Wonder Woman

They got the look right. They got the action right. I like the actress. I like the costumes. The rest? Dang, how weird! Plot and dialog no better than the 1970s show--really, really bad. And a real fascist slant to the whom thing. And wonder woman seems to change size pretty drastically throughout. Sometime she looks very amazon tall and imposing, other times not. And her voice sometimes drifts into SoCal valley-speak tones. Anyway...the look of the actress and costume and how she looked kicking add worked. But that's about it. The whole thing seemed kind of ill thought out and a bit rushed. This was from a major producer known mainly for his writing?

It's the modern world. Diana/Wonder Woman (Adrianne Palicki) fights crime in costume out in the open as the head of a large corporation with Henry Johns (Cary Elwes) and Etta Candy (Tracie Thoms) working for her. She discovers that Veronica Cale (Elizabeth Hurley) is experimenting her new drug which is killing people and causing horrible mutations. She tries to bring Cale to justice while skirting the law herself. She has also carved out a 'normal' secret life for herself with her cat while pining for Steve Trevor (Justin Bruening). At the end of the pilot, Diana finds that he's married.

I like Adrianne Palicki as an actress and she's a good possibility for Wonder Woman. She's definitely better as an actress than Gal Gadot. The problem is that the show is pulling in wildly disparate directions. In her secret life, she's a single gal alone with her cat. I'm not sure that's a good idea. The worst idea is to make her the head of her own corporation. I just don't get it. There's a scene where she berates her people for making a doll with big boobs. I actually don't know if I like it but it was weirdly compelling. The most interesting aspect of Wonder Woman is that they made her a violent vigilante sorta like Batman. The fight at the end is deadly fun. I find that part filled with possibilities. The other interesting aspect is the lack of an origins story. Other than Steve Trevor and the Greek decor, there is very little about her earlier life. I think that's a mistake. It needs the origin story even if it's only flashbacks. Lots of people talk about the costume. I don't particularly like it but it's not a deal breaker. They also changed it for the ending giving her the stars bikini bottom. The costume needs a little work but it's not ridiculously bad.

I have read many reviews citing poor acting, poor writing, shoddy camera work... As a made-for-television pilot, I found all of these to be acceptable. It isn't a feature film after all.

I also had no trouble seeing Adrianne Palicki in the role. She has the right proportions, figure, and face to closely match the classic DC comic heroine.

But where it all falls short - profanely so - is in the complete abandonment of her Story. They seem to have ditched her Greek Mythology origin and made into some kind of female version of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Even her bracers (forged by the god Haephestus for her mother, Hipolita) and lasso aren't divine artifacts, but technological gadgets paid for by marketing clothing lines and action figures.

The show would probably have been picked up if they had used a different outfit and name, but the outcry from the comics community was loud and clear - Don't break the story!

This version of WW has turned her from fighting Nazis to being a Nazi. Call that hyperbole if you like but the fact remains that they have cast aside every shred of honor that DC heroes have with this drivel.

In the movie Hancock, Nancy Grace chastises Hancock by saying "Nobody is above the law". In this series they have her praising WW for her illegal and unconstitutional actions. When the police ask her to give over the suspect the first line we ever hear her say is "If I give him to you he will 'lawyer up'".

DC heroes never interfered with the criminal justice system. They groused about it but they realized that couldn't replace it. This version shows us a Wonder Woman who will happily adopt the Guilty-until-proved innocent, no due process approach of the Nazis she used to fight.

It sickened me to watch this garbage.

It's hard to believe we were close to having a Wonder Woman television series but it got struck down at the first hurdle.

With just a pilot made and the show not picked up by any network we'll never know if it would have lasted.

At a guess I'd say no, in fact I'd say hell no.

Adrianne Palicki does her best and is a decent enough actress but what she's working with it would have taken a miracle to be considered decent entertainment.

Shoddily written, highly paint by numbers and just all round bad. What makes it worse is it's a prime example of why Hollywood has updated characters costumes to make them more realistic. Here Wonder Woman looks ridiculous and I failed to take her seriously at all! Can you imagine if for example Jeremy Renner played Hawkeye in his original comic book attire? Exactly.

What makes it worse is that this doesn't feel like the pilot, this isn't an origin story and just drops you straight into the world of Diana Prince and what a crappy world it is.

I'm glad this failed as I could imagine it damaging the careers of everyone involved.

The Good:

Adrianne Palicki

The Bad:

The suit really is terrible in live action

Show logo is tacky

Poorly made

Things I Learnt From This Pilot:

Wonderwoman never said to merchandise her tits

Wonder Woman has no issue killing