Wonder Woman 1984 is my great DC disappointment for 2020.
I loved what DC did with the first movie, with the character, the themes and the tone. The first movie built on the tone and themes we saw in the Batman vs Superman intro. for Wonder Woman 1 with her being a tough-as-nails warrior who actually enjoys battle and has a code but deals with real meat and bones world issues at the same time.
Instead of building on what they did with the first movie, the sequel somehow tries to walk away from the characterization and tone of the character set up in BvS and the first Wonder Woman movie and many of the sequel's problems come from this.
Let's dig in...
The first Wonder Woman movie showed Diana as a warrior, with elements like the famous No Man's Land sequence, showcasing her bravery and the themes her movies deal with.
She’s a sign of hope in a world that is fallen but she's not cutie-cuddly like Richard Donner’s Superman.
This is the sequel's first creative misstep. Director and writer Patty Jenkins and Co. have decided to model it on Donner's Superman.
In the first movie there were touches of it, with Wonder Woman wearing a similar disguise to Clark in the first Superman film. Also, the alley way mugging was a nice homage to Superman 1.
But the homages were kept to that and the rest of the film was Wonder Woman doing her own thing. A warrior who's not shy to carry her own shield and sword.
In the sequel the shield and sword are too aggressive for the candy floss super-kid-friendly Wonder Woman that Patty Jenkins is invested in portraying.
It's seen in how many scenes keep referencing the Donner Superman to a point where WW84 almost feels like a remake of Superman 3.
The Richard Donner Superman was made in a time where comic book movies were very light in tone and close to cartoony, and it's unfortunate that Patty Jenkins whole hearted embraced the cartoony tone, which does not work.
This is sad, especially if you refer back to the real world tone of Wonder Woman 1 where it really builds on the atrocities of war and gave the film a very strong sense of identity in contrast with other comic book movies.
Aside from having the heroine averse to her sword and shield, the sequel really waters down the action sequences. This film lacks
action.
WW1 had plenty of it, which was either emotive or moved the story forward. In WW84 most of the action is either played for laughs or it's cartoony or the stakes are watered down.
It's almost as if Jenkins forgot that even though the movie may be set in the 80s, the fan base does not live in this decade and want some true grit with their action. The only cool action fight is the first face-off with Cheetah.
Then there’s the character of Diana. In her first movie she was the centre of her movie and we followed her. Yes, Steve Trevor and his troops were there but you were not confused as to what Diana’s role was.
WW84 is stuffed with characters and the most compelling arc is given to Maxwell Lord instead of Diana Prince, to a point where Diana feels like a secondary character in her own movie.
Pedro Pascal is mesmerizing as Maxwell Lord. Yes, they changed his power from the comic but I'm willing to go with it because he has a pretty decent arc. The only issue is it could exist on its own without Diana, based on how the story is presented.
I felt sorry for Kristen Wiig who plays Cheetah. Cheetah is one of Diana’s arch rivals in the comic books, but based on the movie you would not say that.
She doesn't not have enough screen time, her story does not have depth and we don’t even get to see the psychological effect of her physical transformation into her final form. She was severely short changed.
Then there's Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine. In the first movie Diana was the one who was shown the world by Steve and now we have Steve being shown the world by Diana. Creatively this was another huge misstep.
It does not do anything new to the dynamic we've already experienced in the first movie aside from switching the role reversal. We ended up exactly were the first movie ended for these two so why go there??
Another example of not being woke to the time... the body switching was not done well to the point that the body that Steve inhabits has no agency, no history, no story and there's no consequence for it being abducted for the duration of the movie.
If this was the 80s we could have just overlooked that but in today's time and audience - and for a movie supposedly dealing with truth - the film opened itself to some very problematic scrutiny by not examining its own choices.
It does not surprise to realize that Patty Jenkins did not bring back the writer of the first Wonder Woman film and instead wrote this with Geoff Johns.
He was never a fan of the gritty take on the DC universe to begin with and the two tried to soft re-boot Wonder Woman as a cute hero who smiles and winks at kids and plays down her bonafides as a warrior who kills.
WW84 is a big missed opportunity and has actually made me less enthusiastic to see a WW3 if this the trajectory Warner is going to continue with.
This movie did not surpass or build on the great work Patty Jenkins did in Wonder Woman 1 and there’s nothing memorable from this sequel.
It's going to be so jarring come March when Zack Snyders' version of Justice League finally drops and it becomes more pronounced how watered down Patty Jenkins and Co. have made WW84.
As a fan of DC I’m genuinely disappointed and hope they'll be able to course correct; that they stop sabotaging their own properties that work.
What it felt like: A poor knock-off of Richard Donner's Superman films that do not speak to the values and tastes of our time.
Rating : **
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* Crap **ja nee ***It tries ****Almost Perfect ***** Instant Classic