 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Wonder Woman (2009)
- Review Date: February 28, 2009
- PG-13
- Genre: Fantasy
- 2009
Common Sense Media says
Animated superheroine tale earns PG-13 rating.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that though this cartoon derives from a vintage comic-book character, the script is pretty up-to-date with the violence, including beatings, stabbings, decapitations, and blood flowing from a human sacrifice. Sexually suggestive lines include references to prostitution, seduction, and Wonder Woman's "rack" (wonder-rack?). Some Amazon women are shown skimpily clad or bathing, and Wonder Woman proves to have super-powers of alcohol consumption. "Crap" is uttered (and treated) like an obscenity. Viewers with little knowledge of Greek mythology might be confused about fine details; ultra-religious household might be put off by the trappings of pre-Christian pagan worship.
What's the story?
A Herculean helping of Greek mythology explains the origin of the 20th-century comic-book heroine Wonder Woman. Her mother, Hyppolite, fought a ruinous conflict against Aries, the war god. Mighty Zeus decrees that the Amazons be given an invisible island on which to dwell unmolested, with Aries, deprived of his powers, as their prisoner. On this timeless island Hyppolite "conceives" (literally molding from sand, without a father) a daughter, Diana, who grows up to become a foremost Amazon warrior. When a macho, modern-day USAF fighter-pilot, Steve, crash-lands on the island, the outraged-but-intrigued Amazons assign Diana to take him back to his world (New York City, it so happens). But Aries simultaneously escapes, and to prevent an apocalypse Diana -- with Steve as a guide -- goes into the modern world with an emblematic breastplate, magic lariat, and tiara as Wonder Woman.
Is it any good?
A Wonder Woman blockbuster had been on Hollywood's drawing-boards for quite a while, but this action-crammed Warner Brothers/DC Comics cartoon feature reached the home-video marketplace first. Like the Amazon archers who come to the rescue at the end (who called them anyway? Oh, never mind) it hits it targets more often than not, despite the familiarly basic TV-level animation (some sequences, like a jet dogfight, are truly kinetic and exciting), and the script puts modern wit, battle-of-the-sexes dialogue, and feminism into a lively cauldron with the ancient Greek myth -- well, DC Comics' selective notion of it anyway.
Setting Wonder Woman against a basically all-powerful god is bit of a stretch, even by the wobbly logic of superhero antics, and Aries is a one-dimensional baddie. But chauvinist Steve gets a zinger with his line that a nice-guy god would probably never even have a girlfriend, as Aries does. A sub-theme proposes that the self-reliant Amazon women go wrong by aspiring to remain chaste and aloof from romantic love; interestingly, the novelization (but not the movie) of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith claims the Jedi Knights make the same mistake.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the popularity of Wonder Woman, a character practically as iconic as another DC Comics mainstay, Superman. Ask kids if they think superheroines with idealized bodies and skimpy clothing help the cause of women or set it back. What other female costumed heroes are hot right now, and why (besides the idealized bodies/skimpy clothing)?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
A good take on the Wonder Woman story, but not for little ones
As an aging comic book geek, I quite enjoyed this. It's a good rendering of the current comic arc of the Wonder Woman character, which does away with whole secret identity thing and depicts her as kind of aloof and dismissive of male-dominated society, having come from a female one she considers superior. That's actually a pretty radical feminist concept, and this movie treats it seriously, but with a healthy dose of humor. It's interesting to have a female character so powerful and confident that frat-boy sexism is simply inconsequential to her. The story invokes a Saturday-matinee view of Greek mythology with combat and violence that's a bit more intense than you might expect in a cartoon. That, combined with a subtle but frequent references to sexuality (an evil child is referred to as a "product of unholy union") make this one a definite PG-13 -- but teens and above of both genders will find this a smart and snappy superhero adventure.
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AGE
ok for some teens. but if you are scared, you don't have to see it!
i think it's ok( even i did not see it!!!!
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AGE
Designed for adults, NOT kid friendly
If you are watching with the kids, be forewarned that this is very similar to last year's Justice League also released by Warner Animation. This is also in the genre of darker, grown-up cartoons for the adults who remembered Superfriends and the Wonder Woman animated series and wanted a little more. The quips are grown up and in my opinion not for impressionable minds.
The movie is great for adults, but the dialogue and violence prevents me from letting my child see it.
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| Topics: | superheroes |
| Studio: | Warner Home Video |
| Director: | Lauren Montgomery |
| Cast: | Alfred Molina, Keri Russell, Marg Helgenberger, Oliver Platt, Rosario Dawson |
| Genre: | Fantasy |
| Run time: | 75 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | February 27, 2009 |
| DVD release date: | February 27, 2009 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | violence throughout and some suggestive material |
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