Movie Plot – Wonder Woman 1984: Rewind back to the 80s as Wonder Woman’s next big-screen adventure finds her facing two brand new enemies: Max Lord and The Cheetah.

Director: Patty Jenkins
Writers: Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, Dave Callaham
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal

Finally, we get the sequel

We’ve been waiting a long time before we got to see this movie. Covid-19 has been postponing Wonder Woman 1984 many times, and I’m surprised that we got to see it before the end of the year.

The first Wonder Woman film is probably the most beloved and most critical of the DCEU films. It’s also one of my favorite DCEU movies. The time-jumping story offered a way to extend the usual plot beats of the superhero genre. It’s genius as you can tell stories of any time period.

In Patty Jenkins’ colorful rendition of the 80s, Diana (Gal Gadot) finds herself lonely and isolated. As she begins to develop a friendship with a colleague named Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), Diana’s life as a museum curator and undercover superhero is disrupted by the arrival of what can best be described as a magical rock. I’m not going to tell you more about that rock because it’s kind of spoiler.

In the beginning, it felt like they were really going to make a movie that was going to feel like the 80s completely. The first part did feel like that, but afterward, it’s a bit of a mix of everything. Many parts were really cheesy, and this to their disadvantage. I don’t know what the intention was, but it didn’t work for me.

Wonder Woman 1984

The story revolves around a magical stone that affects the lives of many. The lives of the other introduced characters are affected, but also the life of Wonder Woman herself.

Like many Star Wars fans, I have seen the Mandalorian starring Pedro Pascal. Of course, I was looking forward to him playing the manipulative Maxwell Lord. Unfortunately, I was disappointed even though it wasn’t his fault. The script made him a very cheesy villain, who is a very manipulative businessman. However, all his actions felt “unbelievable.” In addition, he also has a son, but he’s only in it as a tool for the story. I didn’t care about his boy as they didn’t create a decent bond. As I said before, it’s not Pedro Pascal, who does a terrible job as his acting is fine. You do get to see different sides of him, which I liked.

Kristen Wiig plays a nerdy Barbara Minerva, who feels cheesy again. Yeah, I know. I’m using the word “cheesy” a lot. She is also clumsy, gets little attention, and longs for success. In other words, she is a very cliché character. On top of that, she is starving for female friendship, but even more for male attention. Still, I understand her motives at the end of the film. So that’s a plus I didn’t expect.

Yet this film suffers from having two villains. I would have preferred a film where it focuses on one person. Cheetah is eventually used for fight scenes, but that’s it. Actually, she is even the side villain, which I didn’t expect. Yes, you guessed it by now, Maxwell Lord is the main villain of the story, but again it felt bleak. Moreover, I wished we would have seen more “Cheetah” as in her form we all know. She’s one of Wonder Woman most known villains and it felt like they just trashed that.

Chris Pine is miraculously back as Steve Trevor. Although the film clearly explains why, you still have a lot of questions. This will be more clear once you have seen the film. Of course, this again creates chemistry between Diana and Steve, but it wasn’t as strong as in the first movie. However, it does lead to one of my favorite moments of the film. Also, even if it wasn’t what I expected, I was delighted that he was included.

Positive side

In the DCEU, the superhero they understood perfectly is Wonder Woman. She feels like the Wonder Woman I know from the Comics, and this is still the case with this movie. In essence, she is the hero we all know—a strong woman with great empathy. So Gal Gadot is perfectly cast, with her beautiful charisma while showing us a sense of power and love. However, I must say that her acting skills are not always top-notch. Even cringing at times. Also, during a specific moment, she had to make a hard choice. That was a great moment that shows how truly of a hero she is.

What I did like is how colorful Wonder Woman 1984 is. I notice that DC often uses colors for the tone of their movies. This was also used in Birds of Prey movie. Again, this works to their advantage, especially with Wonder Woman’s outfit.

When I saw the trailer of Wonder Woman 1984, I had many doubts about the looks of Cheetah. Still, I was satisfied with her design in the movie. Even if it was only a very small part of the film. Also, these scenes were in the dark to hide some of the CGI. However, all this didn’t bother me.

Conclusion

Wonder Woman 1984 disappointed me with the introduction of very cheesy characters.

Letterboxd List – DCEU RANKED

Trailer

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