Wonder Woman in animation general discussion

[Psy-lock]

Bloodlines is far from great, but Diana and Steve's interactions and Etta's role in the 09 film are unspeakably terrible. The only advantage 09 has is a more focused plot and Hippolyta isn't as poorly characterized, but I wouldn't even say those two things are great either.

It also has Artemis which is already 8/10 for me.

[SiegePerilous02]

It also has Artemis which is already 8/10 for me.

That is true. She was perhaps the only legitimately good part.

[I'm a Fish]

She was the best part.

[I'm a Fish]

"You are the soul of thoughtfulness, Artemis" :P

[Lukmendes]

I’m convinced when WB executives see “Wonder Woman Solo Project” in the title, they get so confused by such a prospect they revert to a state of pre-history. A time before humanity mastered fire, and bang two rocks together in their office to procrastinate the day. They commence in conversation consisting of single syllable grunts and walk to-and-fro on their bare knuckles before finally returning home to a life they understand.

And that’s why we have almost nothing in the “Wonder Woman Solo Project” department.

Man I laughed for about a minute at this, been a while since the last time that happened .

[Gaius]

Bloodlines is far from great, but Diana and Steve's interactions and Etta's role in the 09 film are unspeakably terrible. The only advantage 09 has is a more focused plot and Hippolyta isn't as poorly characterized, but I wouldn't even say those two things are great either.

Aside from the sword fight before Diana leaves, which isn't much of an extension beyond the usual "Hippolyta doesn't want Diana to leave" plot point imo, I didn't find Hippolyta too badly characterized.

Julia on the other hand...

"You are the soul of thoughtfulness, Artemis" :P

Blessed redhead.

[BiteTheBullet]

Bloodlines is far from great, but Diana and Steve's interactions and Etta's role in the 09 film are unspeakably terrible. The only advantage 09 has is a more focused plot and Hippolyta isn't as poorly characterized, but I wouldn't even say those two things are great either.

Bloodlines was the better movie for me, and I was astonished that they let Wondy fly in the movie. What a concept!!!

[Guy_McNichts]

I'm mixed on which movie I prefer myself.

The 2009 movie has an advantage in having a more focused plot. Her origin story, first adventure in Man's World, take down Ares. But the recurring "not all men" theme between Diana & Steve, plus the Amazon that turns evil because she wants a baby don't hold up well at all.
I appreciate the "throw everything at the wall" approach of Bloodlines, but it really didn't need to be 1) an origin recap, 2) villain gauntlet, 3) Silver Swan, and 4) return to Themyscira & fight Medusa. We didn't need her origin again, and just one of those plots could've carried a single movie. I know we're not getting a sequel since they decided to nuke this animated 'verse, but I think some stuff should've been put aside for a more focused story.

Action sequences were about even. I prefer seeing Diana at full power, as in Bloodlines, and it was fun seeing her rogues even if they were glorified cameos. But brawling with gods and demi-gods in 2009 was cool, too.
Though I never liked Diana casually breaking soldiers' necks in 2009. Not to get sidetracked with 'should she kill or not' discussion, but her just sneaking up to some ordinary guard and murdering him was jarring.

Diana herself was better written in Bloodlines, but I liked Keri Russell as her voice better. I've said this in other threads, but I don't think Rosario Dawson is a good Wonder Woman. She was better here than in previous animated movies because she had better material, but I still find her very wooden when voicing Diana.
I know Steve trying to get her drunk in 2009 isn't good, but I do get a chuckle when she says, "And the fact you thought you could out-drink an Amazon just shows how stupid you are!"

Speaking of...Steve was better in Bloodlines, but that just meant he was boring instead of a loathsome tool.
It kind of highlights a problem with Steve overall though. He's fine as Diana's supportive boyfriend who's there for her and boosts up when she's feeling low or doubting herself. But as an active ally who follows her everywhere and even goes into battle with her, he's really dull. Diana needs a foil for that, and it ain't him. This is why she needs Artemis or Nubia to be bigger parts of her life.

Etta was better in Bloodlines, but that's a low bar. The character in 2009 was Etta in name only.
I thought Hippolyta was better in 2009. I get in Bloodlines there were trying to form a thematic connection between the flawed Julia's relationship with Vanessa and this colder version of Hippolyta with Diana, but I thought having her outright attack her for leaving and then doing nothing while she got destroyed by Medua was too much.

I guess I'd give Bloodlines the edge, though it has glaring flaws and there are elements I think the 2009 movie did better. Neither is great, but either of them is better Wonder Woman content than most of the other DC animated movies or the DCAU.

By the by, when discussing its sales, I do think the marketing of Bloodlines should be taken into account. If you look at the trailer, it puts a lot of emphasis on the origin bits, despite that only being the first 5-10 minutes. Otherwise, they don't give you much sense of what the plot is or what's at stake--it's just a highlight reel of Diana fighting her various rogues.
If you're a Wonder Woman fan, you're probably already in the bag for that. But I imagine if you're a casual or just on the fence, the trailer wasn't enough to hook you. Beyond that, it's on word of mouth and reviews, and the word of mouth on Bloodlines was pretty much: "Meh, it was decent."
For comparison, the 2009 movie did have good reviews and word of mouth, which is why it's sales stayed strong. By most metrics, that would be considered a sleeper hit, but the brain-trust at Warner called it a failure and decided there'd be no more female-led animated movies.

[Gaius]

I didn't really care for Dawson either as Diana either, she fit Artemis a bit better but I've also said she's not really the voice I've read for her either.

Though tbh I was pretty unimpressed with just about every VA in that previous continuity of movies, Batman's VA always felt pretty wooden and Hal's in JL: War was just...the worst.

[SiegePerilous02]

Even Cree Summer, a veteran and deservedly popular voice actress, was kind of phoning it in as Hippolyta and Medusa,

Cyber's VA was the only one that was not only good, but pitch perfect and I want to hear way more of her.

Voice direction in general for the DC movies has gone way downhill outside of maybe TLH.

[I'm a Fish]

I liked Cale's voice too.

Which is funny because I always picture Cale as having a deeper voice like Charlize Theron, but I found the lighter voice of Constance Zimmer worked as well.

[Gaius]

I liked Cale's voice too.

Which is funny because I always picture Cale as having a deeper voice like Charlize Theron, but I found the lighter voice of Constance Zimmer worked as well.

I always kind of read Cale having a bit of a southern accent, not full on "y'all" but definitely something she's had to coach herself to lose. Since, iirc, she grew up in Texas.

[I'm a Fish]

I always kind of read Cale having a bit of a southern accent, not full on "y'all" but definitely something she's had to coach herself to lose. Since, iirc, she grew up in Texas.

Yeah, Rucka's first run she defiantly had wisps of a southern accent. Not sure if that carried into Rebirth since we don't know her backstory, one can assume it's the same though.

[SiegePerilous02]

I liked Cale's voice too.

Which is funny because I always picture Cale as having a deeper voice like Charlize Theron, but I found the lighter voice of Constance Zimmer worked as well.

Yeah I did like Cale's voice too, now that I think of it. (And good lord, do I want Theron as live action Cale).

Ideally, the Vanessa stuff should have been ditched and they went with their original plan of it being a Diana and Barbara story. And they should have gotten Claudia Black for it.

[Gaius]

Yeah, Rucka's first run she defiantly had wisps of a southern accent. Not sure if that carried into Rebirth since we don't know her backstory, one can assume it's the same though.

I figure since Rucka was the one who re-introduced her, it's probably largely the same. I figure it gives her another reason that plays into the female Lex thing as she had to train herself to lose an accent people associate with low-class.