Three years ago, director Patty Jenkins brought Themyscira, home of the Amazons, to the big screen. The empowering sight of warrior women handing German soldiers an ass-whooping with medieval weaponry blew audiences away. At the center of it all was Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman, brought to life by Gal Gadot —it was as if she was born for the role.
On Christmas day, Jenkins’ oft-delayed follow-up, Wonder Woman 1984, made its way to HBO Max (and theaters): Diana and beau, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), are back. This time, instead of taking on World War I, the pair tackle 1980s-era greed, a “Dreamstone,” and the idea that “nothing good is born from lies.” As one of the few blockbusters of 2020, this sequel not only needs to live up to its predecessor but surpass it. So, does Wonder Woman 1984 capture the same sense of wonderment as 2017’s Wonder Woman? Let’s find out. (WARNING: Spoilers for Wonder Woman 1984.)
Cover Photo: Warner Bros.
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Wonder Woman 1984 tries to capture the wonderment of the first film. Too hard. It rehashes the “fish out of water” dynamic (for next to no reason) and makes Diana lovesick instead of independent and strong (like Wonder Woman is supposed to be). On top of that, its plot is nonsensical to the point of comical; magical stones and out-of-the-blue abilities are more important than character development and tone, which is the equivalent of Steve Trevor’s inability to pick an outfit. Frankly, the litany of problems with Wonder Woman 1984 is exhausting to the point of indifference. So, wonderment? No. Wonder Woman 1984 raises way too many questions and fails to reach the heights of the first film even when it goes about doing so literally.
Overall Winner: Wonder Woman
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Wonder Woman v Wonder Woman 1984
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Music/Soundtrack
Hans Zimmer wrote Wonder Woman’s guitar-driven battle theme for 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, introducing Gadot as the character. The now-iconic theme was also present in 2017’s Wonder Woman—scored by Rupert Gregson-Williams. While Gregson’s work on that first film was more than admirable, it made sense for Zimmer to helm the music for Wonder Woman 1984. He is, after all, the undisputed champion of movie music—from The Lion King to The Dark Knight. Zimmer churns out exemplary work on Wonder Woman 1984 (including that flight scene). Although, it would’ve been nice to have some Duran Duran thrown into the mix.
Winner: Wonder Woman 1984
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Setting
Gone is 1918, WWI, London, Belgium, and the Western front. Wonder Woman 1984 takes place about 70 years after the first film. This is apparent from the jump—fanny packs, parachute pants, big hair, '80s American malls, it’s all here. The opening sequence sees Wonder Woman lassoing robbers and making little girls smile—it’s slick, upbeat, and feels like something out of a Richard Donner joint. Maybe the appeal of this era is a sign of the times (via things like Stranger Things and It); we’ve seen enough German soldiers...for a lifetime.
Unfortunately, despite its Gordon Gekko-esque villain in Maxwell Lord, Wonder Woman 1984 never really merges character/setting/plot. It’s probably easier to focus amid a World War as opposed to a Cold War. Still, Wonder Woman 1984’s setting gets points for what could have been (and to make this movie battle closer than it probably needs to be).
Winner: Wonder Woman 1984
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Action
Unlike the first film, Wonder Woman 1984 has no thrilling training montages (the Temyscira scenes in this one serve no purpose), “No Man’s Land,” or village siege sequences—shout out to that sniper. None of its action matches up with its premise. Two hours into the movie, you’ve only seen two scenes of Diana being Wonder Woman—taking ass and kicking names...er, the other way around. Doesn’t matter. All of the second film’s lasso action can be seen in the trailers. Worse than that, you could probably cut all of the action and the story would remain. Throw some whimsy into that showdown with “Cheetah” and you might as well be squinting at 2019’s Cats. Frankly, Wonder Woman 1984 has major pacing issues and is pretty boring.
Winner: Wonder Woman
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Cast
What works about Wonder Woman 1984 is thanks to its cast. Gal Gadot is Diana at this point, Chris Pine excels as Steve, Kristen Wiig does her absolute best as nerdy/vicious Barbara Ann Minerva, and Pedro Pascal acts his ass off as flamboyant infomercial man Maxwell. The sequel takes the original’s best performers and pits them against two thriving A-listers. That said, it’s such a shame that these characters are so poorly written—their talent isn’t put to good use.
Winner: Wonder Woman 1984 (A for effort)
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Characters
You can’t just take all of the best shit in your fridge and throw it in a crockpot. Nothing about these characters make sense. Each character had a purpose in 2017’s Wonder Woman—Diana was the “fish out of water” providing a fresh lens through which we could view humanity (and then overcome its cruelty), Steve was the charming love interest (who Diana allowed to be her equal), Ares was Diana’s antithesis, and everyone else was sprinkles on the sundae.
In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana has spent the last 70 years pining for Steve (what?), Steve fills the “fish out of water” role (just for laughs and a rehashing of the same romance subplot), Barbara takes on the nerd-turned-supervillain trope, and Maxwell is a Trump metaphor/heavy-handed contemplation of '80s-era greed? The dynamics are all over the place, the characters don’t grow, and Steve steals the show in what is supposed to be a “Wonder Woman” movie.
Winner: Wonder Woman
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Writing
Why is “love” the first thing two highly educated women talk about at lunch? Wonder Woman 1984 has a litany of narrative issues—so many plot holes, it’d be obnoxious to list them here...Instead, let's ask questions: a broke businessman somehow knows about an ancient artifact that grants wishes? How come everyone else has to say their wish but Diana can just think hers? If the stone can make hundreds of nukes appear out of thin air, why can’t it give Steve an actual body instead of throwing him into an innocent bystander? Why are Diana and Steve okay with hijacking “handsome man”s consciousness and life? Diana can make things invisible now? She can fly? Maxwell touches people through radio waves/particles or something? Diana gets everyone on the planet to renounce their wishes courtesy of a pep talk? What about blind men who wished to see? Yes, this is a comic book movie, but c'mon.
Winner: Wonder Woman
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Cinematography
Cinematographer Matthew Jensen did a fantastic job with 2017’s Wonder Woman, setting the tone of WWI without making the film feel dated. The contrast between the light of Themyscira and WWI era London set the stage for Diana’s journey into darkness aka the world of man (so to speak). The lighting of Wonder Woman 1984 is relatively consistent. This is fine. However, its use of techniques like mise en scène is cheesy. For example, Wonder Woman 1984 makes a point of showing off how good Diana and Barbara are at walking in heels. At first, Barbara walks like a fish out of water (there's that term again!). Once she wishes to be more like Diana, Wiig’s feet are treated to a couple of dignified close-ups. Sure, there are a lot of things that look great in Wonder Woman 1984 but Care-Bear visuals aren't going to aid the Allied forces...or save this movie.
Winner: Wonder Woman
