Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Wonder Woman 1984 is one of the most anticipated films of 2020. Hard to discourage anyone from seeing this.
Definitely want more Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins together, this film’s deficiencies notwithstanding.
As escapist entertainment, viewable at home, Wonder Woman 1984 is an easy watch during the holidays.
NO
Oh, this ain’t it. Wonder Woman 1984 is full of logical gaffes, underwhelming villains, and a fixation on over-the-top political commentary this franchise simply does not need.
Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal are talented actors. Here, both their strengths are underutilized and Pascal especially is so over-the-top, his presence proves to be a major distraction the longer the film goes on.
Do not even get me started on the way Chris Pine’s character returns.
OUR REVIEW
One of the most anticipated films of the fall, Wonder Woman 1984 arrived on HBO Max on Christmas Day, while also playing in select theaters where available. Much has been written about the film’s day-and-date streaming debut because soon after this decision to stream same-day was announced, Warner Bros. revealed their entire 2021 slate of films would debut on the HBO Max service over the course of the coming year. The movie industry was shocked at the news, to say the least, and a film this big has the potential to be a gamechanger for the business.
The novelty of having brand new movies streaming from home is likely not going to wash away any time soon, even if theaters draw big houses again once a COVID-19 vaccine reaches millions. And that is what theaters and studios are potentially worried about: What if we make it too easy to watch the biggest movies?
While subscribers and ticketbuyers may be more forgiving of Wonder Woman 1984 - objectively speaking, this is a mediocre movie at best. At an overlong 151 minutes, with long, extended moments where people say a lot without saying or doing much of anything at all, this ranks as one of the major cinematic disappointments of 2020.
Even as underwhelming as it may be, one cannot fully embrace the idea that this Wonder Woman franchise is in freefall. Gal Gadot remains a terrific Wonder Woman (a/k/a Diana Prince) and in Wonder Woman 1984 you start to feel like she is so dialed in to her character’s strengths and motivations, she can slip into the role at any time without missing a beat.
Gadot falls victim to a screenplay largely focused on the wrong things. The villains who emerge over the course of the film prove poorly written and increasingly irritating, and everything feels rather inconsequential.
Directed again by Patty Jenkins, who co-wrote the film with Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham, Diana is still an anthropologist at the Smithsonian, who balances her working life with her wondrous superhero existence. A new hire to the museum, Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) is awkward, nervous, and eager to make a good impression and maybe land a new friend. Diana finds her interesting, but soon attentions shift as we learn of an artifact which recently arrived at the museum – the Dreamstone.
The Dreamstone lands in Diana’s office after being recovered from a recent bank robbery. Suddenly, a wealthy financier, Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), begins sniffing around with interest in making a huge donation to the museum. Of course, he knows about the Dreamstone and covets it, which leads him to cross paths with an emotionally weak Barbara, who may provide all the access Maxwell needs to get his hands on a gem which makes everyone’s wishes come true.
Where the first film reached a nice balance of world-building, with Diana growing into her superhero alter-ego, embracing her vulnerability, and infusing feminine strength and empowerment into the male-driven world of superhero canon, Wonder Woman 1984 seems misguided. Diana, as an immortal, opines for Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), the love of her life from the first film. Though her love for Steve was a part of who she was the first-time around, the Dreamstone makes her long for him again, some 66 years after the events of the first film.
Suffice to say, they find a way for Pine’s return, the details of which are alarmingly reductive for the Diana Prince character and quite silly to even discuss. And though Gadot and Pine generate great chemistry together once again, I would love for someone to argue why Pine needs to be here at all from a storyline perspective.
Pascal, who is perhaps most famous for starring in the Emmy-winning Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” is over-the-top, with hair reminiscent of a certain sitting President and a lust for fame and power every bit his equal. The actor feels wrong for the role, his indulgences to be bigger-than-life and bombastic simply take the air out of the room in many of his scenes. Wiig, who initially stutters and stammers as if she is workshopping a new “Saturday Night Live” creation, settles into her role eventually, only to then be turned into a CGI creation (“Cheetah”) that fails to carry a realistic look and feel.
And visual effects appear to be a problem throughout the film. Some scenes look terrific, but basic green-screen backgrounds appear obvious and there are moments where characters jump and leap around in a point-and-click, mouse-drag sort of way that feels like Wonder Woman 1984 needed more time in the editing suite.
The film’s best sequence is its opening one: A flashback where young Diana (Lilly Aspell), about the age of 10, competes in an insane, intricately designed obstacle course against a couple of dozen Amazonian adults on their home of Themyscira. More than holding her own in the competition, Diana eventually learns a valuable lesson from her aunt (Robin Wright), which she carries forward into her fight for justice as an adult.
Where Marvel films have been able to pack action sequences in and around narrative building with films of a similar length, Wonder Woman 1984 seems more inclined to spin its wheels and flirt with Trumpian digs than explore a wider vision for where Diana’s future is headed.
Jenkins and her team have saddled Diana with a desire to settle into a past she left behind. And since Jenkins wants to use her blossoming franchise to take direct shots at arrogant businessmen who lust for power and money, lining their pockets on the empty promises sold to gullible people, Wonder Woman 1984 becomes less a superhero movie which grows a brand, and more of a misdirected commentary that renders the whole spectacle rather forgettable.
Gadot will rebound from this and Jenkins will as well. A third film, set in present-day, is already in the works. Wonder Woman 1984 is just empty of the qualities that made the first film feel so vital and important, and it presents as a film too full – of itself, of on-the-nose political commentary, and of regressive actions that I imagine Wonder Woman fans will find fitfully disappointing.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Gal Gadot, Kristen Wiig, Pablo Pascal, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, Lilly Aspell, Lucian Perez, Natasha Rothwell, Amr Waked, Kristoffer Polaha, Ravi Patel, Gabriella Wilde, Oliver Cotton, Kelvin Yu, Stuart Milligan, Lynda Carter.
Director: Patty Jenkins
Written by: Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, Dave Callaham (screenplay); Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns (story)
Based on characters from the comic book franchise, “Wonder Woman” created by William Moulton Marston
Release Date: December 25, 2020
Warner Bros. | HBO Max