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Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition
Score: 88%
Rating: PG-13
Publisher: Warner Brothers Home
                  Entertainment

Region: A
Media: Blu-ray/2
Running Time: 74 Mins.
Genre: Animated/Action/Adventure
Audio: DTS-HD MA: English 5.1, Dolby
           Digital: French 2.0 & Spanish
           2.0

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Features:
  • Featurettes:
    • What Makes a Wonder Woman - Commemorative Edition Exclusive
    • Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream
    • Wonder Woman: Daughter of Myth
  • Commentary by the Film's Creative Team
  • A Sneak Peek at DC Universe's Next Animated Movie: Batman and Harley Quinn

Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition is a re-release of the 2009 DC Animated Movie featuring the iconic heroine's origin story. Why the re-release, you may ask? Well, 2017 marks the character's 75th anniversary, so it's no wonder that alongside Wonder Woman getting a live action film as part of the DC Extended Universe this year, Warner Bros. and DC Comics are throwing in a bit of extra love for the Amazonian with this Commemorative Edition that includes a new special feature.

Wonder Woman is based off of the 1987 reboot of the character's origin story. For the most part, this sticks pretty closely to the classic introduction of the character. Where it differs is that it doesn't take place during WWII and Diana/Wonder Woman (Keri Russell, Felicity, The Americans) has a secondary mission beyond bringing downed fighter pilot Steve Trevor (Nathan Fillion, Serenity, Castle and oh-so-many DC Animated Movies) back to the United States.

In this origin tale, Ares (Alfred Molina, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spider-Man 2), the God of War, has been imprisoned on the island of Themyscira for thousands of years, since Queen Hippolyta (Virginia Madsen, Candyman, Sideways and currently Designated Survivor) and her Amazons defeated the god and then retreated to the mystical island to separate themselves from the World of Man.

Fast-forward to the present when Trevor is shot down over the paradise island. Hippolyta declares a contest to see which Amazonian is best suited to return the man to the USA and, to everyone's surprise, Hippolyta's daughter, Diana, wins the competition despite her mother's wishes for her to not participate. Unfortunately, it seems Ares has been biding his time and this event is exactly what he was waiting for in order to escape, or could Trevor's crash landing have been orchestrated to create this opportunity?

Diana is gifted with Wonder Woman's iconic Lasso of Truth, tiara, bracelets and outfit, as well as the invisible jet, so that she can not only return Trevor to his home country, but also stop Ares before he brings war to the entire planet.

While many of the extras on this Blu-ray were a part of the original 2009 release, there is one new featurette that talks extensively about the character of Wonder Woman herself and how she has been portrayed over the years. This special feature includes interviews with many of the hands that have shaped Wonder Woman over the years, as well as some clips from both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the upcoming Wonder Woman live action film. These interviews also include a few segments where Gal Gadot talks about her role as the Amazonian heroine in these movies.

I actually found the other two featurettes on the disc to be much more interesting. "Wonder Woman: A Subversive Dream" and "Wonder Woman: Daughter of Myth" both talk about the character's role in the women's liberation movements, feminism, and how WWII and Wonder Woman changed the attitude of the women left at home when the men went to war. These special features also talk heavily about the character's creator, psychologist and co-inventor of the lie detector, Charles Moulton. I was especially interested as the various people in the featurette talked about how Moulton recognized the inequality between men and women and saw that the world could be on the brink of changing, so he created a female superhero to help change the way the kids of the time, both boys and girls, thought about women in order to help bolster the growing women's lib movement.

Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition also comes with a sneak peek at the next DC Universe Animated Movie, Batman and Harley Quinn. This is the same peek that is included in Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, so if you've seen that video, don't go in expecting anything new. If you didn't pick up The Judas Contract though, then this is your chance to get an inside view of the next film.

While the additional special feature isn't enough to get viewers who already own Wonder Woman to rebuy the movie, the new featurette does up the value of the package, especially for those that were on the fence during the previous release. In the end, the movie is a fun retelling of Wonder Woman's origin story and a definite nod to the iconic heroine's place, not only for her long-standing history, but for her part in how women's roles have changed, partially because of her inspiration.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a copy of the Blu-ray. The opinions I share are my own.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer
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