Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019)

Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (2019)

Dirs. Sam Liu / Justin Copeland

Wonder Woman's second solo animated movie is nothing like her first one. In short, the first one was good, but the second one is downright awful.

It begins with Captain Steve Trevor (Jeffrey Donovan) in a jet plane somewhere over the Mediterranean. An unforeseen event causes him to crash into the sea, plunging him also in the world of Diana (Rosario Dawson), Princess of Themyscira, on a secret island that's been sealed away from the rest of the world. Steve's presence is disruptive, most of all to Diana, who quickly decides that everything she's ever known and loved is of lesser value than helping a man that she's just met return home to help his people.

So far, so rushed, but that part of the story is well-known to Wo Wo fans, as is her subsequent travels to the outside world. What follows after is new.

I'm of the opinion that the New 52 reboot was one of the worst creative decisions that DC made in modern times. Its early demise just five years after its launch suggests that I'm not the only person to feel that way. Adopting that same continuity for the animated movies was an equally bad decision. On par with that in the animated world is the casting of Rosario as Wonder Woman; she was Artemis in the previous film.

A successful voice actor can convey multiple sensations at once with their performance. They can elevate good dialogue to spectacular levels. They can make me feel the truth of what they say, even if it's often anything but. A voice actor should provide more than just words on a page being read aloud - it's a combination of many things, including energy, ardour, a balance of exuberance and subtlety, belief, and, above all, passion from the speaker. I don't hear any of that in Rosario's delivery; it's bland and emotionless, with a range and pitch that rarely changes and never excites, regardless of the situation her character is in. I mean no disrespect, but that kind of voice isn't suited to animation. Her successes outside of that realm are irrelevant to this review.

The story is rubbish, too, but it had potential for a while. The 'mommy issues' theme that runs throughout is used well-enough, being instrumental in creating an unusual connection between Diana and a teenage girl who feels that her mother doesn't give her enough attention, which, weirdly, turns her into a goth almost overnight. A tale with depth and heartfelt conflict could've been created from the ridiculous set-up that brings the duo together, but it takes the safe route into yet another portrait of a super-villain with a silly name and an egotistical vendetta.

The cover art is semi-ludicrous, in more than one sense of the word. It looks like she's sitting atop an invisible steed. Housed, perhaps, in an invisible stable next to the invisible jet when not needed? But that's not what's irksome. The scene it depicts does happen, but not in those costumes at that location. It may be a sincere error by the artist, but something about it reminds me of the kind of purposefully misleading video game box art that promises much but delivers little. Such lies happen in movie promotion, too, of course; Bloodlines is just one example.

Diana's difficulty with idioms was fun, and I sincerely hope that the additional theme of how finding a true purpose can help one achieve peace and happiness will reach its intended audience, but the movie was an actual chore for me to sit through, despite having been a fan of the Wonder Woman character for over three decades. And it left me angry that the residents of Themyscira have a magical healing light that they selfishly keep from the rest of the world. Even in fiction, that kind of thing ought to be addressed, otherwise there's a risk that the members of that community, which includes the 'hero' of the piece, will come across as selfish pricks.

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