#WW84: Review of Wonder Woman 1984

The long, LONG awaited sequel to Wonder Woman is finally, FINALLY here!  But, is the film worth the wait??!!

SEVEN separate opening dates, go all the way back to November 1, 2019.  Sadly, the film itself is as scattered and shotgun approach in it’s storytelling and messages, as the release strategy itself…  Making the 13 months of anticipation all for naught.

Plot – Wonder Woman 1984

Wonder Woman 1984 is, as the title suggests, an 80’s themed movie set roughly 70 years after the original film.  However, instead of starting the film in the 1980’s like you might assume, we end up back in Themyscira for a flashback to Diana’s youth.

Gal Gadot returns as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, along with Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Robin Wright as Antiope, and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta. 

WW84 kicks off with a Lily Aspell returning as a now 10-year-old Diana competes in an obstacle course/triathlon, akin to the Podracing sequence from Star Wars The Phantom Menace meets American Ninja Warrior.  The race lasts 11 minutes of screen time, ending in a message that should set the tone for the film, but instead ends the scene with a thud and starts the film with a ‘Whelp!’.

Jumping forward to the 80’s, we find Wonder Woman at the top of her game.  Wearing the most colorful, Star Spangled Wonder Woman costume yet in the Snyder-verse, Diana foils a jewelry store heist in style, taking care to knock out security cameras along the way.  The patriotic color scheme of the costume works well with the Washington, D.C. location and 80’s aesthetic.

Newcomers Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal join the cast as Barbara Minerva/The Cheetah and Maxwell Lord.  Maxwell Lord has mastered the art of 80’s ‘Greed is Good’ thinking and marketing, plastering his face on television selling himself as the American Dream, and oil as the ‘black gold’ that will make you rich too!  Barbara Minerva enters as the highly educated, yet overlooked new scientist at the Smithsonian Museum, where Diana works as well.

Diana and Barbara find a seemingly mundane artifact with strange writing, claiming to grant the holder of the crystal-looking-stone one wish.  Maxwell Lord soon comes looking for the stone, as strange things start to happen.

The Good – Wonder Woman 1984

The visuals and action scenes jump off the screen exactly as you’d hope for in a big budget superhero film.  The caravan and White House fight sequences seen in the trailer, as well as the final battle are fun to watch and well executed.

Kristen Wiig gives an especially nuanced performance, portraying Minerva as more of a tragic figure than true villain.  Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen also are great in brief appearances.

Scattered throughout are a ton of fun 80’s references, jokes, and set pieces.

The Bad – Wonder Woman 1984

However, while Director Patty Jenkins was able to get a 2 1/2 Hour runtime, rather long for a superhero flick; the storytelling, pacing, casting, and especially messaging really suffer this time out.

While Jenkins clearly and skillfully flipped the script on the traditionally male-dominated origin story of the first film, the messaging and storytelling was nowhere near as clear this time around.  The cautionary tale of ‘be careful what you wish for’ gets muddled throughout the film with ‘greed is good’, ‘honesty is the best policy’, and ‘just be yourself’.  These may seem similar, but the message isn’t clear or consistent.  Plus, the message-sending is layed on extra thick, without being sure what the exact statement should be.

The story structure also has major flaws.  Barbara Minerva’s character gets several scenes to set up her story, almost as if she is the co-lead of the film.  However, we never get a resolution to her story, and we never even see her turn into The Cheetah.

Also, the backstory for the Dreamstone (the crystal stone wish granter), and the god who created it, are rushed through in a one-scene-exposition-dump in the middle of the film.  There’s no setup, there’s no callback at the end of the film, and it’s rarely referred to by name during the course of the film.  We never even find out what happens to the remains of the Dreamstone at the end.

On top of that, the messaging regarding Steve Trevor’s appearance is troublesome.  He’s brought back in the body of another person so they can do a Quantum Leap sight gag, but while the film tries to make statements about honesty and morality; no mention of Steve Trevor’s soul inhabiting the body of another person against their will is ever made.  This, in spite of several references to the host body/person’s sense of style or dirty apartment. 

For a film that gives commentary about not stealing or cheating this is problematic, at best.

The Review – Wonder Woman 1984

While Wonder Woman 1984’s tone is fun, colorful, and action-heavy; the story lacks focus, pacing, and impact.

The true evil/bad guy of the film is rarely referenced, and never seen.  The evil object corrupts people, but not completely.  Without a clearly defined antagonist, without a truly evil foe for Wonder Woman to square off against, the film lacks stakes, lacks conflict. 

The action takes place, but for no real purpose beyond looking cool.  The action and fight sequences don’t really further the plot OR the character development.  They end without clear progress or change happening.

Ultimately, the message being sent was garbled and FELT more like ‘wanting things’ is bad, ‘hope for a better life’ is bad, and one should be happy with the status quo.  Clearly, that wasn’t the intention.  If only the message had been sent clearly, the film could have been much better.

After two and a half hours of run time, and 13 months of delays, one would hope for a better outcome to the second serial film in this series.

Check out my Spoiler Movie Review for Wonder Woman 1984 on YouTube!