Wonder Woman: Bloodlines is a 2019 American direct-to-video animated superhero film focusing on the superheroine Wonder Woman and is the 14th installment of the DC Animated Movie Universe and the 36th overall film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. The film was released on digital platforms on October 5, 2019 and it was released on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on October 22, 2019. It focuses on Wonder Woman facing enemies of the past who come together and form Villainy Inc.
Voice Cast:
Rosario Dawson as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Jeffrey Donovan as Steve Trevor
Marie Avgeropoulos as Vanessa Kapatelis / Silver Swan
Adrienne C. Moore as Etta Candy
Kimberly Brooks as Cheetah and Giganta
Courtenay Taylor as Dr. Poison
Constance Zimmer as Veronica Cale
Nia Vardalos as Julia Kapatelis
Michael Dorn as Ferdinand the Minotaur
Cree Summer as Hippolyta and Medusa
Mozhan Marnò as Dr. Cyber
Ray Chase as Lead Bandit
Plot: (FULL Spoilers)
Princess Diana of Themyscira rescues Air Force captain Steven "Steve" Trevor from a Parademon attack above the island, and takes him to a mending chamber where he is fully recovered with the use of a purple healing ray. However, Diana's mother Queen Hippolyta takes Steve prisoner because his presence breaks the cardinal no man-law of Paradise Island, despite Steve's insistence to warn the world about the Parademon incursion. He is later broken out by Diana, who sees an omen about an otherworldly invasion fulfilled by his arrival. When Hippolyta demands Steve's re-incarceration, Diana defies her, fighting her before leaving to protect man's world, causing the heart-broken Hippolyta to disown her. In Washington, D.C., Etta Candy takes Diana and Steve to Dr. Julia Kapatelis. Diana also meets Julia's daughter Vanessa, who becomes jealous of Diana as her parent pays more attention to Diana than her. As time goes by, Diana continues to protect man's world as a superhero under the code name "Wonder Woman".
Five years later, Diana meets up with Steve, Julia and Etta Candy at the newly rebuilt Hall of Justice, where Julia requests Diana's help in finding Vanessa, who is intending to trade an artifact she stole from Julia's superior, Veronica Cale, to the villainess Doctor Poison. Diana, Steve and Julia intervene in the trade but are confronted by Poison's soldiers and her enforcer, Giganta. Having tangled with Wonder Woman in the past and lost, Giganta injects herself with a mysterious enhancement serum to bolster herself for a rematch but is ultimately defeated. Meanwhile, Julia is fatally shot during the crossfire between Steve and the foot soldiers, and Poison escapes with the artifact. Vanessa blames Diana for her mother's death by coming into her life and runs off into the night. Afterwards, she is recruited by Doctors Poison and Cyber to undergo an experiment which turns her into Silver Swan.
With a stealth jet provided by Etta, Diana and Steve locate Doctor Poison in Qurac but are confronted by Vanessa, who engages Diana but is quickly defeated, while Doctor Poison flees with a prototype bioweapon. Diana and Steve take the unconscious Vanessa to Cale Pharmaceuticals, where they are met by Veronica Cale. Diana believes using the purple healing ray which once saved Steve can save Vanessa from the techno-organic virus that gives her her powers but is converting her into a robot, but she doesn't remember the location of Themyscira due to a mystic safety measure which prevents others from finding it. Veronica shows them Julia's office, who was also searching for Themyscira as a pet project. After going through Julia's notes, they discover that Diana must drink water from a fountain located at the temple of Pasiphaë to gain knowledge of the location.
Diana, Steve and Etta travel to the temple, where they are confronted by Cheetah, who is working for an organization known as Villainy Inc., which is led by Doctor Poison and Doctor Cyber. While Steve and Etta enter the temple, Cheetah takes a mysterious formula similar to what Giganta took that gives her enhanced physical attributes to match Diana's but also turns her more animal-like. Steve and Etta enter a maze, where they are confronted by a Minotaur, whom they use to break through the maze. Diana uses her lasso of truth to subdue Cheetah, and makes her way to her friends at the center of the maze, where she drinks the prophetic water. After receiving a glare of visions, she finds the Minotaur stirring again. Realizing the creature is enchanted to defend the fountain, Diana destroys it; doing so sets the Minotaur free, whereafter Steve names him "Ferdinand".
Diana, Steve and Etta make their way back to Cale Pharmaceuticals to ruminate on Diana's visions. There, Veronica informs them that Villainy Inc. stole her company's engineering designs to create their strength-enhanciles and the technology which created Silver Swan. Using Diana's information from the visions, Veronica is able to pinpoint the location of Wonder Woman's home, but this information is intercepted by Doctor Cyber, who reveals that their true intention is to steal the Amazons' technology for profit. Cyber causes Silver Swan to reawaken and attack the Amazon, while the others make a hasty retreat to escape the incineration protocol of the floor they're on, which was initiated by Cyber. Having subdued Swan for a bit, Wonder Woman makes it back to the building to rescue Steve, Etta and Veronica while Silver Swan flies away. With the information they received in hand, Diana, Steve and Etta go to the Hall of Justice for preparations, and then take their stealth jet towards Themyscira.
Arriving there, they find the island already under siege by Villainy Inc. Vanessa goes out to distract the heroes at Cyber's command. Doctor Cyber and Doctor Poison then unleash their endgame weapon - Medusa, revived and empowered through their combined super science. However, Medusa refuses to submit herself to them and destroys Doctor Cyber's automaton; Doctor Poison attempts to save her own life by offering Medusa the same mystery injection Giganta and Cheetah had, but Medusa simply petrifies her and takes it anyway. Growing to monolithic proportions, Medusa embarks on a murderous rampage, killing and petrifying numerous Amazons with her deadly gaze.
After taking down Silver Swan, Diana rushes to battle Medusa. Steve tries to assist, but ends up petrified as well. But then Medusa's attention is drawn by Silver Swan, enabling Diana to sever one of her hair-snakes. When Medusa compels her to meet her gaze, Diana uses the snake's venom to blind herself, allowing her to meet Medusa head-on. Medusa batters her to the ground, but Silver Swan, finally moved by Diana's heroic self-sacrifice, rushes to her defense, and working together they manage to kill Medusa, undoing her petrification curse on Steve and the surviving Amazons. Vanessa and Hippolyta reconcile with Diana, and all afflicted are healed with the purple ray. Afterwards, Hippolyta declares Diana the Champion of Themyscira and announces her decision to open Paradise Island to the outside world again.
In a mid-credits scene, Diana returns to Washington and confronts Veronica, having since figured out that she was the mastermind behind Villany Inc. and turning Vanessa against Diana by killing Julia personally. Veronica boldly announces that she will invade Themyscira again to profit from the Amazons' technology, whereupon Diana issues a challenge for her to dare this by plunging her sword into Veronica's desk before leaving.
The Verdict:
If I had any gripes about this film, it's on two fronts. The first being that the narrative is a little confusing at first on whether or not it's set before or after Justice League: WAR. It provides some clarity after the first act that it's filling in the gaps of Diana's story from the time she left the isle of the Amazons to join the fight against Darkseid to her present day position as part of the Justice League.
I thought her costume in this film (the one that's more akin to her traditional costume) was MUCH better than the one she ends up wearing for all of her appearances in this continuity up to this point, but that's just me being nit-picky. I'm always going to be a stickler for some of the original designs of these iconic characters in most cases. The narrative drags a bit in the middle before it cranks things up in terms of the excitement though.
My second gripe comes from the reveal of the mysterious benefactor who is supplying all of the villains in this film with the means to combat Diana and the other Amazons. That was too obvious to see damn coming, even before the mid-credits teaser as that was the only secondary/minor character that was introduced who would have had the resources to fund that type of scheme. Besides, that character knew far too much that was convenient for the plot to progress at every speed bump/obstacle.
With those two VERY minor gripes out of the way, I want to say that I loved the hell out of the action sequences in this. Her battle with Medusa is up there with her fight with Doomsday in Death of Superman (2018) in terms of the sheer brutality of it along with what Diana is willing to do to win. Much like the other animated films in this connected continuity, the mature/adult rating lends itself to the action, so things can be as visceral as necessary.
We also got the Wonder Woman versus Cheetah fight that was painfully absent in her 2009 animated film, but teased during it's closing moments. I was hoping that Cheetah would have gotten more screen time in this film as a member of Villains Inc., but she ended up being cannon fodder for the ordeal involving Silver Swan.
Despite all of her physical toughness, Diana's strongest weapon has been her ability to be empathetic to others - i.e. her massive heart and compassion for others. In Justice League Unlimited, she grew bitter and hardened due to her lengthy exposure to the negatives of mankind, but that was a result of her coming to the League naive to what the evils of the world was capable of outside of the borders of Themyscira. This version of Wonder Woman spent a lengthy time adapting to the world of man and still retains her love for all things - much like her DCEU counterpart. In this film, it's extended to her surrogate sister in Vanessa Kapatelis who she bonds with while living with Dr. Julia Kapatelis.
I'm sure someone will correct me down the road or in the comments, but I couldn't help but sense some lesbian undertones from Vanessa's portrayal here. I know post-New 52 Wonder Woman's sexuality is understood as openly bisexual, so it wouldn't be a surprised as there was that sort of an attraction there between them, despite being like sisters during their time living together. Then again, it could be read as Diana looking to recreate the sisterhood that she lost after being banished from Themyscira.
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| Etta definitely got her happy ending... |
Besides, there's nothing wrong with some lesbian representation in this film as Diana's friend and ally, Etta Candy, has no qualms about expressing her sexuality. Speaking of relationships, I thought Steve Trevor and Diana's relationship progressed well here. It didn't blossom overnight and they established that her and Superman already broken up (as detailed in Death of Superman and Rise of the Supermen) so a significant amount of time had transpired since she first left Themyscira, joined the Justice League, and everything that happened in-between then and now. So yeah, a lack of rushed/forced relationships are always a plus in animated features like this.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Much like everything in the continuity following Justice League: WAR, this is an easy given to watch. In terms of pure action, this is easily my favorite Wonder Woman animated feature to date, but it's tough to judge whether I like this more than her original animated film or not. In either case, it was long overdue to see Diana get her own solo adventure again anyway. I hope we don't have to wait another ten years for another dose of Wonder Woman action.
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