Wonder Woman (2009)

Wonder Woman (2009): We may never get a live action version of Wonder Woman again, Linda Carter will always be in our hearts, but at least we have DC putting out kick ass animated movies and this take on Wonder Woman is fantastic. The voice cast of this movie is nothing less than perfect; Keri Russell brings heart to the strongest of the Amazon warriors, Nathan Fillion is Steve Trevor and if they ever get a live action movie off the ground hes got my vote, and Alfred Molina takes on another villainous mantle as that of Ares the God of War. Simply put you don’t get better than that.

This movie is an origin story and begins back in the days when the Greek gods were constantly making life miserable for poor mortals. Ares leads a monstrous army against Queen Hippolyta (Virginia Madsen) and her Amazons, his plan is to create hate, pain and suffering across the globe to increase his power, but it is easier said than done when you’re up against one as tough as Hippolyta who shows what it takes to win by lopping off the head of her and Ares’s son. Before she can dispatch Ares Zeus butts in and prevents her from dealing the killing blow, instead Ares is bound with magical bracelets that prevent him from tapping his powers and he is imprisoned. Hippolyta doesn’t feel this is fair compensation for the death of so many of her sisters so Hera grants the Amazons immortality and an island paradise hidden from the eyes of man. Later Hippolyta sculpts a baby out of clay and Hera grants it life (she’s kind of like a Greek Blue Fairy) and thus the Queen of the Amazons has a daughter.
Fast forward to present day where Steve Trevor and two other United States Air force pilots find themselves in a nasty dogfight over the Aegean Sea. Steve’s friends are killed (what country the black jets belong to is never addressed) and he crash lands on Themyscria. Now we’re in more familiar territory as the Amazons have to hold tournament to see who is worthy of being an ambassador between Themyscria and the outside world, Hippolyta of course refuses to let her daughter Diana to enter the contest but we all know how that turns out. Unfortunately during the games one of the Amazon warriors betrays her people, killing one of her sisters, and frees Ares. So Diana’s mission gets upgraded from ambassordship to finding and defeating Ares once and for all.

This movie well deserves its PG13 rating as the violence, though not all that bloody, is still quite brutal. Heads are lopped off, necks snapped, and throats are cut in some really intense battle scenes. This is not for the kiddies. I really hope DC keeps up with the quality we’ve been getting from their straight to DVD productions, and has me really looking forward to the upcoming Green Lantern movie.

Note: I kind of liked how the filmmakers didn’t bother explaining the Invisible Jet. Some things are better left unsaid.