I think its fair to say that I have something of a Marvel bias. I grew up on the House of Ideas and it's where most of my books come from to this day. That said, I'm fairly certain that if I had started my comic book career as a DC Johnny instead of a Marvel Zombie my main book would have been Wonder Woman. The mythology aspect of the character is something I would have been both instantly drawn to and forever lost in. This flavor is what immediately sucks you into the movie.

Right from the start, the action is pretty hectic. The opening scene is a fierce battle between the Amazons and the forces of Ares with a particularly gruesome battle between Hippolyta and Ares himself and ultimately Hippolyta and her son. There is a good deal of sword play and axe throwing, but surprisingly little violence. Or, I suppose I should say there is little to no blood. People are stabbed and heads roll (literally), but there is no blood to be seen. I suppose that makes it better, but I would think a sword cleaving a head from the shoulders is pretty harsh whether you see the blood or not.

The art style is certainly reminiscent of the classic Bruce Timm style, but it's not nearly as rigid. There is much more fluidity to both the character designs as well as the movement. As much as I thought Timm's style worked for Batman, it was a good choice to give Wonder Woman a different and more rounded style. The harsh angles would not have fit as the camera pans across Themyscira.

The introduction of Steve Trevor, while obviously updated to a newer set of planes, goes on for a bit long. It's several minutes of an aerial dogfight that goes back and forth and ultimately ends up with Trevor crashing on Themyscira. I understand that Trevor, at least at first, represents the anger and hostility of the world of man, but do we need ten minutes of planes flying around shooting at one another to get that point across? Isn't the fact that he's an Air Force pilot pretty much representative of man's fascination with war?

And speaking of war, I'll forgo the obvious metaphor of Ares being the main villain of the film. What I enjoyed was the plot twist that sets up the third act and ultimately turns Diana into Wonder Woman. It not only flows from a plot perspective, but it also stems from an action from the beginning of the film. I'm a sucker for both turnaround and tying in earlier actions and information.

Speaking of the third act, that's exactly where I started to lose interest. Themyscira has always been the much more interesting aspect of Wonder Woman to me and once she leaves the island my mind started wandering to other things. I understand that from a plot perspective she has to leave the island, but I still don't care. The film doesn't pick up for me again until Ares and Hades are brought back and Diana has to kick some Greek god ass. I don't care about the woman trying to flirt with Trevor and I don't care about Diana learning of street thugs and teaching them a lesson. I can get that stuff anywhere. I like Wonder Woman because I can see her throwing down with the god of war himself.

In all, the movie is something of a conundrum. I have a lot of good things to say about it, but it seems the parts are greater than their sum. The DC DVDs are definitely rising in quality and this is probably the best of them, but there's something missing. It's almost like I just need an emotional attachment and this movie would be great, but there isn't one. Themyscira is almost rigidly anti-emotional and while Diana tries to be different from that, she isn't. There's no connection to be made and thus it's little more than a series of neat events and cool battle scenes. Of course, that's all a number of people actually want anyway, so there you go.

One nerd nitpick about Ares, though. At the climax of the film, as Ares thinks he is about to complete his mission and then Wonder Woman shows up, he begins speaking in Latin. Now, I'm all for the tongue of Rome (Hell, I took Latin for four years voluntarily), but Ares is Greek. In fact, every god and goddess in the film use their Greek name and not their Roman name. Shouldn't Ares have been speaking Greek as he's cursing out Diana? Yes, Greece obviously knew Latin as the Roman Empire grew in its power, but I think it would have been a more authentic touch to have speak Greek instead of Latin. Again, I'm fully aware it's a nitpick and it hardly ruins the film. It was just a thought that occurred as I watched.

As for the actors, most were excellent picks even if I do usually prefer professional voice actors as opposed to movie/TV stars doing voice work. That said, the down-home drawl of Nathan Fillion is a great choice for Steve Trevor. Alfred Molina always plays a fantastic villain and he is no different as Ares. His deep voice and slow, thought out pace gives him a terrifying and calculating voice to be feared. The best choice was for Hippolyta, voiced by Virginia Madsen. Madsen has a slightly gruff voice, but softened by what seems years of wisdom and compassion. If that doesn't scream Hippolyta I don't know what does.

As for the star of the show, Wonder Woman herself, I think they could have done better than Keri Russell. I have nothing against Russell at all, but I don't think she has the power or strength to her that is demanded by a role like this. While I'm aware that this film focused on Diana's early life and young adulthood, she should still speak with a commanding presence. While Russell may have an attractive voice, I don't think "commanding" is a word to describe it.

As for the special features, disc one has the standard commentary, teaser for the upcoming Green Lantern DVD and trailers. It also has pieces on the Justice League: New Frontier and Batman: Gotham Knights DVDs. There is a small EPK entitled Wonder Woman: An Amazon Princess. This is mash-up and watered down version of the two extended features on the second disc of the DVD with some of the actors thrown in for comedic relief.

If you picked up the two-disc edition, you also get two documentaries and two episodes of Justice League Unlimited. At this point I'd assume you already know how you feel about JLU, so I'll leave it at that. The documentaries are the far more interesting portion of the disc. The first is the requisite story of the Wonder Woman comic book and how it was started. This of course delves into feminism and the role of women since the 1940s, but it's an interesting tale all told. Most of it will be known to comic book aficionados such as most of us, but it's certainly a lesson for someone picking up this disc at random at best Buy.

The second documentary deals with Diana's roots in mythology. Comparing the book and film, comic book professionals as well as history professors look at the connection between Wonder Woman and Greek/Roman mythology. Some points are blatantly obvious, but they do a serviceable job of tying the two stories together on a deeper level. For a mythology buff as myself, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

So there you have it. It's a nice set, even if some of the special features are less than spectacular. I'm looking forward to the Green Lantern because this disc showed a vast improvement over the other DC animated features. Hopefully they keep the streak alive and keep getting better.

This is definitely not a bad addition to your DVD library, even if it does fall a little flat towards the end. If you think you might go ahead and buy it, why not help support Pink Kryptonite and pick it up from our Amazon store? You can choose from the standard DVD edition, the two-disc DVD edition I reviewed here or even a fancy-schmancy Blu-Ray.