Hello, my friends. The Trinity is ready to become complete within this new universe. Welcome once again to another installment of…
It’s the review series where supplemental & expansive comics and films from the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line come alive as I give my opinion on these entries. As such, we’ve reached Episode 3 of the web series known as…
Season 1 has finally come to a close. Batman shows why he strikes terror within the night, while Superman saved the eastern United States from an uncontrollable & youthful terror. Now, it’s time for the Trinity’s own lady fair to take the stage and deliver the final piece of build-up towards the main film as I critique the episode known as, “Big” (originally released on June 12, 2015).
We open with the villainous group Kobra as two of their members have a captured intruder in their grasps. In front of the assembled group, the Kobra Leader (voiced by Bruce Thomas) gets to see whom his men have caught. It turns out to be Steve Trevor (voiced by Tahmoh Penikett of Battlestar Galactica fame) who was sent by U.S. President Amanda Waller to find out what Kobra has been planning. We learn from him that a weapon is being forged and that it’s “something big”. It turns out that it was going to be unleashed during Waller’s inaguration in an assassination attempt. From there, the Kobra Leader prepares to kill off Trevor once and for all.
Suddenly, a Boom Tube opens as Steve finds his life saved courtesy of Wonder Woman (voiced by Tamara Taylor of Bones fame) who manages to fend off some Kobra agents before getting Steve to a safe place in order to relieve him of his shackles.
Despite telling her that he can handle this situation, Wonder Woman just hands Steve a gun as the two of them engage the enemy, proceeding to fend off and defeat every single Kobra agent. During the fight, our two heroes share some romantic banter before Wonder Woman throws her sword at the Kobra Leader, causing him to get stabbed into the base of their weapon. Before he dies, he brings out the trigger and activates it.
Shortly afterwards, a titanic female robot bursts out of the pod as it turns out to be Kobra’s secret weapon: Giganta. Prior to the huge metal monstrosity’s apperance, an arrogant Steve tells his lady fair that he’ll take care of this since it’s supposed to be his mission. Upon seeing what he’s up against, Wonder Woman smugly steps aside. As expected, he’s unable to bring Giganta down, no matter what weapon he uses.
Just then, the towering machine grabs Steve and picks him up. With no way to escape, he admits his cry for help as Wonder Woman uses her sword to slice off Giganta’s arm and save Trevor. However, the big battlebot quickly turns its attention towards her and proceeds to smack her around. After taking a huge piece of metal siding and seemingly crushing Wonder Woman with it, Giganta then proceeds to attack Steve again.
Fortunately, Wonder Woman managed to activate another Boom Tube on her Mother Box in order to escape a crushing demise and land next to Giganta’s head. After making an opening with her sword, Wondey proceeds to pull out some wires, causing the towering behemoth to collapse in defeat.
Afterwards, she checks up with Steve who’s about to contact headquarters on the successful mission. However, Wonder Woman grabs him, crushes his communicator, and rips off his already tattered shirt. And so, Season 1 ends with our two heroes celebrating their triumph by sharing a “very” passionate moment.
As we know from the build-up to the main film, this version of Wonder Woman isn’t Princess Diana of the Amazons. Instead, she’s Bekka, a New God created by the legendary Jack Kirby who was the daughter of Himon, the inventor of the Mother Box and its teleportation prowess called the Boom Tube. In the original universe, she ends up as Orion’s wife. Like the rest of her teammates, we’ll learn more about her when the main film finally arrives. For now, we have this short to work with. Judging from the dialogue exchange with these two versions of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, I think it’s safe to assume that they’ve known each other for a while prior to this moment. Because of Bekka’s superhuman physique, she’s confident enough to see this fight to the end and wouldn’t let anything really bad happen to her man. On the opposite side, Steve’s trying to prove himself to his lady even though he doesn’t have to. In the end, these two feel compatible enough to make me believe that this relationship is working. It’s also bolstered by fluent animation and action that, while nothing too much out of the ordinary, still manages to be engaging.
Overall, this is the most joyfully exciting out of the Season 1 shorts. The protagonists are engaging, the story flows really well for this entry, and a towering robot for a final villain is enjoyable. In terms of favorite short from this season, it’s a bit of a toss-up between this and Batman’s entry. Maybe it’s because of different tones that’s working, but they’re efficient in their presentation. Either way, all three shorts succeeded in giving us a taste of what’s to come when the actual film rolls around in late July. This concludes Season 1 of “Gods & Monsters Chronicles”, but not for this series. Just like another film in the main series, “Gods & Monsters” will have actual comics to continue with its universe-building. Until more expansive material rolls around, see you next time.
Wonder Woman (created by William Moulton Marston) is owned by DC Comics.
