Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Blu-ray Movie Review

Three's Company, One Superhero.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 29, 2018

The film's title character, William Moulton Marston, was many things: academic, activist, husband, lover, and a man living a life in which he championed advanced studies in the field of psychology that ultimately led him to create the modern lie detector machine, develop the female superhero icon Wonder Woman, and engage in a polyamorous relationship with his wife and one of his students, both of whom would bear his children. The film, from Director Angela Robinson (Herbie: Fully Loaded), explores their life together as they defy social norms, engage in carnal desires, and develop a legendary character through whom Marston could champion his world vision and immortalize the women he loved.

William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) is a college professor who has developed DISC theory, theorizing that every social interaction is defined by one of four distinct human behaviors: Dominance, Inducement, Submission, and Compliance. His wife and fellow academic Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall), herself credentialed and every bit his academic equal, if not superior, cannot break through the academic glass ceiling of her time, much to her very verbal dismay. Marston finds himself sexually infatuated with his new assistant, a student named Olivia (Bella Heathcote). Elizabeth, herself attracted to the beautiful woman, allows her husband to foment a relationship with the girl, as Elizabeth does on her own. Their feelings are expressed both in personal and professional settings where Marston uses their mutual attraction and intimate desires to test the validity of his lie detector machine. Eventually, the three become engaged in a longstanding sexual relationship that distances them from society but ultimately leads Marston to create the Wonder Woman comic book character, who he views as a champion of feminism but who more conservative naysayers believe to be only an outlet for his fantasies as the stories deal with “depictions of bondage, spanking, torture, homosexuality, and other sex perversions.”

Professor Marston dives into some interesting narrative devices as the title character explores his erotic stimulations and open desires through the lens of his work as a researcher and professor and uses his infatuation with his would-be paramour to help him develop the lie detector machine, craft an icon who champions feminine strength and superiority in a man’s world, and involve himself in a relationship with two women who love him, and one another, all as equals. But the film is as much a story of the battles they face beyond the bedroom. Marston’s Wonder Woman character and his own character, for that matter, are challenged throughout the film. He’s challenged by a conservative panel who questions him and his created icon. The scenes take place in a gray, bleak, spartan room that reinforces the cold distance and opposition to his then-unspeakable ideals, jarring against the colorful comic book depictions seen at various points throughout the film and the colorful contrasts and warm, inviting photography through which the lens so often captures the trio in passion and love. Marston and his women additionally face backlash for their headstrong, unabashed counter against social norms, creating a stigma about them that costs them employment, friends, and social status.

The movie is made with confidence of narrative and character. It never shies away from the purest depiction of the story and characters, even as that pure depiction represents a shift from traditional character purity. Elizabeth is confident but crude, a champion for herself and her would-be place in the world. She's not above crude language to state her case and make her points, and indeed her blunt, direct manners, sometimes as off-putting as they may be, shape the character with unflappable intensity. Rebecca Hall dominates the part, finding the confidence in character, the essential carnal desires, and rolls through the highs and lows and deliberate character development with unflinching perfection. Bella Heathcote, who could be mistaken for a young Heather Graham, is wonderful as the film's most fluid and evolutionary character who is not fundamentally transformed by her time with the Marstons but rather brought out of her shell, gradually opening to the ideas that have long percolated inside but were never allowed, in that time's more tightly knit society, to break through. Luke Evans is a rock in the lead, building a fascinating character who finds balance between his most intimate carnal desires and his position as something of a radical intellectual.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women arrives on Blu-ray with a largely solid 1080p picture. The digital photography plays with what is sometimes a significant presentation of source noise, but the picture is otherwise free of any serious source or encode blemishes. Colors are pleasantly lively, bold and natural with no significant, beyond environmentally influenced, alterations to the palette. Natural greens pop, clothing appears well saturated, and any number of support hues enjoy firm, effortless definition, even bland gray interiors in the scenes in which Marston is essentially interrogated for the content of his work. Detailing is largely strong, lacking well behind the sort of penetrating, intimate qualities one would find with a UHD release, but essential skin textures are enjoyably firm, tweed jackets and vests reveal impressive density, and natural and manmade environments appear sharp across the board. Black levels are strong, including lower light shadow detailing, and flesh tones are neutral in every lighting condition.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women features a straightforward DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The film's audio needs are limited, and while the track is in no way constrained, the source gives it little with which to truly stretch. Musical clarity is pleasantly wide, though surround implementation is not significant. Clarity is never a problem. Light environmental effects and one-off sound details present with sufficient sense of place and detail. Dialogue is the primary propellant, and listeners will find no faults as the spoken word flows with commendable ease and firm front-center placement.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women contains three featurettes and three deleted scenes. A digital copy code is included with purchase.

• A Dynamic Trio: Birth of a Feminist Icon (1080p, 7:55): A discussion of Marston's professional works, developing the Wonder Woman character, story and character qualities, and more.
• A Crucial Point of View: Directing Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (1080p, 6:24): An exploration of Director Angela Robinson's push to understand her characters, and Marston in particular, digesting his true motives as a man, an academic, and an activist. It also looks at Robinson's work as writer and director.
• The Secret Identity of Charles Moulton Motion Comic (1080p, 3:28): A brief and narrated animated tale of the film's main characters.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 5:29 total runtime): Love Leaders, Coughing Blood, and Who Is Sappho? .
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Suffice it to say, while Wonder Woman dazzled mainstream audiences at the movies, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women isn't going to capture the same wide attention and acceptance. It's an inherently divisive movie, even in a time where almost "anything goes" and acceptance of nontraditional romantic partnerships is viewed as the norm within the mainstream. More traditionally minded audiences won't bother, and the film certainly does little to throw them a bone if tone and texture have anything to say about it, but they are missing three quality lead performances and an interesting tale of not simply creating a comic legend but also one that explores the evolution of romance through a number of perspectives, including sexual energy, psychology, and boundary breaking. The film is well made but will be best enjoyed by more open-minded audiences. Sony's Blu-ray features solid picture and sound along with several well-versed featurettes.