Wonder Woman Short is Released

The fan-made Wonder Woman short is out!

The short was created by Rainfall Films, a Los Angeles production company, so they have more resources available than your standard fan-film fare.  Though while it may not be an amateur production the creators clearly fall into the fan category.

It’s a beautiful short with a good look, nice effects, solid music, and packs a lot of punch into two and a half minutes.

That amount of time doesn’t leave much room for character development, but they do a good job of showing Wonder Woman as a warrior divided between the world of mortals and gods.  I like the suggestion that she slips between the worlds, dividing her attentions between battles in both realms.  The multi-ethnic Amazons are a nice touch too, an often overlooked element that has been part of the DC Amazonian canon for years.

There is nuance to the character that nicely captures what I want to see in Wonder Woman.  Unlike Batman, her fighting style uses enough force to get the job done, causing no more harm than necessary even to gun-wielding thugs.  In the end she rises into the sky like a demigod, not springing into flight like Superman.

It’s an impressive piece of work that whets my appetite and makes me wish this was the trailer for an actual movie.  While DC and Warner Brothers continues to fret about how tricky the character is I’ll have to content myself with fan productions like this.  And the fantastic Wonder Woman animated movie.  And her presentation in the Justice League animated series.  Maybe throw in some old Linda Carter episodes for a dose of nostalgia.

Take a look and let me know your thoughts.

 

Wonder Woman short film? Excellent.

This makes me happy!

I love comic books, especially super hero comics.  I also have had a soft spot for live action heroes ever since I was watching Shazam! and Isis on Saturday mornings, and I’ve been a fan of Wonder Woman since Linda Carter was kicking butt and taking names.  I am also the father of an adventurous daughter who loves superheroes and I want her to see more women who kick butt.

With the huge popularity of super hero movies and TV shows it is mind boggling that Wonder Woman hasn’t received the big screen treatment, though given DC’s track record with movies maybe it’s a blessing that she hasn’t.  After all, there was the infamous pilot for the Wonder Woman TV show, a nightmare that must be seen to be believed.

Seriously, track it down and watch it.  Rarely has a show so completely missed the point of a beloved character than this fiasco.  Better yet, watch this review.

To make matters worse, people at Warner Brothers and DC never fail to deliver a PR gaff that really makes me wonder why they still have readers.  Wonder Woman has been described by DC’s president, Diane Nelson, as “tricky” and that “she doesn’t have a single, clear, compelling story that everyone knows and recognizes.”  Add to that the uneven quality of the book over the years and maybe there is good reason to be skeptical of Wonder Woman being able to cut it on the big screen.

Except that it’s all bogus.  Let’s run through a few of these reasons and others and shoot them down.

1) The target audience is men/women don’t read comics.  Look at any crowd pictures from Dragon-Con, especially groups of people cosplaying super heroes.  We’re done here.

2) Women action movies don’t do well.  Hunger Games, Kill Bill, and anything with Michelle Yeoh.  Moving on…

3) She’s “Tricky” and, lacks a compelling, recognized story.  First off, no she’s not.  She’s a diplomat and warrior given powers by the gods who made it her mission to protect the world, encouraging peace where she can and fighting against evil when she must.  Second, she has one of the most unique origin stories in comics (we do not speak of the New 52 gutting her origin.  That was a fever dream like Highlander 2.)

Most importantly, it does not matter if she never had a compelling story.  Write one.  Write something original for her.  Write something that will knock people’s socks off.  Stop using the things people wrote decades ago as a crutch.

This is all particularly baffling when you look at the DC animated movies, a lineup filled with excellent stories.  Among those outstanding stories is a Wonder Woman movie that both embraces the traditional character origin and delivers a compelling story newly created for the movie.  The Wonder Woman movie ranks among my top two favorite DC animated movies, with only Batman: Mask of the Phantasm competing for first place.

I hope this short movie is superb.  I hope it becomes an internet sensation.  I hope it will be something my daughter and I can watch together.  I hope it’ll get DC and Warner Brothers off their tails and bring their A-game to a feature motion picture.

If not, there’s been a lot of rumors about Marvel Comics doing a Captain Marvel movie.  Hope springs eternal.