Reviews

Wonder Woman 1984 a Nostalgic Take on the franchise

It's a fun, if contrived, experience

Editor Brady Landry

Wonder Woman 1984, the latest installment in Warner Brother’s DC Extended Universe, has been released in theaters and on HBO Max. The film is a sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman, with director Patty Jenkins and stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine returning.

The film is (obviously) set in 1984, and it even seems like the film was shot in the 80s. With flashy imagery, funny catchphrases, and pictures that looked like they were shot on film, the movie captures the flash of the 1980s well. The movie seems like an odd mix of a Rami Spider-man film, a Richard Lester Superman film, and a superfriends cartoon. In fact, the opening introduction of the 80s seems to be taken right out of Superman III.

The plot is very wacky, and relies solely on “just go with it” logic, but much like superhero films of the 80s, it works. The story is cheesy, but it keeps you on your toes, and is a lot of fun.

As for the performances, Gal Gadot is amazing as usual, but a standout for me was Pedro Pascal (of Mandalorian fame) as Maxwell Lord-- one part Trumpian 80s businessman, one part corny comic book villain. He knows how outrageous his plan is as a villain, and runs with it. The viewer surely missed him every time he’s off screen and he really chews on the scenery.

Another great performance in the film is Kristin Wiig as Cheetah. A performance reminiscent of Michelle Phieffer as Catwoman in 1992’s Batman Returns, Wiig balances out Pascal’s camp with a really well done villain performance. The transformation between the shy, nerdy, and insecure Barbera Minnerva, and the confident, dangerous Cheetah was excellently shown. The perfect adversary to Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Wiig delivers in a hyped up role, though a little bit more screen time would’ve been nice.

As good as all these performances are, Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor feels very unnecessary. While the performance isn’t bad per se, he doesn’t do much in the scene’s he is in, minus a nice plane ride with Diana. An odd part of the film is that he immediately adapts to the world of the 1980s after being sent from 1918. He can fly modern day planes without problem and other than clothes, he really isn’t confused by modern life at all.

A part I really enjoyed was the score. Han Zimmer, in what seems to be his millionth film for Warner Bros and DC, churns out yet another great score. The best part was when Zimmer reused his “Beautiful Lie” theme from 2016’s Batman V Superman, juxtaposing Maxwell Lord, who came from nothing and now has everything, to Bruce Wayne, who had everything, then had nothing.

Wonder Woman 1984, though it has its faults, (mostly plot conveniences), is still an overall winner for HBO Max and Warner Bros. A great film that is only held back by logic, with a lot of great performances. This will hopefully continue the great solo story world building films that WB has been putting out.

****

Four Stars