Wonder Woman 1984 - Review

 

DC fans hoping for the ideal present on Christmas day end up finding nothing but coal in their HBO MAX queue. 

FAST FACT

REPORTED BUDGET:$200 million

BOX OFFICE: $85.4 million

ROTTON TOMATOES CRITICS / AUDIENCE SCORE: 62% / 73%

CINEMA SCORE: B+

END CREDIT SCENE: Yes. There is a mid-credits scene

NON-SPOILER REVIEW

DC tries to build upon the success of their first Wonder Woman film with Patty Jenkins returning as the director and Gal Gadot reprising her titular role. They also add Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva and Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord. 

Chris Pine also returns as Steve Trevor, which may confuse some viewers due to his death in the first movie. While they do explain his appearance fairly early in the film, it may frustrate some people. 

Wonder Woman 1984 certainly leans on the eighties feel with fashion, showing some styles that could only be considered desirable in that particular era. That being said, a true highlight of this film is seeing Chris Pine with a fanny pack. The movie also highlights some technological changes from the first movie, which was set during World War I. 

I won't complain about seeing Gadot and Pine in a feature film, and I'm very happy about Kristen Wiig getting a big role in a superhero flick. However, this movie never really rises to the heights of its predecessor. Lackluster dialogue, mediocre action, and a story that never quite captures that sense of awe that is needed in a heroic epic. 

OVERALL RECOMMENDATION

I was never able to fully buy into this film. I kept questioning decisions that were made by characters and filmmakers throughout my viewing. I viewed this via the HBO MAX stream, and I'm aware it may be better in a traditional theater setting, but I wasn't impressed by the action sequences either.

My Rating: C-

This movie felt like a cheesy Saturday morning cartoon instead of live-action feature film. I don't blame any of the actors because I truly believe they did the best they could with what they were given. After watching Wonder Woman 1984, my overwhelming thought was: I miss the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

SPOILER REVIEW 

Wonder Woman 1984 begins with some comically low-level rescuing. For example, Wonder Woman, aka Diana, saves a woman from being hit by a car in a crosswalk and then intervenes in a mall heist. I'm pretty sure Robin, Batman's young sidekick, would be able to handle either, but I digress. 

The mall heist ultimately ends up being important because the movie centers around a magical artifact which was taken by the thieves. The artifact is a stone that grants those who touch it with one wish, which of course comes at a cost. After being confiscated by the FBI, the stone lands at the Smithsonian to be researched by Diana and Minerva. Meanwhile, Maxwell Lord, a down-on-his-luck oil businessman, tries to steal the object for his own well-being.   

The stone sets the basis for our story as every character who comes into contact with it makes a wish. Diana wishes for her past lover, Steve, to return from the dead, Minerva wishes to be more like Diana, and Maxwell Lord wishes to become the stone itself (this eliminates the stone and Max is imbued with its powers). 

As the effects of the wishes become more evident, our story solidifies. Diana meets the soul of Steve in another man's body (although, despite him being in another body, we only see Chris Pine's appearance). Minerva slowly realizes she has new found abilities. Max begins granting wishes to everyone he meets, but he is able to phrase it in ways that allow him to manipulate the individual's wishes for his own personal benefit. For example, he'll say to his driver, "Don't you wish that traffic would part like the red sea wherever you go?" Max then touches the driver as he responds in order to enact the wish. He also takes advantage of the cost associated with each wish. For example, if he gets the President of the United States to wish for more nuclear deterrents, Max would grant the wish with the stipulation that he gains all the power and sway of a U.S. President. 

As you might imagine, things begin to spiral out of control. Diana eventually realizes the only way to set the world straight again is by having everyone who made a wish recant that wish. This proves seemingly impossible given Max's wide range of wish granting throughout the movie, but fret not; while Max meets with the President, he notices that plans are inexplicably laid out in plain sight that detail a mass communication system.

Max initially uses this system to reach even more people for wishes. However, Diana eventually uses it to communicate with people all over the world. Eventually, and somewhat unbelievably, everyone recants their wish (even Max). This sets the world back to normal and life can go on as if nothing ever happened. 

In between the events of the main plot, Minerva (who is most definitely Cheetah, but is never once referred to by that name) has two rather mediocre fights with Diana. Diana randomly learns the magic to make objects (in this case, a plane) invisible, and there are references to a legendary Amazon warrior whose armor happens to be in Diana's apartment. The legendary Amazon warrior shows up in the mid-credits scene, saving a random woman in a marketplace. 

As for the rest of it, the movie has me questioning a lot of the choices made by the filmmakers. I believe the movie would have been stronger if they had just focused on the dynamic between Diana and Minerva. I love Pedro Pascal in the Mandalorian and in Game of Thrones, but I think his story was unnecessary to Diana's overall arc in these DC movies. 

Giving Minerva more depth and focusing more on the two female leads might have been a better path to take. Unfortunately, we can't know for sure, and we are left with what is left on our streaming queues. Warner Brothers and DC have already greenlit a third Wonder Woman movie. Hopefully, DC can find their groove and consistently make stronger films going forward.