So it seems that the end of this year is filled with two things - me catching up on superhero films I haven't yet watched due to that whole COVID-19 thing that I'm personally hoping is (realistically) endemic or (unrealistically) is over by the time this review goes live and that anyone who uses the phrase "this is the new normal" automatically forfeits the right to not be punched in the mouth.
The other thing is apparently women main characters kicking large amounts of ass.
. . .okay, to be fair, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity does actually have that, but it isn't exactly the first example I'd use of the genre.
Or any genre.
Regardless, we have Wonder Woman 1984. It's a sequel to the film Wonder Woman, and I was a little embarrassed to not have seen the previous 1982 sequels until my editor informed me that this was an indicator of the year the film was set in instead of a sequel numbering.
Can you imagine the egg on my face? I mean, when did I hire an editor?
Joking aside, we have Wonder Woman 1984, a film that I'm immediately biased in favor of for a particular reason: it's set in the 1980's. Being born in 1991 as I was, I'm a bit of a stickler for that culture and enjoy even the super cheesy bits of it to some extent. Most of my music that I listen to comes from that period in history or the one immediately before it, and there are a few franchises that I'm a fan of that really got their legs in the 80's.
. . .also, Marvel Comics hadn't been exposed to the 90's, something that would irrevocably damage them up until the present day.
However, Wonder Woman 1984 does well theme wise to show us the bright spots of the 80's as well as how a lot of the attitudes of the time could be very destructive as we will soon see.
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| Like the 80s, the costume is vibrant, loud, ALIVE! |
Ironically, DC itself could have learned this lesson when it was trying to rush the DCEU, but there I go again getting off-topic.
Fast-forward to 1984 and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) works for the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. and saves the day as Wonder Woman, albeit in secret. After a fight in a mall where Diana is able to skillfully handle some robbers, she meets geologist Barbara Ann Minevera (Kristen Wiig) who immediately gets a massive woman crush on Diana (and understandably so). The FBI brings some items to the Smithsonian that were taken from the attempted robbery on the mall, including a mysterious stone with an inscription in Latin that declares whoever holds it can get one wish.
While Barbara wishes to be like Diana, with all that that entails, Diana has unknowingly wished for what she's wanted most of all - Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) returned to life...sort of. The wishes aren't exactly what is wished for and come with a price...and this one is...well, we'll be getting into that later on.
Enter Maxwell Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal) or "Max Lord" as many know him. Max has a failing oil business who manages to weasel his way into the Smithsonian and steals the mysterious stone, the Dreamstone, from Barbara. When he wishes to "become" the Stone, Max sets off a chain of events that will threaten the entire world at the very height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
I will say I did enjoy Wonder Woman 1984, but I will be the first to say it has problems. The casting isn't one of them. I enjoyed Gal Gadot as Wondy as she's very clearly a bit more comfortable with the role than she was in the first movie or in BvS or Justice League. Chris Pine actually does pretty good as Steve as he did in the first movie.
Yeah, I don't like Chris Pine as Captain Kirk because I really don't think he has the chops to play Kirk as anything other than a beer-swirling, skirt-chasing frat boy, but I like him in most other things.
Do you understand now, Ma?
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| "No, I am not giving him back to Kurtzman!" |
Kristen Wiig does pretty well as the put upon Barbara, finding confidence and eventually losing so, so much more. She has an eye-rolling moment part way through the film with a "you should smile more" bit that seems like a bizarre meta commentary on 2020 more than 1984. However, for people who call it a female empowerment scene I have to disagree. Namely, her reaction in the scene is painted as hilariously disproportionate as she beats the man to death. Not so much "Yas kween!" as "HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE HELL, DUDE?!".
Also, without wishing to ridicule the make up department, her makeup when she becomes Cheetah makes her look like she escaped from the live action Cats and somehow is less terrifying.
And finally, we come to Maxwell Lord. Pedro Pascal is phenomenal and is full of a crazy energy in almost every scene he is in. There are only two things that are unrealistic in this movie. The first one is that the U.S. President is not Ronald Reagan (yes, he shows up and no, he looks and talks nothing like Reagan ever did). The second is that you're trying to convince me that Pedro Pascal is in any way a failing business man. The man is just too damn charismatic. I'm not convinced he couldn't sell water to Eskimos for them to freeze their own ice. Not even kidding.
As for the plot, the Dreamstone is the usual "be careful what you wish for" MacGuffin. The phrase "monkey's paw" keeps getting thrown around in the movie and I think that's very accurate. The wishes either have disastrously bad consequences immediately or are twisted in such a way as to be not what the person wanted in the first place when they made the wish. In terms of theme, it serves well as an example of 1980's consumerism run wild. "I want! I want! I want!" and "Me! Me! Me!" to the extreme, damn the consequences.
As Max puts it "Life is good, but it can be better! All you have to do is want it!"
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| This meme is good! But it can be better! |
It is a thing that highlights all of those excesses and shows just how far they could be drawn out to cause trouble. In the end, Diana is able to renounce her wish in order to save the world. The Dreamstone may give you what you want, but Diana learned long ago that nothing worthwhile is obtained dishonestly.
And yes, for the record, it is heart shattering the moment she renounces her wish and Steve Trevor returns to...wherever it was that he'd come from.
. . .which is kind of tainted by the knowledge that Diana slept with a man who had his body possessed by a wish from a magic stone.
. . .and who she meets at the end of the movie in what is meant to be a charming moment, but comes across as very awkward.
Wonder Woman 1984 is not a bad movie. It has some problems that probably could have stood a few more rewrites, but it is good for what it is. Had it not come out in the time of COVID-19, it would have probably been more of a hit as it was when it went to video streaming services later on. So, while it's a box office bomb, the fact that Patty Jenkins is getting a third movie should be an indicator that this isn't a failure of a movie, at the very least not in the eyes of DC...although they did release Batman v. Superman, so what do I know?
Check it out on DVD, Blu-Ray, or various streaming services.
Oh, and the four of you who will pop up going "But muh continuity!", I really don't care about the continuity. This movie is good, Batman v. Superman and Justice League aren't.
Bite me.
Wonder Woman 1984 is brought to us by Warner Brothers Pictures, DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, and Quarry Films.
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