Wonder Woman 1984 is a feature length film. I want to thank my friend Josh for bringing that descriptive phrase into my life because films like this deserve to be categorized as such. This movie had a beginning, middle, and end. If you’re wondering why is choose such plain descriptors of a blockbuster movie it’s because Wonder Woman 1984 is nothing to write home about. It’s a showy, yet thin movie that doesn’t sustain over its 2.5 hour run time.
Wonder Woman 1984 sees the titular character living in Washington DC and trying to maintain some anonymity. Her seemingly quiet life is thrown for a loop when a powerful object falls into the possession of Maxwell Lord, a scheming tycoon bent on world domination. In her pursuit of this, she must deal with a challenge from Super powered individual, the return of Steve Trevor, and even more calamity.
The main problems for this film start with the script and its lack of attention to detail. Like it or not, Wonder Woman 1984 is a movie sequel set in a universe where we have already seen the character in present day. So it probably is not wise to have your character use (admittedly very cool) powers that she did not use in either Batman v Superman or in Justice League. I’m sure if the only two films you’ve seen are the first Wonder Woman and this one it would seem like a nice natural progression, but in context of the other films it rings hollow.
This is perhaps most exacerbated by the film’s time period. The 80s make for an interesting aesthetic and Wonder Woman 1984’s costume and production design do wonders, but the movie is hampered by the existing films. This movie could have been set in any year after Justice League and been the exact same story. Particularly as we are finally coming close to being loosed from the shackles of the current president, it seems silly to need this film to be locked into the past to tell a story about greed, geopolitics, and strange fashion choices. Patty Jenkins and company do not seem interesting in delving into one idea or topic for too long which is shocking given that this movie’s run time is super long. Because of this the movie does not manage to land much of its earnest message because everything feels built to style rather than emotion.
Take for instance the pure scenery chewing villainy of Pedro Pascal. I know I’m not the only person who thought Pedro was playing a white man (given the character’s origins) but the movie does do a brief mention that his character is Hispanic. However almost as quickly as it’s revealed we move on to watching him become more crazed and evil, never wrestling with the deeper thematic storyline of a POC going to extreme lengths to gain the power he believes he deserves in a world that is not built for him. That’s a fascinating story but that’s not what is presented here in Wonder Woman 1984. Also given the short end of the stick by the stick is Kristen Wiig, who isn’t given enough scenes of oomph it really land her villainous turn.
Patty Jenkins is a very capable filmmaker but her direction in this film leaves something to be desired. Many of the action sequences are staged well, but end up being edited in weird ways that doesn’t allow you to understand the spacial geography or bask in the action of certain moments. One of the climactic fights between Wonder Woman and Cheetah is lit as best as possible but still felt like shapes moving around a dark landscape (not to mention how awful the character design of Cheetah is). These kind of choices are emblematic of a movie that felt both extremely long and empty. It’s a shame because there’s an earnestness in this movie that’s very reminiscent of Superman the Movie, but Wonder Woman 1984 can’t fully capture the magic of its predecessor nor push the character forward in a meaningful way.