‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Review

The first Wonder Woman is an awesome debut for the character and a step in the right direction for DC. It’s a box office smash and even did well with both critics & audiences. The highly-anticipated Wonder Woman 1984 had been constantly delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but finally debuted in theaters & on HBO Max on Christmas. So was it worth the wait amidst all the delays? One can only wish.

Plot

Wonder Woman 1984 sees Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) in a new era of the 1980s. Life is certainly different than her introduction to the world during World War I. She is still saving the day but doing her best to stay hidden. She finds herself isolated and still struggling to open herself up without Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). When Steve mysteriously returns, Wonder Woman must figure out what’s going on and who is behind all the chaos rising in the world.

It’s hard to fully explain the plot of this movie without going into spoilers. However, the plot is where the movie falls flat. This movie has an immense amount of plot holes, convenient moments, and continuity errors. The story centers around an idea of wishes with a message of “be careful what you wish for” and “you can’t cheat reality.” However, with wish logic comes plenty of things that don’t make any sense.

Many questionable character decisions

The strength of the film rests on Gadot’s shoulders, who still does a great job as Wonder Woman, further solidifying her perfect casting as this character. However, we don’t get the inspiring moments like the No Man’s Land sequence in the first. Even when she’s trying to give an inspiring speech, it means nothing because this movie is filled with lots of nonsense. 

There are a couple of moments involving Wonder Woman’s powers that completely come out of nowhere. She’ll do something new without any previous reference to it, making it seem like undeserved fan service.

Gadot and Pine have great chemistry, but Pine’s addition in the film feels like an unnecessary plot thread. Yes, we get the funny fish-out-of-water moments in reverse where Pine is now reacting to the new world he’s come back to, but he doesn’t add much. 

It’s just so Wonder Woman can go through another emotional conflict of dealing with loss, which is handled well but is repetitive to the first movie. Also, Steve Trevor doesn’t just come back, but his consciousness inhabits a random person’s body, creating lots of ethical questions about their relationship.

There are two villains in this film, one played by Pedro Pascal and the other by Kristen Wiig. Pascal’s character, Maxwell Lord, is a downtrodden businessman with a complete lust for power and wealth and will do anything to get it. While his character arc is interesting, what happens with his character creates so many confusing things. His powers really only shine when they’re convenient for the plot. His plotline is by far the most compelling and kept the movie going whenever it was being focused on.

Wiig, unfortunately, didn’t need to be in the movie. She’s not bad at all. She does exactly what her character’s required while also bringing some of the humor & charm Wiig is known for. However, Barbara Minerva’s character goes through a cliche arc seen in many supervillains, such as Electro & Catwoman. 

She begins as a clumsy oaf who’s ignored by society but becomes obsessed with her newfound power after she becomes more desirable. As shown in the trailer, she does eventually become Cheetah, one of Wonder Woman’s biggest foes, but it’s unclear how we get to that point. The transformation of Wiig into a cat is out of nowhere. 

Not enough action to make up for the plot holes

The action is also lackluster. I loved the action in the first Wonder Woman, but there are no fights here that are going to be iconic like in the first. The best scene is a car chase in Egypt, but besides that, there’s not much. 

The final battle between Wonder Woman and Cheetah is incredibly quick and she doesn’t even fight Lord. The opening sequence back on Themyscira, her homeland, is fun and does start the movie on a high note, but it struggles to maintain that pace.

Since there are lots of competing plot lines, the movie is around 150 minutes, and it’s too long. The pacing isn’t great, making the runtime noticeable. We get Wonder Woman fighting in the beginning, but don’t get it again until an hour into the movie. It takes too long for the plot to get going as so many pieces need to be put together.

A highlight of the movie is its score, done by Hans Zimmer. Zimmer has an incredible track record, and the score here is fantastic. It’s light, colorful, and really assists the emotional moments. Wonder Woman’s theme receives an update that fits the updated, modern aesthetic of the film.

Final verdict

Overall, I was disappointed by this movie. Patty Jenkins did such a good job with the first film, but the plot of Wonder Woman 1984 is just bad. I thought the movie was decent on first viewing, but thinking back on the plot holes and inconsistencies makes me criticize it more & more. I still want to see more of Gadot as Wonder Woman, but the screenwriting needs some help. It suffers a bit from not being seen in a theater with a massive screen and loud speakers, but the plot holes can’t be fixed.

Final score: 4/10