If ever there was a year that needed a superhero, 2020 was that year, and we had to wait until Christmas Day for them to arrive. No matter what you might think of Warner Bros.' decision to open all of their 2021 films in both theaters and on its streaming service HBO Max, the oft-delayed Wonder Woman 1984 was at least released this way with the consent of director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot. Now, the question is was the film worth the wait?
The original film, as you recall, took place at the end of World War I, in which Wonder Woman found herself in a guerilla war behind the German frontline. She also apparently fell in love with Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), who died in a heroic effort.
 |
| If there ever was a year we needed Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), 2020 was it. |
Fast forward to 1984, perhaps the nadir of American fashion, and the immortal Diana Prince (Gadot) is working at the Smithsonian. The booty from a botched robbery ends up there as the FBI asks nerdy Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) to identify some of the items, one of which is a wish-stone that has the interest of Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal), who wants to use that power to build his financial empire. But before he gets his hands on it, Wonder Woman makes a wish, which brings back Steve in the body of another man. And Barbara wishes she could be just like Diana Prince. From there, the wishes mount and the world ends up on the brink.
Seeing as this a comic book-based movie, there are certain things you have to accept, like Steve coming back to life, as no one is really ever dead in comic books. I'm not familiar with the comic book Wonder Woman, but she is imbued here with an omnipresence, as, at least in the beginning, she knows beforehand when a crime will be committed.
With a runtime of 151 minutes, Wonder Woman 1984 suffers from the idea that bigger is always better when it comes to sequels. I wonder if there is any correlation between runtime and the number of producers attached, especially when there is a sequel involved. My guess is that more time was perhaps given to Max Lord to take advantage of Pascal's recent surge in popularity in The Mandalorian on Disney+. A slimmed-down runtime would have made the film flow better.
Gal Gadot is good in the role and can make anything, including 1980s fashions, look good. But there is more than looks involved in the film. The action sequences are good, if not overlong in places, which is not on Gadot but on Jenkins as a director.
 |
| Kristen Wiig is surprisingly good as Barbara Minerva. |
I'll have to admit I groaned when I saw Kristen Wiig's name in the credits. I got my fill of her when she was so prominent on Saturday Night Live years back. However, she does okay as Barbara but less so when she becomes her "super" self, Cheetah.
 |
| Pedro Pascal plays Max Lord. |
Pascal plays Max Lord, an obvious stand-in for Donald Trump, who made his first splash during this same decade. Like Trump, Lord is a charlatan who has no real talent except a mouth that won't quit and a television presence. It seems appropriate this year that someone like that would be presented as the villain who only thinks about themselves. It was good to see Pascal in a different role but I think his character, as much as anything, weighs the film down.
 |
| Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) is back. |
I'd be curious to see if they try more comic book magic to bring Chris Pine back for the sequel already in the works. Once you get past that, Pine is all-right as the secondary character Wonder Woman needs at the moment. Not sure what role his character would have in a Wonder Woman 3.
Wonder Woman 1984 is not a bad film but it is not as good as it could have been, or more rightly not as good as we need it to be. Coming at the end of a really bad year, my hopes were up for Wonder Woman 1984. It just fell short of my expectations.
No comments:
Post a Comment