Fanboys Anonymous

The latest in the line of animated DC direct-to-video films is Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. Is it worth the watch, or should it be skipped?

Welcome to the latest edition of Making the Grade—a review format segment here on Fanboys Anonymous where we break down the major components of something and give it a score based on the standard report card lineup: A, B, C, D, and F for a total failure.

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines
Directed by Justin Copeland and Sam Liu
Written by William Moulton Marston (Wonder Woman created by) and Mairghread Scott (screenplay)

STARRING: Rosario Dawson (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman), Jeffrey Donovan (Steve Trevor), Marie Avgeropoulos (Vanessa Kapatelis / Silver Swan), Adrienne C. Moore (Etta Candy), Kimberly Brooks (Cheetah, Giganta), Courtenay Taylor (Doctor Poison), Constance Zimmer (Veronica Cale), Nia Vardalos (Julia Kapatelis), Cree Summer (Hippolyta), Ray Chase (Lead Bandit), Mozhan Marnò (Doctor Cyber) and Michael Dorn (Ferdinand the Minotaur)

STORY: C–

This started out great, but quickly turned into something I couldn't get invested in. Trying to track the journey of Vanessa Kapatelis as a side character for such a generic plot that has nothing to sink your teeth into just wasn't enough for me.

CHARACTERS: C

Diana was great. No complaints there at all.

Steve Trevor was good, but maybe a little bit too jokey.

Etta completely stole the show, although there were times where I felt as though they went over the top with making her the one with all the great beats.

Cheetah, Giganta...do-nothing. Ferdinand felt like an odd inclusion just for the sake of it.

Doctor Poison and Doctor Cyber were awful. They were more like G.I. Joe villains from the cartoon series and way too over the top.

I was never familiar with Silver Swan and I guess her arc was okay, albeit contrived and forced to an eye-rolling level.

TONE / ATMOSPHERE: B–

ACTION: Solid action. The best part about this.

COMEDY: Etta and Steve had some lines. This isn't supposed to be a comedy, so that was good enough.

ROMANCE: For the most part, Diana and Steve are only a couple because they're a couple. There isn't much chemistry to build on, beyond just knowing the source material.


ACTING: C

All of these things can be earnest or over the top. For Rosario Dawson, for instance, she was great. For the whole Doctor Poison character, it was too campy for my tastes.

VISUALS (FX, MAKEUP, COSTUMES, SETS): A

For an animated film like this, it's pretty much the art style. Every movie in this DC universe from the past few years that follows the same continuity is all pretty much perfect as far as character designs go, so I'm a big fan of that presentation.

AUDIO (MUSIC / SOUND): C+

Nothing memorable, but no complaints.

• I loved Diana's steadfast heroism in the opening. All too often, she has to take a backseat to Superman in Justice League material and by default, must be somewhat of an antagonist who is rough around the edges compared to his boy scout attitude. Here, she's 100% full-force hero. Very good.
• It took 18 minutes to get to the credits? Points deducted.
• I think there's something to this version of Etta, where she's more capable and has more agency. I do think they went over the top in some regards, though, so if they toned that down a bit, I think it would be a pretty fantastic new iteration of a character I've never had much fondness for.

GRADE: C (Pass)

This film was fine, but I'm never going to watch it again, nor would I recommend it as anything close to something like Batman: Hush or some of the better ones. It needed more meat on its bones and a better overall story.