Wonder Woman: Bloodlines (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Sam Liu and Justin Copeland bring Wonder Woman to the animated side of the DC Universe in her very own Bloodlines. The film is deftly animated, paced quickly and the voice acting is stellar. But is that enough to make it a DC Cartoon classic? Read on below about Wonder Woman: Bloodlines which is available on 10/22!
Film
Diana, Princess of Themyscira (Rosario Dawson) has just rescued Steve Trevor (Jeffrey Donovan) from a Parademon attack above her island. She is surprised by his ability to break through to the mythical island and heals him with a purple healing ray. Diana’s mother Queen Hippolyta vehemently disagrees with his being on Themyscira in the first place. Following a battle with her own mother, Diana leaves the island with Steve and makes her way to Washington DC, disowned. Upon arrival, they meet Dr. Julia Kapatelis (Nia Vardalos) who knows of Diana’s powers. It is there that Diana also meets Vanessa (Marie Avgeropoulos) Dr. Julia’s needy and jealous daughter. This is also the time that Diana reveals herself to be Wonder Woman for the first time.
Fast forward to 5 years later, and Wonder Woman has been saving “Man’s world” time and time again. Steve and Etta Candy (Adrienne C. Moore), Wonder Woman’s assistant and best friend join Wonder Woman on a mission to find a missing Vanessa who has stolen an artifact from Veronica Cale (Constance Zimmer), Dr. Kapatelis’ superior. As they delve deeper into the mission Wonder Woman, Steve and Etta discover that Vanessa has become a villain in her own right, Silver Swan and works with Doctor Poison and Cyber who all work for Villainy Inc.
Along the way more revelations are discovered and confrontations from Cheetah, a Minotaur and Medusa all come to challenge Wonder Woman and her team. There are moments of action throughout and the voice work is strong to say the least. But is that enough to make this one a DC animated masterpiece? Eh… I can say confidently that none of that is enough. We are somewhat expected to have seen other DC Universe animated films before this one. I personally have not, and the introduction to this particular film did nothing to inform me of what was happening. The character development is that of a continuing season of TV and I apparently am late to this party.
The animation is the sort that reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series. Fans of that show will no doubt love this animated incarnation of Wonder Woman. I personally wasn’t as sold. I appreciate the voice cast tremendously and enjoy that overall the films serious tone is brought down to earth with some humorous moments too. I can’t say this is a worthwhile addition to a film collection either unless you’re a die-hard for DC. It’s a banal basic storyline and the battle sequences are Saturday Afternoon quality at best. If that’s your cup of tea though, you’re in for a treat. For me, I was little more than tricked. Wonder Woman: Bloodlines be damned…
Video
- Encoding: HEVC H.265
- Resolution: 4K
- HDR: HDR10
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Clarity/Detail: This is of course animation, so clarity is in the hands of the animators. We have a nice clear image all around with no softness whatsoever. There are no instances of softness at all.
- Depth: Depth is another story. This animation reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series in that it isn’t the eye-popping computer animated work we’ve become accustomed to of late. This isn’t a criticism though — I quite liked that this wasn’t intended to be a 3D Pop.
- Black Levels: Blacks are recreated faithfully here. There are no grey-blacks and the levels of black go from dark to darker as needed throughout.
- Color Reproduction: Colors look great throughout the presentation. Reds, greens and blues often rule the presentation and are quite gorgeous when on display.
- Flesh Tones: I would love to say “It’s Animation!” and just leave it at that, but I won’t. The animated flesh tones look great.
- Noise/Artifacts: None
Audio
- Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
- Dynamics: This is an active mix in the surround and L/C/R channels. Sound moves about the sound-field with finesse and is very pleasing to the ear. You won’t be having to adjust your volume between quiet and loud scenes either.
- Low Frequency Extension: Action scenes carry lots of weight sound-wise and are the best examples of how bass is used in the film. There isn’t a ton of deep bass, but it does the trick overall.
- Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds are used best in scenes involving fights, plane crashes and larger battles. There are lots of little tidbits in those surround speakers in those moments.
- Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue sounds perfectly centered in the film’s entirety.
Extras
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines arrives on 4K Blu-ray combo pack with a matte slipcover and digital code as well as the following extras:
- Death(HD, 19:08) – An interesting short by Sam Liu from Neil Gaiman’s reimaging of the Grim Reaper as a young goth girl. More of the same animation as Bloodlines that’ll find fans I’m sure.
- Cheetah: Ferocious Archenemy (HD, 10:50) – All about one of Wonder Woman’s biggest enemies
- 2 Episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold (HD, 22:46 for each episode) – Two episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold with Wonder Woman as a featured ally.
- Sneak Previews for Superman: Red Son, Justice League V. Teen Titans and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (All HD, 7-12 Minutes per Preview)
- Trailers for Other DC Properties (HD, 8:07) – Trailers for Joker, The Kitchen, Gen Lock, Justice League: The Fatal Five, and Wonder Woman: Commemorative Edition
Summary
I didn’t hate Wonder Woman: Bloodlines but I also wasn’t terribly enamored of it either. The voice cast is spectacular though and Wonder Woman is one of my favorite DC Heroes. I can’t say I’d recommend this for casual fans (such as myself) but for those out there that relish these releases, this one is a no-brainer! For the rest of us, maybe a rental.
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