When people think of the films that Wonder Woman has been the solo star of nine times out of ten there going to be thinking about the Gal Gadot as those are the most popular films. Yet not alot of people realise or even remember for that fact that there was a solo Wonder Woman movie before Gal Gadot picked up the Lasso Of Truth with it being that movie that i'm going to be talking about today and so then join me as I review the film that has seemingly been forgotten about by alot of people with the film in question being called simply just "Wonder Woman" enjoy.
The plot of this film is when Ares escaping from his prison on Themyscira it's up Princess Diana to leave her home for the first time and with the help of a pilot named Steve Trevor stop the god of war before his plan to gain more power before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films plot doing a good job of not telling it's story but also in giving us Wonder Woman's origin story as well as here it is something that is directly tied into the main plot instead of it being something that happens just because of the fact that the makers of the film felt like that they had to do it and yet while this films plot is rather suitably epic for a film it's also something that does feel undercooked and half baked as well as there are character arcs that not only come out of nowhere but when they do happen there not elaborated on nor ever mentioned ever again thus making them feel like something that would have been better served if they weren't in the film at all with even the forced romance between Diana and Steve feeling out of place in this film as well with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Keri Russell as Princess Diana / Diana Prince / Wonder Woman and Nathan Fillion as Steve Trevor. Also starring in this film is Alfred Molina as Ares , Rosario Dawson as Artemis , Marg Helgenberger as Hera , Oliver Platt as Hades , Virginia Madsen as Hippolyta , Skye Arens as The Little Girl , John DiMaggio as Deimos and The Homeless Man , Julianne Grossman as Etta Candy , Vicki Lewis as Persephone , David McCallum as Zeus , Jason Miller as Thrax and The Gang Leader , Rick Overton as Slick and The President Of The United States (uncredited) , this films voice director Andrea Romano as President's Advisor , Tara Strong as Alexa and this films producer Bruce Timm as An Attacker.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. Which is something that is both shocking and yet also not all that shocking as well as it's shocking due to the fact that alot of this films actors aren't that well known at the very least from the point of view from the mainstream audience but yet at the same time it's not all that surprising as those of us who have followed the works of say Nathan Fillion and Tara Strong and Keri Russell to name but a few will know just how good that these actors are and not only are they really good in this film which is mostly due to the fact that Andrea Romano was a great voice director but it's also because of the fact that alot of this films actors are a bunch of really good actors in there own right and while people are only just now starting to see just how good Rosario Dawson is as an actor thanks to her role on The Mandalorian here she knocks it out of the park as Artemis with the same thing also being true for pretty much all of this films actors as well with this films acting really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors really have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance really will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Moi Animation Studio. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with all of this films animation looking alot better then alot of other direct to DVD movies that are being released today with that being due to the fact this film was made by people who are legends in the realm of animation and aren't just getting there start in the animation industry with it really being helped by the fact that all of the characters have these rather simplistic animation designs with the animation itself having a good dose of anime inspiration which was something that was also a common thing in alot of animation from 2009 and yet because of the fact that it's a movie we also get alot of really stunning scenery as well and while the animation in this film will never look like that it was meant to be a theatrically released feature length film it is something that does look a whole more better and well more thought out then what it really had any right to as by all rights this films animation should have looked really bad and yet the very fact that it doesn't and still holds up even almost twenty years later does go to show that DC put the right people in charge of creating there direct to DVD animated movie lineup.
Not only is this film alot more gory then alot of the other direct to DVD DC animated films out there but it's also one of there more violent animated films as well. Simply due to the fact that we see not one but two characters gets there heads cut clean off during the course of the film but we also see quite alot of bleed as well and these are things that simply just wouldn't be done in this film if it was being made today as Warner Bros would either just straight up cancel the film all together or if they did release the film then it would "offend" people who don't like seeing mature things in something that is seen as being something that's for little kids and yet it's those exact things that help it stand apart from all of the other DC animated films out there as if this film did play it say and feature no blood and cut away just before we saw either Thrax or Ares get there heads cut off then it would make the film feel tame and like it's playing it to safe and yet by the very fact that this film has characters that are from a time where seeing people get there heads cut off was an every day thing and there for really wouldn't know all that better it would lose the film of everything that makes it stand out as even the fact that it's directed by a woman and starring a female superhero in the leading role are things that we can now see in other movies and TV shows and it would there for cause this film to blend in with all of the other films where as with those included it helps to make the film stand out as those things are things that you don't typically get to see in alot of animated movies or TV show for that matter either and yet here they both are in this film.
While it would be super easy to make Princess Diana a pretty bada*s character which is something that the film still does however they also oddly enough make her mother Queen Hippolyta just as bada*s as her daughter is. As Hippolyta not only straight up calls out Steve Trevor alot of the time which granted does come from a place of hatred towards all men but is still pretty awsome to see in alot of the films big battle scenes she's the one that's leading the charge even having a joke with Artemis as well with it even being her that cuts of the head of her own son not because of the fact that she hates him altho she most likely does but it's due to the fact that it was the only thing that she could have done to stop him from fighting and killing all of her own people with her even not only fighting Ares at the start of the film but also more then holding her own and keeping up with him as well and while she does kind of take a back seat in the films third act battle which does make alot of sense she still does manage to take a number of the undead as well all of which are things that do combine to make her a pretty bada*s of a character in this film and it's all things that were also oddly enough included in the 2017 Wonder Woman film as well which does make you wonder if the makers of that film watched this film and while her leadership does leave a little to be desired as she let her own hatred of man cloud her judgement and allow her people to cut themselves of from the world of man for many centauries when push does come to shove she is a really skilled fighter who is more then willing to what's right even if it hurts her as a person.
While alot of this film is indeed really good there are some things that do let it down like Ares for example. While granted he's done miles better in this film then he was in the 2017 film he's still not all that memorable of a villain which is something that does make sense as back in 2009 nobody in Hollywood be it Marvel or DC knew how t make a good movie villain and while that doesn't excuse the fact that he's not that memorable of a character in this film he is still done miles better in this film then in the 2017 film as he actually looks menacing in this film and while he doesn't really have a plan per se it could also be argued that that is in keeping with his character as all he wants to do is cause endless wars to feed his own power an ambition something that he does try to do in this film but at the same time tho it would have made all the more menacing if he did have an end goal in mind as that would then give us the audience a reason to want to boo him and to want to see Diana and Steve succeed out of the fact that they are are the heroes and he's the main villain and seeing him have to actually seduce people to get what he wants is an interesting aspects of his character but sadly like of things in this film it's one that's not really developed as well as it could have been and as a result of that is the fact that's something that does come across as being really underdeveloped when it is something that could have made the film alot more interesting by having him try to seduce either Steve or Diana and get either of them to join his cause.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirteen minuets and thirty nine seconds. Which is something that does both work for and against the film it works for the film in the fact that it's a really solid for this film to have and the fact that this film really does have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover that amount of running time but at the same time tho it also works again the film in the fact that it means that alot of the films ideas become undercooked and half baked because of the fact that this film has to rush along to the next plot point more often then not doing so without feeling earned and it means that scenes like the one with Persephone telling Hippolyta that while yes she did indeed save them from evil men she also robbed them of the chance to have children and to experience happiness of there own which whilst it is a great scene would have meant more if we we saw more of a build up to it and it's like that with alot of the characters own character arc like the fact that Artemis and Alexa don't really agree on the fact that Alexa would rather read books then fight only for Artemis to suddenly chose to read a book at the end of the movie again with no pay off and it's also the films villain that does suffer as well as he comes across as being not a very memorable character and all these are things that could have been fixed if the film did have just a slightly longer running time but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in al honesty I in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this films action being where this film shines the best as not only is it where the animation truly does come alive making each and every blow not only look painful but leap of the screen as well but it's also where we get to some really creative fight scenes and some really cool looking visuals as well with the best fight in the whole entire being the entire third act fight as we get to see a really small Wonder Woman take on a giant sized Ares with her just hitting him in the face and him using all of hos godly powers to beat her up in ways that he wouldn't have been able to do centauries ago and as result of the fact that we get to see Diana have to use her smarts as well as her brute strength and Lasso Of Truth just to keep up with him with there fight also being tied into the fact that Steve has to stop a missile from blowing up Themyscira and thus giving Ares more power and it's only when Steve blow up the missile that Ares sent to blow up Themyscira in the most comic book way possible with invisible missiles that only then is Diana finally able to beat Ares and when in the fact that the rest of the surviving Amazons have come to help be fighting Ares own undead army then it is something that really does make that third act fight a really good action set piece in it's own right in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall whilst the 2017 live action solo Wonder Woman might be more well known that doesn't mean that it was the first solo film for the character and it's not even the first solo live action film for the character as there was a TV movie in 70's that starred Cathy Lee Crosby that does technically have that honor with his film being the characters first solo animated feature film and one that is still a wonderful film even all of these years later in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then iive talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued un this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official DC Extended Universe fandom wiki page , the official DC Movies fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very film that I used in this very review being the really great the official DC Movies fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very film with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official DC Movies fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.