Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

I think we can all agree that Wonder Woman is fiction’s strongest female lead to ever hit the big screen. However, it hurts my heart to say that her latest film appearance was not nearly as strong. With actors Gal Gadot and Chris Pine reprising their roles, my expectations for this sequel were higher than they were for the original. With the additions of Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal as villains Cheetah and Maxwell Lord respectively, Warner Brothers set themselves up for success with a more than stellar cast of well-seasoned actors.

The overall diversity scattered throughout the ensemble was a good representation of the 1980s time period in America. The theme of truth and the importance of authenticity were impactful, and I hope that young people around the world hear this message and live by it. So you might be wondering, what went wrong? It’s difficult to fully comprehend what could have been different to fix this 2:30 hr film which could have been so great. The absence of a plot structure that flows, a cinematic crutch that made any impossible idea possible, and incredibly unimpressive CGI are just a few of the reasons why this film with potential fell flat for me.

It was refreshing to see familiar faces at the start of the film. We are reminded of the absolute fierceness of Diana with an Olympic-style competition where, even as a very little girl, Diana nearly crushed her significantly older competition. When knocked off her horse, Diana decided to take a shortcut to remain in the lead of the competition. Diana is then punished by her Aunt Antiope for cheating and not winning with truth and honesty. As we know, Antiope is a very significant figure in Diana’s training and perishes in the first act of the original film. Noting the significance of this interaction will only become relevant at the very end of the film when Diana wants Cheetah to be “true to herself” and choose authenticity rather than power. As much as I do like this message, it felt tossed together at the end rather than woven together as an over-arching theme.

It’s been almost three weeks since the much talked about premiere of Wonder Woman 1984, the campy sequel to 2017 live action debut of Diana Prince. Although I have found that the extreme hatred towards WW84 is a bit unwarranted, I cannot deny that there are valid critiques of the film as well. The tone was a bit inconsistent, the movie felt overstuffed with ideas at times, and most grievously, we were only given minimal action with a full powered Diana.