Review: Wonder Woman 1984

 

Hello, Everybody! Today I'm finally reviewing Wonder Woman 1984! The sequel to the hit 2017 film, Wonder Woman and the eighth installment in the DC Extended Universe, has been delayed for over a year now and it was finally released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. If you haven't seen either Wonder Woman or the sequel, SPOILER ALERT! WW84 sees the return of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, the now iconic role played by Gal Gadot, the film also has the return of Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine, Robin Wright as Antiope and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta, the ruler of Themyscira and Diana's mother, WW84 also stars Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah and Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord and is directed by Patty Jenkins, who directed the first film. 

Now, mind you, the last time we see Steve Trevor, he sacrificed himself during the events of 2017's Wonder Woman and appears decades later in someone else's body. I'll explain in a bit.

The film takes place in well... 1984, during a time while where excess is driven by the pursuit of having it all. Diana lives quietly among mortals and although she's come into her own with her powers, she maintains a low profile by curating ancient artifacts, and only performing heroic acts incognito. But soon, Diana will have to muster all of her strength, wisdom and courage as she finds herself facing off against Maxwell Lord and the Cheetah, a villainess who possess superhuman strength and agility. Now the main villains are Maxwell Lord, an oil baron who is losing money in resources, when he comes across an ancient stone that grants wishes, he becomes a man who grants wishes... something like that, meanwhile Barbara Minerva, who works in crypto zoology, also comes across the stone and wishes to not be shy and to be like Diana, strong, fast and... sexy?

2017's Wonder Woman is still considered to be the DC movie franchise's highest point and it's where the DCEU peaked, but an effects-driven final act nearly tarnished its success. I couldn't wait to see the sequel and what challenges Diana will face next. I really liked Wonder Woman 1984, it had a great opening sequence, it had good comedic relief, a great score from Hans Zimmer, I loved mall heist sequence, the chemistry between Diana and Steve warmed my heart and Kristen Wiig killed it, were fashion style impressed soo damn much and Cheetah effects were even better than Cats! But... there are some issues that I have with WW84, it was very cheesy, there are some plot lines that were finished too quickly or abandoned, it felt like a single issue DC comic even though the runtime was 2hrs and 30 min, which was a longer runtime than the first film, Not to bash Wiig but the character of Barbara Minerva felt like a cliche of the bumbling employee who bumps into people and has the confidence to be evil, it's a very known cliche that has grown tiresome and the whole plot line surrounding a stone that grants wishes just... felt lazy, y'know? Then Maxwell becoming the stone just makes the villain unintentionally goofy. I get that he was running out of money and cares about his son, but come on, Patty! Surely you could've done so much better than that. The theme of being carefully what you wish for is a movie trope that has been used many many times. Every time you make a wish it'll cost everything that you care about. It's been seen in many movies over the years.

Speaking of the wish stone, Steve is back, right? Diana wishes for Steve to come back, but her wish weakens her powers and as soul crushing as it was to see Steve go again, so that Diana can have all the power that she needs to stop Max and Barbara, the plot line just felt very rushed. I want to talk further about Diana and Steve's chemistry, in the first film, Steve shows Diana his world while fighting in WWI and Diana shows Steve her world during the Cold War, like looking at art, going on an escalator, seeing a train and trying one clothes. Chris Pine wearing fanny packs is my latest obsession and he's definitely one of my man crushes. 

I also couldn't help but think about that guy. Steve wakes up in someone else's body and I had a lot of questions. Is he married? Does he haves kids? Is he going to be fired because he hasn't worked in a week? Like... what?😂 It's just... very strange and weird. Now back to Diana, so... her powers are weaken, right? I couldn't help but think about the same plot point in Spider-Man 2 when Peter starts to lose his powers and in Superman II when Clark had to let go of his powers to be with Lois now that is usually resolved when the heroes get their powers back. When Diana lets go of Steve, she learns how to fly. I thought was great. Now eventually Diana reaches out to everyone who is granting wishes from Maxwell Lord and manages to stop all the chaos and there's a plot hole that I want to discuss. Now all of the wishes have been revoked, but it seems that their haven't been wiped. It was kind of concerning.

Now it really bothered me that Diana didn't have the suit on for much of the film. She only put it on a few times. Yes, there was that awesome sequence where she kicks a flicking truck in the air, but she doesn't use her lasso of truth to make the people tell the truth or something. There were a lot of things that were absent from the first film, the action sequences couldn't really live up to the famous No Man's Land scene. Like, where was that kind of action, huh? 

Wonder Woman 1984 is a worthy sequel that I enjoyed but it failed to better than the first movie. I get it, not every sequel can be better than the original. It certainly wasn't a Spider-Man 2, a Captain America: The Winter Soldier, an X2, a T2 or a Godfather: Part II. Part of the film's problems is release delays and Warner Bros.' interference. It went for a classic superhero movie approach with 80s nostalgia which I liked, but it made the movie lacked innovation. It was a much-need film during after the abysmal year that was 2020 and it's the kind of movie that preserves Wonder Woman's legacy. If didn't like the movie, I'll respect that, if you did like it, GREAT! 

Thanks for reading and don't forget to comment below!❤️