‘Wonder Woman’ meets, but does not exceed, expectations

By John Fennell
January 11, 2021

“Wonder Woman 1984” uses the excess of the ’80s as the backdrop in a movie all about wishing for more and that the key to success is not earned through hard work but instead granted from one’s deepest desires. And while this sequel hinges on the power of more while building on the success of the first movie it ultimately gives us a lot, some of it we wanted, some of it we needed more of, to make the movie great. In the end, WW84 did just enough to justify us spending time on Christmas watching.

This photo taken on May 25, 2017 shows actress Gal Gadot at the world premiere of “Wonder Woman” at the Pantages in Hollywood, California. – The much-delayed Warner Bros. superhero sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” premiered on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously on Christmas Day in the United States. (Photo by Chris DELMAS / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the hallmarks of the first “Wonder Woman” was the grand and epic feel of its more memorable scenes, like the crossing of No Man’s Land and much of our time spent on Themyscira. In WW84 we get scenes that were enjoyable and scenes we longed for but nothing that would rise to the level of epic.

Director Patty Jenkins opens the movie with Diana (Gal Godot) as a young girl competing in the Amazon’s version of the Olympic games. For much of the competition she was in the lead until she decides to take a short cut. Right before she is about to claim victory she is stopped and told that she has not earned the right to win and this sets up our two biggest themes, nothing good comes from lies and there are no short cuts to greatness.

In the present we find Diana working at the Smithsonian Institute while still performing acts of heroism as Wonder Woman but not publicly. We get a chance to see what Diana has been up to since we last saw her in WWI as well as the first big fight scene with Wonder Woman. It was on par with other fight scenes throughout DC Comics’ movie universe and it sets a lighter tone for the movie. It is here we are introduced to our McGuffin, a magical artifact that grants wishes and that Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) is searching for to enact his evil plan. After acquiring the stone, Lord tells his son to not waste his wish on something he already had but to instead wish for greatness.

Diana’s wish to bring her long lost love Steve Trevor back from the dead created an opportunity for Gadot to be reunited with her co-star from the first movie, Chris Pine. In a very well written throwback Trevor gets to assume the fish out of water role taking the place of Diana from the first movie. The chemistry between Gadot and Pine is highlighted nicely and is one of the best parts of the movie.

The movie does deliver on two staples of the Wonder Woman character. As Diana and Trevor are try to abscond with a fighter jet and Trevor learns about the wonders of radar we learn that Diana has a new trick up her sleeve. Wonder Woman’s invisible jet has periodically shown up in the comics depending on who is writing her. It was a nice piece of fan service by the writers to throw that in there and give us an invisible jet.

The invisible jet soon becomes obsolete as later in the movie as Diana gets her power back she heads off for the final confrontation and in doing so with the accompaniment of Hans Zimmer’s soaring score she learns how to fly. This moment is inspirational, which only serves to enhance this moment of fan service.

In the end the movie tried to do a lot to live up to the first one. Warner Bros. has already decided that both the main actress and director will get another shot as they announced there will be a third movie. Also make sure you stick around after the credits, especially for those Wonder Woman fans from the ’70s.

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John Fennell

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