More 1984 Than Wonder Woman - WW84
Why do you watch comic book movies? Is it for their physics-bending special effects? Is it the ‘gods among men’ elements that allow us to reflect on our place in space and time? Or is it that they are the last bit of remaining mono-culture in a sea of fragmented content and personalized experiences? If it’s for any reason other than the last, you should likely look elsewhere. All eyes will be on Wonder Woman 1984 for at least a week, but beyond that, it’s not clear that this warrants much discussion.
The film opens in Themyscira, the mythical land where Diana (played by Gal Gadot) is from. We see her engaged in some sort of athletic competition against older women. Diana takes a shortcut and is disqualified. Though she complains, her mother and aunt explain that no true heroism can be borne out of lies.
Then we cut to 1984, where Diana works as an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution in DC. She specializes in the material culture of Mediterranean civilizations. This brings her into contact with the “Dreamstone,” the McGuffin on which the narrative centers, and an ancient artifact that grants wishes of those who touch it. When the television huckster, Max Lord (played by Pedro Pascal), gets his hands on it, he decides to wish that he himself could become the Dreamstone.
Diana’s coworker, Barbara Ann Minerva (played by Kristen Wiig), wishes to be like Diana, which sets off a series of events that eventually leads to her becoming a super-powerful villain. Meanwhile, Max Lord ends up on a path to world domination as he tries to control all of the world’s oil supply. Diana must muster all of Wonder Woman’s might to fight back these forces and set things back in order. One problem: doing so will mean saying goodbye to the newly revived Steve Trevor (played by Chris Pine), the one thing she wished for with the Dreamstone.
Aside from the spectacle of the opening scenes and the general strength of the performances, there is honestly very little that works here. The underlying narrative is a commentary on the corrupting nature of power told through the lens of a quasi-Trump. The problem is that it never seems like they are very interested in telling a self-contained story. So much is shoehorned in in an effort to set up future entries and additional showdowns. As a result, it ends up being a solid 45 minutes longer than needed and like a watered-down soda, an overall terrible experience.
As far as performances, it is hard to knock this cast. Gal Gadot is captivating even when the material isn’t, and Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal all make the most of what they are given. Pascal in particular goes for broke in an over-the-top performance that at least makes his scenes interesting. But with so many moving parts and only the loosest of underlying narratives, this winds up feeling like a series of gags. We get a few settings, a little character development and a couple of ugly and garish sequences of lamely choreographed fights. It’s overstuffed nonsense that is trying so hard to pull off what Marvel does. Doesn’t look like they’ve found the recipe yet.
______________
If you like our content, please SHARE using the buttons below and SIGN UP for our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest!
