Woman, just
arriving in New York, tells a little girl to "Unleash Hell" in
an effort to console the child. Trevor and Diana have great
chemistry and, thankfully, Trevor never overshadows Diana
despite his strong presence in the movie.
Overall, I
thought the movie was very well cast, with everyone pulling
their weight respectively. If there was a weak point, I'd have
to say that Rosario Dawson was a bit too rough as Artemis. I
understand the character and what Dawson was going for, but I
don't think she pulled it off as well as she could. There were
some line reads that sounded so stilted compared to the others.
The movie does have a couple other detractors, though.
It tends to jump around for the last twenty minutes, and while
the movie does set up that Trevor and Diana are closely
following Ares, I don't think it's handled as well as it could
have been. This comes apparent especially for the final battle
which has the Amazons just showing up in Washington, DC after
Ares pops up there mere moments before. Yes, the Amazons do have
a magic mirror to view the outside world, and Paradise Island
does seem to pretty damn close to North America, like a few
miles away at most, but they do show up way too fast for my
liking. But, again, one can assume that the Amazons were also
tailing Ares, making it easy for them to show up when they did.
Still, how everyone winds up in the same place at the end seems
a bit contrived and could have been handled better. It's not too
distracting, but I guarantee that it may give you pause to
wonder, even for just a few seconds. Since I'm not a life-long Wonder
Woman fan, I am sure I missed a few other inconsistencies a
dedicated Princes Diana fan would have picked up, but that
seemed to be the major dropped story-point for me.
Well,
there's also the unexplained invisible jet the Amazons possess,
but I'm sure others more knowledgeable in Wonder Woman lore than
I can touch upon this better.
To get back on track, I
still think Wonder Woman is a solid animated
action-adventure, emphasis on "action." As extremely evident by
the opening sequence, this movie isn't for the faint of heart.
The battle scenes alone make this movie not entirely
kid-appropriate. We see a huge amount of stabbings and
decapitations within the opening moments, and then many more
during the climactic battle. The amount of dead in this movie is
staggering. And, as violent as these battle scenes are, they're
aren't as violent as early reviews will lead you to believe. In
fact, based on the commentary track for the movie, they seem to
have been toned down from their original presentation, which
would be understandable given the final product. Despite that,
it's still a violent movie, even if some of the more graphic
moments, such as decapitations, are done in silhouette.
Thankfully, the epic battle and fight scenes are countered with
Trevor and Diana, who are paired up for the majority of the
movie. Like I said above, there's good chemistry between the
two, and that helps balance the movie. If the movie was just an
animated retread of 300, then it would get tired really
quickly, but that's not the case here. The script provides a lot
of light and quiet moments that allow the characters to breathe
and move the story along naturally. Even the villains are given
some delicious moments, especially a very disturbing Hades, who
has some really great, creepy scenes. Everyone has a moment to
shine here, making it possible to actually care about what
happens and how the movie unfolds, even if the movie succumbs to
some erratic skipping toward the end of the feature.
A
lot of this is easily overlook-able thanks to some of the truly
beautiful animation we see on display here. I briefly mentioned
it above, but I'd like to go a little more in-detail for a
moment. Whether it's the opening battle scene or the detailed
cityscape, the animation on Wonder Woman is top-notch,
and possibly the best looking DC Universe Animated Original
Movie title to date. The movement is so fluid, with some of it
even bordering on rotoscope-smooth quality. There's one scene
involving a zombie Amazon (yes, you read that right) that is
animated in draw-dropping fashion. Yes, there are a few glitches
here and there, but any animation errors are far and few
in-between. The only things that may stand out to the trained
eye is the occasional obvious use of CGI, to bulk up the size of
battle scenes and number of characters, or the odd jumpy
animation cycle, such as walking cycles or the odd background
movement cycles. But, like I said, it's nothing that takes away
from the story at all. Overall, Wonder Woman likely has
the best animation to date for a comic-themed direct-to-video
animated feature, full of beautiful detail and sweeping visuals.
The movie is truly an eyeful.
If I had to compare it to
the previous DC Universe Animated Original Movie releases, I'd
rate it as the best yet. Much like Wonder Woman, each of
the previous installments had their flaws, but also had major
redeeming factors, too. Justice League: The New Frontier
was a great production, but struggled to fit a massive story in
a meager 75-minute movie. Batman: Gotham Knight was an
interesting experiment with six loosely related shorts, with
some better than others. Superman Doomsday was an
unapologetic smashfest that was heavy on visuals but a bit light
on story. Regardless of their faults, they were all enjoyable
and fun, but Wonder Woman does them all better for one
major reason. While there may be a few unexplained jumps, the
movie doesn't feel as rushed as previous animated features. Wonder
Woman is allowed to breathe for the 75-minute run time.
It goes without saying that Wonder Woman is an
animated feature that actually does have something for everyone,
as odd as that may sound. We get comedy, romance, action,
amazing animation, everything, and it's all actually balanced
really well. Just keep in mind that, like the previous DC
animated features, this movie it not appropriate for the younger
set. Easily the best DC Universe Animated Original Movie title
to date, it seems as though the creative team behind these
direct-to-video animated features are finally getting a hang of
what they can and cannot tell over a 75-minute period, and Wonder
Woman is an example of a step in the right direction. Not to
say that the previous DC Universe Animated Original Movie titles
were bad, they weren't, but they seem to be finding their
comfort zone on how to work these 75-minute features and Wonder
Woman is a prime example of that. This direct-to-video
animated feature is nearly perfect, and pretty much is until the
third act when the script takes a few jumps that seem to come
out of nowhere. Despite the flaws, once again, I find myself
standing behind and touting this release as Highly
Recommended. Wonder Woman is a great installment in
the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line, and a movie that
I'm sure fans new and old will gladly get behind.
The
DVD:
As with previous DC Universe Animated Original Movie
titles, Warner Home Video has released Wonder Woman on
single and double-disc DVD and high-definition Blu-ray. The
single-disc DVD release is contains the least features and
package flares than the other two releases, obviously. In terms
of packaging, there is no foil cardboard slipcase, or even an
insert, included with this release.
As for the release
itself, Warner Home Video has done a great job putting together
this single-disc release. Before we get to the bonus content,
let's briefly touch upon the overall look and feel of the disc.
The video transfer of the movie is a sight to behold, with no
noticeable compression or artifacting, resulting in an amazing
transfer. The audio transfer is just as solid with Warner Home
Video giving this release a great Dolby Digital 5.1 track.
Overall, this release has a very satisfying audio and video
quality to it.
As for extras, the single-disc release
starts off with a Commentary Track featuring senior VP creative
affairs, DC Comics Gregory Noveck, Producer Bruce Timm, Director
Lauren Montgomery and Writer Michael Jelenic. It's a good track
for the most part, with Noveck and Timm talking for the bulk of
the track and Montgomery and Jelenic occasionally speaking up to
share their thoughts on the project. Both Jelenic and Montgomery
briefly talk about abandoned ideas from the movie and some of
the edits made to the feature, including the reduction in blood.
The track manages to cover nearly every aspect of the film's
production and is a great extra. After that, the bonus features
are pretty nil. The release is rounded off with a look at the
upcoming Green Lantern: First Flight animated movie and a
collection of trailers and extended trailers looking at past DC
Universe Animated Original Movie releases. That's all.
Even if the bonus content isn't as thorough as the other two
home video releases of Wonder Woman, fans will still get
a good deal for their dollar. If the viewer just wants the main
feature and doesn't care for the extras, this is the way to go.
Naturally, if you are after bonus material, than the Two-Disc
Special Edition release of Wonder Woman is the way to go.
Even better, if you have the technology to view the Blu-ray
release of Wonder Woman, then that version, for the
hardcore fan, is the way to go. I will give the single-disc
release of Wonder Woman the Recommended stamp, but
I'd also note that both the Two-Disc Special Edition and Blu-ray
release do offer more bonus content. If you're interested in
just the main feature, go with the single-disc release. However,
if you want to learn more about this character's background, the
Two-Disc Special Edition or Blu-ray release of Wonder Woman
is the way to go. |
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