Review : Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
2020 certainly threw most everyone for a loop, but for a handful of pre-scheduled blockbuster releases, the whole landscape was thrown into disarray, and the outlook was uncertain in regards to what the future held. Wonder Woman 1984 found itself in the unique position of not only being delayed to an unknown date, but maintaining a high profile due to a healthy number of adjacent promotional campaigns. As the year wrapped, however, Warner Brothers Studios made the shocking announcement that all 2021 films would be released on HBOMax concurrently with their theatrical releases for a period of 30 days, and the first up to bat was Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day.
In the year 1984, 66 years removed from her World War I adventures, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) spends her days working for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. as a renowned anthropologist (while continuing to fight crime as Wonder Woman in secrecy). A chance encounter with new Smithsonian employee Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), who is studying the recovered artifacts from a burglary that Wonder Woman stopped, leads to both women encountering a strange stone (later identified as the Monkey’s Paw) that, unbeknownst to them, grants them both a wish. Meanwhile, celebrity and failing philanthropist Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), who is fully aware of the stone’s powers, steals the Monkey’s Paw and makes the wish to transfer its powers to himself, turning him into a living wish stone in hopes of leveraging power from others to boost his profile. Like any situation of exchange, however, bad outcomes stem from the wishes, leading Wonder Woman towards an inevitable showdown with Maxwell Lord in hopes of restoring balance.
Wonder Woman 1984 isn’t going to save the DCEU, but it does take all of the best elements from its predecessor while making some tonal and pacing adjustments congruent to the new era the film is placed in. With no need to build the backstory or the love story, Wonder Woman 1984 is allowed to introduce its key elements swiftly and put them into motion in ways that gives the first act a deceptively strong showing. Once Maxwell Lord really sets the narrative into action, Diana’s dilemma kicks into gear with similar pace, mirroring our main protagonist and antagonist journeys while leaving room in the middle for Cheetah to emerge as a threat. The overall shrinking of Diana’s world mixed with this volatile and multilayered character development is a benefit to Wonder Woman 1984, as it gives it a unique feel from Wonder Woman’s other appearances in the DCEU. The only real misstep is the shoehorning in of the Steve Trevor romance… while very important in Diana’s development of her character and understanding of the people she protects, it would have been nice to introduce a newer, more organic romantic element, or possibly none at all.
The film is also very aware of what it is, setting aside the loftier view of the world presented in the latest Superman and Batman films and presenting a much more direct view on the capitalist and materialist practices of the 1980s. Maxwell Lord and his gifted power fly in the face of the truth, character and honesty that has built and shaped Diana, and despite a minimal use of Themyscira in Wonder Woman 1984, the parable presented runs strong enough to drive the arc to a well-earned landing spot. By the time the film does dwell a little bit on the preachy side (while pulling the double duty of framing the antagonist’s past), the viewer has either completely bought in or checked out, depending on how analytical they chose to be for their viewing. It seems as if the Wonder Woman franchise is doing an extraordinary amount of the heavy lifting for the DCEU, which can put the films under a bit of a harsher microscope than they likely deserve, but Patty Jenkins is doing a fantastic job making films that hold up under the scrutiny of those looking to pick films apart.
For as dark and gritty as the previous Wonder Woman movie was, this one is popping with the life and optimism that the 1980s and its promise for the future held, utilizing bright primary colors, plenty of gold tones lots of visually stunning architecture. The cinematography and choreography mixture really brings Gal Gadot’s action scenes to life, and the special effects used on the lasso really pop on this outing. Thankfully, the film did not lean on a corny stream of 1980’s pop hits, opting instead for a Hans Zimmer score that stands up the character of the film’s titular character. A few old school practical effects were even used to great impact, key among them being the slight breeze that accompanied wishes granted by the Monkey’s Paw. While Diana’s ability to fly did come from out of left field, the flying effects were some of my favorite seen on screen since Chronicle.
Gal Gadot feels a bit more comfortable in the Diana skin, using a calm and collected assured nature rather than a headstrong drive towards a need for proof. Kristen Wiig is delightful as always, bringing a grounded sense of comedy to her initially awkward performance before embracing the remaining two stages of her character evolution with great aplomb. Pedro Pascal puts aside cool and overbearing pride to portray a bubbling maniacal sense of someone struck blind by the madness of power. Chris Pine did not necessarily break any new ground, which was not really any fault of his own, seeing as his character did feel a bit forced into the narrative for a bit of fan service. Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen return for brief appearances to reprise their roles, while supporting appearances by Doutzen Kroes, Amr Waked, Kristoffer Polaha, Natasha Rothwell, Gabriella Wilde, Lucian Perez, Stuart Milligan and one special but familiar cameo, round out the affair.
I’m not going to dogpile on Wonder Woman 1984 like the masses are, as my specific issues with the film are minimal, albeit it impactful. If you’re expecting Wonder Woman 1984 to right the DCEU ship, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment... if you’re just looking to eat some popcorn for a couple of hours and watch Gal Gadot play a character that she excels at in a world that doesn’t quite meet her high bars, then you’re in luck. Either way, you’re not likely to get more out of this film than what you bring to the table.
