Wonder Woman 1984 had some big superhero boots to fill when trying to live up to the fantastic 2017 original, and unfortunately it doesn’t come close. That doesn’t mean there still isn’t enough fun and entertainment to make it worth watching, just don’t expect anything that will resonate after the credits roll, as the sequel is more fluff than substance.
The main issue with the movie is, well, it’s kind of the story as a whole. There’s just so much going on and so many ideas that almost none of them work because the film is just trying to do too much. The first Wonder Woman was an origin story, and it still had a lot to cover, but it did it well. Sequels are supposed to benefit by being able to jump right into the action a little bit easier, but WW84 does that in entirely the wrong way.
There’s a heist at a mall at the start of the movie that’s absolutely painful to watch. I thought I was watching a slapstick comedy with how ridiculous these criminals were acting when Wonder Woman shows up, and her interactions aren’t any better. A young girl smiles at her in awe and Wonder Woman just smiles back and tells her to hold on before sliding her into some stuffed teddy bears to keep her out of danger. The girl even goes “Weee” as she slides into the bears and giggles when she lands…it’s just so, so very cringeworthy. Nobody will, but I’d recommend just skipping that scene as it’s so bad it may actually cause some to turn the movie off. I feel like since Diana doesn’t don the Wonder Woman gear until halfway into the film or so that they wanted to give the fans some Wonder Woman action right out of the gate. I mean, I’m all for that, I get it, but why make it so ludicrous and playful?
This action sequence is just so out of place and the tone of it just doesn’t fit with the rest of the movie on any level – and that’s saying something, as the rest of the film isn’t exactly clean and concise. For some reason the film has a runtime of two and a half hours, which is just far too long. The first film had reason to be long and it’s still ten minutes shorter than this one. What’s worse is that even at this obscene length the movie still leaves the viewer hanging when it comes to any repercussions that certain characters may face, which is pretty much inexcusable when there’s this much time to play with, and with how much of said time is spent on said characters.
The story revolves around an ancient artifact that’s discovered during an FBI raid and the FBI want to learn more about the item, so they send it to the Smithsonian Museum where Diana (Gal Gadot) has been working at. She and her new colleague, Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), take a look at the artifact, which is a rather generic citrine gemstone, so Barbara doesn’t understand what the big deal is. Of course there’s more than meets the eye and this artifact (called the Dreamstone) will grant the wish of anyone who touches it, but it can’t really be that simple, can it?
Of course not, and this is really where things become hit or miss. I did really like that they brought Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back into the mix, and it works for the story they want to tell; however, it’s rather bizarre how they chose to go about doing it. It’s clear that Diana is lonely and misses Steve more than anything, so when she touches the artifact and says she knows what she’d wish for (this being before they knew that it actually grants wishes) then her wanting Steve to be alive again makes total sense; but when a random guy shows up at a work party Diana is attending and starts saying lines to her that Steve said right before he died at the end of the first film Diana doesn’t know what to think.
But the camera spins around and the random man turns into Steve Trevor and it’s basically explained that everyone else sees this random guy, and if Steve looks in the mirror he sees this random guy, but all Diana can see is Steve (because love) so that’s who the audience sees. So while the idea of these two reuniting in 1984 is great, the execution is just a misfire. Why not have Steve just appear again as himself? Why did he take over someone else’s body and mind, when all that does is leave questions like, what happened to this guy during all this? Why was he chosen and what if he died while out on an adventure with Diana? Is there no issue that they sleep together even though it’s really some random guy who has no control over anything that’s happening? What if he had a girlfriend or boyfriend or was engaged? I mean, these are just doors that never needed to be opened because him being in another body has no impact on the story at all. It’s a superhero, action, fantasy film…just have Steve Trevor appear out of thin air and be around again. Why not? It would have changed absolutely nothing in the big picture and would’ve made it a little less weird.
That aside, the relationship between Diana and Steve is wonderful, and the moments they share are some of the best the movie has to offer. Steve appearing in 1984 leads to some really fun, great moments delivered by Pine as he discovers all that’s changed throughout the decades, reversing the roles the two had in the first film when Steve was introducing Diana to society. The chemistry between Gadot and Pine is top tier, and that makes all that happens between them that much more meaningful.
That relationship is one of the stronger aspects of Wonder Woman 1984, and one that shows that while it would’ve been hard to compete with the excellence of the original, it could’ve at least given it a go had so much else not just missed the mark completely. One of those things is the film’s antagonist, who isn’t really threatening, nor are his intentions and motivations really clear. Pedro Pascal plays the villain, Maxwell Lord, but the thing is that Lord isn’t really a bad guy. Sure, he’s a flawed conman of sorts who is looking to take the easier route to riches and power, but he wants to do it for his son.
I went on kind of a rant on this topic before erasing it to avoid delving too far deep into the story and spoiler territory and I’ll just say that Lord comes off as a character with very generic villain motivations. A strong villain is incredibly important for a superhero movie and this one just doesn’t have it, even though they take two shots at it, as I didn’t even talk about Barbara yet.
Barbara also makes a wish to be more like Diana and in doing so she gains powers, but with these positives come the negatives, as she also loses her winning personality and becomes quite mean. She then randomly wishes to become an apex predator her second wish seems to have been granted too because while it was announced she’d be playing this character, I’ll warn of spoilers here because randomly later on in the film Barbara has nonsensically transformed into Cheetah (even though she’s never called that by name) and it’s pretty much the most anticlimactic hero/villain showdown in quite some time.
I don’t even think Barbara deserves to be categorized as a villain just because she fights Wonder Woman briefly. The entire story of Barbara starts off fairly strong, but absolutely crumbles as the movie goes on to the point where we don’t even really get any closure on the character at all. It’s a shame because they could have easily built a stronger story around the origin of Barbara as Cheetah and made her a bigger part of the story, but everything had to be tied into the artifact and the film ends up suffering because of it.
Now, I know this all may seem conflicting because I started this review saying that the film is still worth watching and then went on to point out so many flaws, but if you view it simply as escapism fluff then you should be all good. I wish I could praise it as much as I did the first, but while a lot of what made the first movie so great is still here (fantastic visuals, some touching character moments) it’s all just being smothered by an overwrought story and a patience-testing runtime.
Patty Jenkins returning to direct was welcome, and she continues to impress behind the camera (she also co-wrote it, but I’m not sure who’s responsible for what parts so I won’t hold her fully responsible there,) as she’s really great at handling action scenes that make the character shine. The problem is that these moments of greatness make the weaker parts of the film stand out that much more, and that’s unfortunate because the character of Wonder Woman deserved a better – and shorter – sequel than she got. Fans were all hoping for a worthy follow-up to Wonder Woman, but instead we’re left with a movie that’s visually beautiful and touching at times, but for the most part is just downright forgettable.
Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
The movie looks absolutely gorgeous in 4K and would be one of the reasons I’d recommend the movie to those looking to purchase. If you’re a fan of the character and want to support her regardless of whether or not this is the sequel you’d hoped for then 4K is the way to go. The 2160p transfer and both HDR10+ or Dolby Vision support just makes a beautifully shot film that much nicer. One of the best moments in the movie is when Diana and Steve are flying through fireworks, as it really is just a great moment that’s elevated all the more by the superb video transfer.
The audio also delivers a strong performance, delivered in Dolby Atmos. The dialogue is clean and clear, as are the sound effects and score and the score by Hans Zimmer truly shines here, and if you weren’t able to check this movie out in theaters (like the majority of the planet) then at least you can be happy knowing that Warner Bros. delivered the best quality audio and video experience for watching it at home in this 4K offering.
Special Features: ((These are only found on the Blu-ray disc, so for those who want to watch the film in 4K but also check out the special features, a disc swap will be required to do so.))
The Making of Wonder Woman 1984: Expanding the Wonder – This is the meat and potatoes of the special features that are offered and is a behind-the-scenes feature that touches on all the usual suspects that you’d expect. It’s a solid watch if you’re a fan of the movie and/or character, or if you just enjoy taking a look at how things are done on set.
Meet the Amazons – This is the second longest feature on the disc coming in at a little over 21-minutes in length. Here we get to see the virtual roundtable interview from last year’s DC FanDome for those who may have missed it.
Gal & Kristen: Friends Forever – From there we enter the smaller featurettes that you can take or leave. Here we see Gadot and Wiig talk about being friends, as well as their characters. Nothing overly special, but a fast watch if you’re looking to clear the board.
Small But Mighty – This feature runs at almost 11-minutes in length and focuses on the first scene in the film, which focuses on a young Diana and sets the stage for the “shortcut to happiness” theme in the film.
Scene Studies – Here we get quick looks at two of the film’s bigger action scenes – one of which is the horrible mall heist in the first act. That one is 5-minutes in length and still doesn’t make up for how cringeworthy it all is, and the second is just over 6-minutes in length and focuses on the chase scene in the desert that’s a much better scene and one that shows off the type of stuff fans (or at least I) wanted to see more of.
Gal & Krissy Having Fun – This is just over a minute in length and sees the two leading ladies deliver a dance routine for our entertainment.
Black Gold Infomercial – Here we have one of the commercials done in old-school VHS tape quality, just to keep with the ‘80s theme.
Gag Reel – The usual gag reel that showcases how much fun was had on set. Possibly so much that they didn’t want to say goodbye and kept writing scenes which would explain why the movie is so bloated? Possibly!
Wonder Woman 1984 Retro Remix – Here’s a 90-second little ditty that mixes the original Wonder Woman opening theme song with clips from Wonder Woman 1984 as a little nod to fans of the old school!
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Wonder Woman 1984. Directed by: Patty Jenkins. Written by: Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, Dave Callaham. Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Lilly Aspell. Running time: 151 Minutes. Rating: PG. Released on 4K Blu-ray: Mar. 30, 2021.
