These last several years have been pretty stellar for superhero movies. Live action films have come a long way, what with the “Spider-Man” Trilogy, “Iron Man”, and “The Dark Knight.” Even animated films have gotten better. The last couple of years have given us films about The Avengers and Doctor Strange, both of which weren’t too bad. But of course, when it comes to animation, it was “Batman: the Animated Series” which paved the way for shows like “Superman: the Animated Series” and the various incarnations of the Justice League. Recently Warner Brothers decided to take things even further when it released an animated version of “Superman: Doomsday.” Violent and bloody, it was not really aimed at younger children.

This year’s new animated feature, “Wonder Woman”, carries a PG-13 rating. And while I’m not a big fan of the MPAA, I have to agree with this particular rating. Complete with a couple of very violent battles… no… wars would be more like it, and a rather titillating ‘donning of the costume’ sequence (pun intended), “Wonder Woman” is definitely not for the kiddie set. (I’m talking 6 or 7 and younger).

I’m not sure I’m thrilled over all with this decision. After all, my little girl loves Wonder Woman… but there’s no way I’m going to let her watch it until she gets a few years older. Gotta hide it in the meantime… That said, I am relatively satisfied with the end product from an adult’s perspective.

What the movie gets right is most of the original bit as to Wonder Woman’s origin including her mother sculpting her out of clay and the Gods bringing her to life. This is followed by the appearance of Steve Trevor (who crash lands on the island) and Diana’s disguising herself in order to compete in the games that will choose who will bring Steve back to the world of man. This is all done wonderfully, with a little upgrading of course, but mostly it’s on target.

Where it goes a little haywire is during its second act. It seems that Diana does not only have to bring Steve back, but she also has to track down a recently escaped Ares (the God of War) and bring him back to the island to be imprisoned. This side story leads us to almost immediate battles with Ares’ acolytes, as well as Diana and Steve trying to stop him from opening the gates of Hades so he can regain his powers. From there we actually go to a huge war being waged in Washington D.C. (this latter part leading me to believe there is access to the ocean near the Lincoln Memorial… unless you count the Potomac River??)

I don’t mean to dig on the second half of the movie, but it seems like the creators weren’t happy with just giving us a decent origin story, but felt they needed to pad it out with a huge adventure. Normally, this is ok, but in this case I think they went way too far to bring an over the top story. It was just a little too much.

That said, I don’t want it to seem like I did not enjoy “Wonder Woman” as there was a lot to like. The voice cast did a superlative job with what dialogue they were given. Keri Russell delivered a surprisingly strong Wonder Woman, while the awesome Nathan Fillion made Trevor out to be quite the fun loving womanizer. (For the record… you should watch ANYTHING that features Fillion… especially “Firefly.”) I would mention that I was a little disappointed (and surprised) with Alfred Molina’s take on Ares. I felt as though his voice should have had more timber, it seemed a little weak for such a strong character.

Warner’s is releasing “Wonder Woman” on DVD and Blu-ray, my particular copy turned out to be DVD. It’s a 2-disc affair, complete with a commentary track by Gregory Noveck, Michael Jelenic, Bruce Timm and director Lauren Montgomery. There is also a look at the upcoming new animated film “Green Lantern.” This feature gives you a bit of history of the character as well as some quick storyboards to give you a feel for the look. It also introduces you to the vocal talent, which will include Christopher Meloni, Victor Garber and Michael Madsen. Admittedly I’m a lot more excited about this release than I am about “Wonder Woman.”

The first disc also has a featurette about this new “Wonder Woman” movie, which I’m glad to say includes lots of interview snippets from the cast and crew. The rest of the disc recycles old featurettes from earlier releases (which I found odd) related to “Justice League – The New Frontier” and “Batman – Gotham Knight.”

Once you hit the second disc, Bruce Timm delivers a couple of “Justice League” episodes which featured Wonder Woman, and two documentaries that delve pretty deep into the history of the character.

There is a lot to be excited about with the release of “Wonder Woman”, but it is far from perfect. My hope is that it will set the standard in terms of animation style for more DC properties to come.

Directed by: Lauren Montgomery
Starring (the voices of): Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Rosario Dawson, Marg Helgenberger, Oliver Platt, Virgina Madsen
Extras: Commentary by the Film’s Creative Team, Exclusive First Look at the Upcoming Green Lantern Animated Film, Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream, Wonder Woman: Daughter of Myth, Bruce Timm Presents 2 Bonus Cartoons
Specifications: English Dolby Surround 5.1
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 3/10/2009
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Violence Throughout and Some Suggestive Material)
www.wonderwomanmovie.com
www.warnervideo.com

We'll give Wonder Woman: The Animated Adventure a B-.