Movie Review: Wonder Woman (2009)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Nathan Fillion and the Diana/Steve relationship

Cons: Flat writing kills the movie overall.

The Bottom Line: 

Amazon princess

Gets a movie of her own

She deserves better

"I Have Learned One Thing.  It's Not Polite to Hit a Woman."

Thanks to the old 70's TV show, Wonder Woman has always been my favorite superhero.  And I freely admit how little I truly know about her.  Even so, I am just now getting around to watching it.  It was less than I'd hoped it would be, although I did enjoy it.

Diana (Keri Russell) has lived her life in seclusion as one of the fabled Amazons.  She is bored with her idyllic island life and wishes to explore the world of man.

She gets her chance when a man crashes his plane on their island.  That man is Steve Trevor (Nathan Fillion), and someone has to take him back to his home.

However, Ares (Alfred Molina), the Greek god of war who has been the Amazon's prisoner for centuries, uses this as a chance to escape.  Now Diana as Wonder Woman must stop him before he destroys all of Earth.  Can she, with the help of Steve, do just that?

I had never quite realized just how much Wonder Woman tied into Greek mythology, but all the references to the gods made me glad I've been reading the Percy Jackson books so I had some point of reference.

Like many origin stories, this one started slowly as they covered stuff I already knew.  Once Steve and Diana got to the real world, it started to move more quickly.  And the final battle was epic and enjoyable.

However, what wasn't enjoyable was the writing.  While some of the lines came off well, many of them felt forced and unnatural.  I'm not quite sure if it was the writing or the acting, but the voice actors didn't little to raise the material above the page.  The exception was Nathan Fillion, who managed to make Steve the more real character in the movie.

And that's probably one reason why the relationship between Steve and Diana works so well.  More than anything, it is the best part of the movie and gives us some good laughs.  Along the way, we get a look at the Amazon perception of men and the parts that are right and the parts that are wrong.  Frankly, I liked that aspect as well.

The animation is passable, but it's cheap and obviously made by the TV animation division at Warner.  There's nothing flawed with it, but it's not going to blow you away.

Take the PG-13 rating seriously.  It's rather violent most of the way through.  Don't just sit your kids down to watch this, but watch it first.

And really, that's the case with the entire movie.  It's fine for what it is, but it's not going to be something that Wonder Woman fans love.  We'll have to keep waiting for an awesome portrayal of our super heroine.