Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Engaging animated superheroine tale has graphic violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Wonder Woman (2009)
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?
Like the Amazon archers themselves, this movie hits it targets more often than not, despite the familiarly basic TV-level animation. While a Wonder Woman blockbuster lingered on Hollywood's drawing-boards, this engaging, action-crammed animated feature reached the streaming marketplace first. 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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the popularity of Wonder Woman, a character practically as iconic as another DC Comics mainstay, Superman. What's so appealing about her?
How can female superheroes with idealized bodies and skimpy clothing affect body image?
In terms of animated violence, how does this compare to other animated features, especially more recent offerings from the DC Universe? Is it too much for kids? How much of it do you think is necessary to the story?
Movie Details
- In theaters : February 27, 2009
- On DVD or streaming : February 27, 2009
- Cast : Alfred Molina , Keri Russell , Marg Helgenberger , Oliver Platt , Rosario Dawson
- Director : Lauren Montgomery
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Indigenous Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Warner Home Video
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Superheroes
- Run time : 75 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence throughout and some suggestive material
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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