I’m conflicted about this movie. So much so that I had to watch it again before I wrote this review. After my first viewing I was just disappointed and I needed to see it again to figure out why. A couple of reasons come to mind immediately: I was a huge fan of the first Wonder Woman movie (I thought DC had finally gotten it right with their big screen offerings) so my expectations were high and fuelled by the delayed gratification of postponed release dates; secondly, there was no cinematic release of this in my area, so I watched it as a Home Release on its opening day on my 50” TV and It just didn’t deliver the immersive experience you get when sitting in a dark theatre. (Some movies should only been seen in theatres. This was one.). Then there were the things with the movie itself: the first 20 minutes were epic but from there on it was uneven, slipping in and out between silliness and majesty. When it had the big beautiful scenes it hit its mark but it failed for me in between. I hate to say it, but Chris Pine brought nothing to the chemistry or the emotional tension. It just fell flat. The Barbara Minerva character was uneven. And, the final resolve was overlong, wordy and melodramatic. So, I guess I’m underwhelmed. I give the film a 6 (fair) out of 10. [Superhero Action]
[5.8/10] So many movies don’t get the basics right: characters who want something, themes to grapple with, setups and payoffs. Too often, those essential building blocks to storytelling are just set aside for reasons beyond me. That should make it refreshing when a movie like Wonder Woman 1984 comes along, with a story specifically founded on what its characters want, centered around a clear theme, that establishes details before they become relevant later in the film.
The catch is that while WW84 checks all those boxes, it doesn’t do any of these things terribly well, let alone advance to the next level and really make magic out of the combination of people and events that make up the movie. Particularly when it comes to superhero franchises (or sub-franchises), the first movie has to introduce the main character and their world, while the sequel can use that as a springboard to really play. This movie aims to do more than its 2017 predecessor, built around those core storytelling components, but then proceeds to make a mess of its wider ambit.
That starts with the hamfistedness of pretty much everything in the movie. There is absolutely no subtlety or nuance in WW84. The characters practically announce what they want (the conceit of the film all but demands it). An authority figure essentially declares the film’s moral in the opening segment. And if that all weren’t enough, Wonder Woman herself basically looks directly at the audience and tells us the point and overall message of the picture. If you missed what Wonder Woman 1984 was trying to do or say, you were either asleep or, more understandably, lost in the hash it makes of these ideas despite its directness.
The theme boils down to some combination of “Don’t take shortcuts,” “Be careful what you wish for,” and “Think about the wider costs of your individual wants.” Director-writer Patty Jenkins and co-writers Geoff Johns and David Callaham oversimplify those notions in the script, but there’s worse stars to steer by. The problem comes from two extremes: one is the bluntness of how plainly the film states its thesis on these topics and the other is how it loses itself in purple prose trying to dress them as something profound rather than trite. The mix leaves all three central ideas feeling under-realized over the course of the film.
Part of that is the premise. The central MacGuffin in the film is a magic rock that grants people wishes, but as is eventually revealed, also extracts a price for it. As silly as that sounds on paper, it’s a perfectly acceptable comic book-y idea to deploy here. There’s even potential to explore the costs of getting what we want by taking this shortcut, both to ourselves and to our communities.
But the rules are confusing and seemingly arbitrary, and divined by hero and villain alike with little logic. People have to be in contact with the stone to make their wish, but apparently can undo the effects by simply declaring “I renounce my wish!” a la Michael Scott. The legend of the stone says that it takes what you value the most in exchange for granting the wish, but when bad guy Maxwell Lord “becomes” the stone, he can apparently just decide what to take from people when they make their wishes. And the contact rule also goes out the window when Lord takes advantage of vague “particle” technology that makes seeing him on the TV screen as good as holding his hand for some reason.
Any single one of these things would be a stretch but perfectly tolerable within the outsized confines of a superhero movie. But stacking them on top of one another, in addition to plenty of other smaller contrivances and conveniences and headscratchers, leaves the film feeling like it doesn’t play by its own rules, and instead just makes up whatever it needs to in order to hurry things along to the next scene.
Some of that’s understandable, because the plot quickly becomes the least interesting part of the movie, WW84 finds an excuse to bring Chris Pine back as Steve Trevor and, as with the 2017 film, every scene of Wonder Woman and Trevor together is better than every scene without the two of them. Pine and Gadot continue to have great chemistry, and the combination of reversing the “fish out of water” dynamic from the last one, and the inherent joy and tragedy of reunion and loss, makes them the strongest element of the film.
Alas, the same can’t be said for the villains. Kristen Wiig’s Cheetah is a “baby’s first” version of Michelle Pfeifer’s Catwoman from Batman Returns. The homage seems to be a deliberate one, replete with power lines, but that just makes Barbara Minerva’s cartoony affect and transformation all the more lacking by comparison. There’s the germ of something good with Minerva feeling invisible and unsure, seeking popularity and poise, but it’s lost in a bunch of over-the-top moments that dampen any humanity at the center of the idea.
The same goes for Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord, who seems part a commentary on Donald Trump and part a rejection of the “Greed Is Good” ethos that WW84 hopes to combat when invoking this era of American History. Pascal goes for broke in the performance, but the character is so thin, with a last minute depositing of backstory and presto-changeo change of heart that leaves him like so many other characters here -- more one-dimensional than he should be.
Some of the film’s more substantive failings would be easier to ignore if it were just more fun to watch and nicer to look at. Despite a solid opening sequence where a young Diana runs through a Themyscira obstacle course, most of the action here is unavailing at best. The CGI, frankly, looks pretty terrible, with tons of obvious green-screening and movements that lack weight or recognizable fluidity.
Some of that can be chalked up to superhumans doing superhuman things, but much of it just comes down to a flat weak aesthetic mixed with unconvincing special effects. The direction is largely indifferent outside of that opening triathlon riff, and the look of Wonder Woman’s lassoing and ass-kicking and flight feel neither real enough to pass muster or impressionsitic enough to feel artistic.
That’s right, Wonder Woman learns to fly here, another nod to her powers in the comics. Along with the invisible jet and her magic super armor, the movie comes up with a plausible enough bit of setup to where these developments don’t feel completely out of the blue, and yet most of them still feel underdeveloped -- pieces that wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t references to something else in the character’s publication history, with only the barest of scaffolding to keep them from being totally random. There’s at least a minor emotional resonance to Diana taking flight after accepting the renewed loss of her true love/pilot boyfriend, but it’s still undercooked.
That’s true for so much in Wonder Woman 1984. The basic foundation is there. The characters have desires and lose something in the pursuit of them. The film wears its themes on its sleeves. And however rushed the setup may be, most of the developments in the film have some minor preparation for them in the early going.
But once you move beyond those simple building blocks, Jenkins and company make a hash of pretty much everything else. The film soon becomes an overlong, over-the-top, ugly muddle of a movie. It proves that you can fulfill the basic requirements and still fail as a movie by not doing them very well, let alone matching the feats of your protagonist, and soaring above them.
Talk about underwhelming. This is some really bad writing. Like everyone else, I was excited for this, but left disappointed. Chris Pine and Pedro Pascal were the best part of it. I really root for Gal Gadot, but her lack of acting skills really are noticeable with the bad writing. As for the movie, it just got more and more absurd as the movie went on. There were so many unnecessary scenes as well. These are some of the cons just off the top of my head?
Cons:
* The beginning - it kind of made the ending predictable on what was ultimately going to happen.
* The mall scene - it felt like a scene from a tv show. Also, how did the bad guys not die from that drop?
* The highway chase with the kids. How did the kids not hear a full convoy coming that were firing guns at each other?!? Also, how were they not seriously injured from that tumble?
* They didn't give Kristen Wiig's character enough time after the initial introduction. Her final transformation comes out of nowhere.
* Fireworks scene - How the hell did he not know that fireworks existed??
* Flying a Jet - How the hell does he know how to fly a technologically advanced jet?? I don't think the knowledge transfers over quite like that.
* Was Max Lord's kid just sitting in the office the entire duration of the plot? Was he being fed? Did he sleep on the floor and wear the clothes? Where was the mother?
* How come the transformation had to happen in another person's body, but nuclear missiles can appear out of nowhere?
*How come Diana never considered the moral ramifications of her wish? Like not even for a second. Weird.
How the f this movie was so bad?!! First WW was amazing and this.... this was all like a fanfic really. The only thing that this movie brought to the story is that Diana can finally fly.
The fights were bad, the story was worse. No sense. Chronologically incorrect. Dianas wardrobe mostly wasn't from the 80s but she somehow didnt stood up for everyone. It seems she works at the same Museum as she was in Batman v Superman so more than 30 years ...
I knew from the moment they revealed that this movie will be between the first WW and Batman v Superman that it wont have any sense. Batman said that Diana was detached from ppl bc from the WWI she wasnt going out as a superhero, he could find a picture of her from WWI but he didnt find anything from that moment. And I believe in Batmans powers for looking up ppl. And how bad explanation it is that the first thing Wonder Woman does when she sees a bad situation is looking for cameras and destroying them. Like come on!
And WHY the CGI was so freaking bad?!!!! From the beginning till like 2/3 of the movie CGI was more and more just looking raw!
The great legend with the greatest armor and the wings came for a second to be destroyed in the same scene. OMG WHAT A CRINGE.
The only thing that could save this movie was Diana waking up at the end and saying what a weird dream it was.
I am a fan of strong women, I am a fan of Wonder Women. I hope I will forget this movie exists.
It's been seventy years since her introduction to the world of men, and though she's grown more able and active in that time, Wonder Woman still carries a torch for the short-term romance that violently ended in a WWI fireball. It seems unhealthy that she hasn't accepted the loss in all that time, still dining alone and sad-eying all the happy couples at adjacent tables, but it's convenient for the story (and for viewers) that her heart hasn't moved on, so here we are. Of course, that lost love does eventually, improbably, return from the grave, thanks to the influence of a mystical wishing stone, but (as always) there's a steep price.
While it lasts, Diana and Steve's reunion is an enjoyable reversal of fortunes. Now it's the cocksure soldier who plays the naïve fish out of water, goggling and gaping at the fashions and conveniences of modern luxury in 1980s America, while the worldly Amazonian princess smirks and explains. The weird throwback/leap forward aspect is shallow, but it works. I felt that the first film suffered for its close tonal relationship to other films in the DC Universe, all grim and bleak, and the vibrant, colorful air of these early scenes serves as a sorely-needed dramatic departure. It's fun to watch, easy but functional, and the dominance of a "me" generation serves the broader theme of human greed as a divisive force.
As the plot drags out, though, those simpler pleasures lose their zing and the various threads wrapped around the wishing stone grow unwieldy. It all culminates in a completely nonsensical climax that momentarily throws the entire world into upheaval before the headliner shows up in a new outfit, swings a few punches, lobs some lofty philosophical mumbo-jumbo and literally rides off into the sunset. I didn't buy the evil plot, nor the heroic resolution, and was left unfulfilled.
The effects work hasn't improved from Diana's first outing, either. Most times, the direction is smart enough to mask such shortcomings behind abrupt camera shifts and motion blur, but any time we get a clear shot of the heroine running full-speed (and this happens more than once), it's a hilariously bad look. We're talking made-for-TV special effects here. Absolutely astonishing that a major studio could release something so shoddy and second-grade, especially after so many unexpected release delays.
Ultimately, WW84 is a story of one step forward and two steps back. It conquers the issues of individual identity that plagued the first film, gives us another chance to enjoy the chemistry between costars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, but also struggles to tell a cohesive story, rambles on for ages (there's at least thirty minutes of fat on this steak) and whiffs on the ending. Plus, the effects. Oh, those effects. A good concept, established with loads of creative energy, that loses its way and peters out after the first hour.
I loved the first one but where do I even start with this ?
Not only does the story take place in 1984 but the whole movie feels like it's been made in the same year. Like those early superhero movies that you watch today and wonder what they were smoking back then.
The script is bad. It does hold just enough water for maybe an hour long TV episode on any CW show but not a 150 min movie. It is full of boring fillers. The charcaters are so cheesy and clichéd that you, again, feel thrown back to the 80s movies.
CGI is below mediocre by todays standards. Where did that 200 m$ budget go? Acting is subpar by everyone and I know that they can act better so I have to assume it is indeed the weak script doing that. The action sequences are nothing to get exciting about. They just roll along.
Everything culmulates into a weak finale. The big fight that wasn't one and a Hollywood fairy tale ending that is delivered with the grace of a sledge hammer.
I had hoped that this movie would save the movie year 2020 put it just couldn't deliver. Maybe they should not have held it back so long as I think the high expectations are an issue here, too.
It could have been I was just expecting too much but taking a look at the ratings everywhere I probably wasn't the only one.
I was very much interested how they going to bring back Chris Pine, and for this, I got a great answer. Sadly apart from this, everything else felt really poor.
The story was weak, the ending too cheap. The action scenes could have been better, the CGI was really bad at some points (yes, I'm talking about that scene when WW saved the two kids in Egypt or wherever they were), and they lacked tension. There were no twists at any point in the movie, and I really missed them - not that this is a bad thing, you need those feel-good movies once in a while, but we are talking about a big budget movie here.Have some courage to surprise your audience!! It can be rewarding!
At least the actors and actresses were good. You can't really say anything for Gal Gadot, she plays Diana greatly, but you have to admit, her character doesn't need a lot of acting. Kristen Wiig was a welcome, and Pedro Pascal did a great job within the limits his character gave him.
So all in all, this was not that great. I love DC, I prefer them to the Marvel, but there's something missing from their movies. I really hope the next chapter will be better.
Wonder Woman 1984 Review
Spoiler Warning: ......
Wonder Woman 1984
Wonder Woman 1984 failed as an epic super hero blockbuster, failed as a fun piece nostalgia and totally failed as a feminist, girl power story too!
Let’s start with the chosen time period. I personally find the 80s to be the decade I would gladly forget the most. It was corny and had the worst fashion. I personally hate watching movies set in the 80s. Obviously there are exceptions, but in general if the hair, fashion and ridiculousness is way too prominent in the movie, it’s a turn off.
I LOVED the beginning of the movie that took place at home with Diana’s tribe of warrior women, but the second they switched locations and time to that 80s mall, I immediately hated it. UGH! I also HATED the gold outfit! I hated that gold outfit ALOT! Okay, that is my petty complaint. I wish they would have maybe set this movie is the 90s or anything other than the 80s.
My more substantial issues with this movie are maybe problems with the story, writing and directing. For example, I was confused with the villain or villains or maybe lack of a clear villain. Was the villain Barbara or the Maxwell Lord, Black Gold guy? Or was there no real villain other than human desires themselves? The focus is muddled here. Maybe they should have focused on Barbara and made HER the supervillain who made her wish and then hid the stone from Diana. Or maybe Barbara could have wished to be just like Diana but then gotten someone else to wish that Barbara could become the stone or that Barbara could grant the wishes of the world, or something like that.
The point is that Barbara’s character should have been a sufficient villain without involving another character, especially a male character. To make matters worse, not only do they add a second villain who happens to be male, but then she is not strong enough to defeat him herself and she has to rely on human kind to rescind their wishes and for the villain himself to rescind his own wish and willingly, give up his power. For a female super hero to be written this way is super problematic and does not scream girl power to me. Sure, they gave Diana some new powers we haven’t seen yet in the DC movies (which we’ll cover later) but they still make her not sufficiently powerful enough to vanquish the villain on her own strength. (I mean, she is part God and she defeated the God Aries in the last movie, so why is she rendered so helpless to defeat Maxwell Lord?! It’s SO stupid!)
We had to pause the movie at one point and we realized we were only halfway through the movie and we were super irritated that we still had half the movie to go. Maybe if we had been enjoying it more we would not have been so upset to still have to sit through more of it. At two hours and thirty five minutes it was too long. If it had been a better movie, we wouldn’t have cared how long it was, but as it was, if they had completely cut out the Maxwell Lord character the movie would have been more centered AND shorter.
As I mentioned, I loved the beginning of the movie with Diana’s Amazon tribe! I also loved seeing Chris Pine as Steve Trevor back and seeing he and Diana together again romantically as well as fighting side by side at times. I really loved that they gave Diana new powers. The invisibility and the flying should have been a great way to make her more unstoppable. (I wish they had gone in that direction.) On an emotional, level the heart felt goodbye scene between Diana and Steve was so beautiful and heart breaking to watch. It was so well done. It gave them the closure and the goodbye that Diana and Steve did not get the first time around. Seeing Linda Carter during the credits was super fun too! Loved that!
Sadly these few bright spots in the movie did nothing do save it from being an overall disappointment. I wish I could have been happier with this film but the writing and directing choices left the viewer with few choices in opinion. It’s really sad because it could have been so epic and so exciting and emotional, but it wasn’t.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Wonder Woman 1984’:
I certainly wasn’t bored, but there was clearly not a solid, cohesive plot here. The whole “make a wish on a rock from a god” storyline was super convoluted and far from clear. EVERYTHING about it felt severely thrown together. Bringing Steve’s “spirit” (?) back from the dead felt like quite a stretch as well.
Despite the rather inventive way of bringing Pine back into the fold, it was nice seeing them together again. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t moved by their second parting.
One tiny thing I REALLY missed here was (what I thought was) her epic theme score from the other films in the DCU. That whole guitar riff thing. It was so epic and badass — and so very absent in this film.
Bonus Thought: As much as I love love love me some Kristen Wiig, and as much as I was SO excited to see this massive departure from her usual comedy work, she felt a tad out of place here. But I did enjoy her villain more than Pascal’s — which I think might be among the absolute worst in a superhero film.
Wonder Woman 1984 is a problematic but fun movie. At the beginning of the year this film was one of my most anticipated films of the year, but for some reason each time it was delayed my anticipation started to gradually lower. Almost all of my expectations weren’t met and I found this film to be a pretty big disappointment compared to the (great) first film. Regardless of the films many major flaws it’s undeniably a fun and entertaining film with a handful of good aspects that keep me from giving it an even lower score. The plot is okay it’s a convoluted but enjoyable story. The story is the type of mindless blockbuster story that you can’t help but be engaged with. The story is full of major flaws the biggest ones being that since the story uses a familiar plot structure it never feels original or fresh and the story has an abundance of huge plot holes that are unignorable.
Also the story conveys a completely different tone than the first film making the two feel awkwardly disconnected, this move could have been brilliant if it was properly executed. The pacing is decent for the most part the film is well paced but there is still a few times in the second act where the story feels slow. There is also filler scenes that make the runtime feel overlong.
The acting is pretty good Gal Gadot gives a pretty good performance as Wonder Woman. She really will always be the one and only true Wonder Woman, she is one of the main things carrying this film from being a complete disaster. Chris Pine gives a decent performance but I really hate what the writers did with his character arc and especially how they (once again) ended it. Kristen Wiig gives a good supporting performance for most of the film she goes full out Wiig and that’s not a bad thing at all. I was worried about how well her character would fit in with the DCEU but she reassuringly fit in well.
Pedro Pascal surprisingly gives a very good supporting performance he stole every scene he was in with his charisma and charming sense of self awareness with the character of Maxwell Lord. The direction is okay from Patty Jenkins, she went from making crisp and smart directional choices in the first film to making generic directorial choices that most unpassionate action directors make.
I still haven’t lost complete hope in Jenkins because her upcoming films Cleopatra and Rouge Squadron look promising. The script isn’t that good it’s a cramped and messy script that rarely feels memorable or even natural. The cinematography is good this film has a handful of good shots especially the shots of Diana and Steve in the invisible jet. The visual effects and editing are decent as well. The action is decent there is a only a few pure action sequences but when there is an action sequence it’s well choreographed and enjoyable. The ending is a dissatisfying ending that leaves you wondering what went wrong. Overall while it has a handful of good aspects Wonder Woman 1984 is chiefly a messy and disappointing superhero film that could have been much better.
(5 out of 10)
Wonder Woman 1984 (WW84) is the highly-anticipated sequel to 2017's Wonder Woman, which was a critical and financial success for DC. The story takes place in the 1980s, and finds Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot) facing off against the villainous duo of businessman Max Lord (Pascal) and geologist-turned-supervillain Barbara Minerva/Cheetah (Wiig). The plot centers around a magical Dreamstone that can grant wishes, but at a cost, and this MacGuffin is what brings Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) back into the picture. Although the movie has some enjoyable moments and good performances, especially from Gal Gadot, it falls short in terms of heart, soul and pacing. The themes raised and subplots introduced are not fully developed, making the movie feel uninspired, and the climax and pacing feels janky and plodding. The action is decent, but fails to make up for the lack of emotional depth. Overall, WW84 is not a bad movie, but it fails to live up to the expectations set by the first installment and comes across as a bit pointless.
Wonder Woman 1984 (WW84) es la muy esperada secuela de Wonder Woman de 2017, que fue un éxito crítico y financiero para DC. La historia tiene lugar en la década de 1980 y encuentra a Diana Prince (interpretada por Gal Gadot) enfrentándose al dúo de villanos del empresario Max Lord (Pascal) y la geóloga convertida en supervillana Barbara Minerva/Cheetah (Wiig). La trama se centra en una Piedra del Sueño mágica que puede conceder deseos, pero a un costo, y este MacGuffin es lo que hace que Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) vuelva a la escena. Aunque la película tiene algunos momentos agradables y buenas actuaciones, especialmente de Gal Gadot, se queda corta en términos de corazón, alma y ritmo. Los temas planteados y las subtramas presentadas no están completamente desarrollados, lo que hace que la película se sienta sin inspiración, y el clímax y el ritmo se sienten torpes y laboriosos. La acción es decente, pero no logra compensar la falta de profundidad emocional. En general, WW84 no es una mala película, pero no cumple con las expectativas establecidas por la primera entrega y parece un poco inútil.
To start with something positive: I still think Gal Gadot fits perfectly well to role of Wonder Woman and I think she should continue to portrait that character. Unfortunately that one of only a few positive things I've to say to about that movie. What really bugs me around is that there are so many things that literate make no sense or did not contribute to the movie at all. To name a few:
The title: Wonder Woman 1984 - ok, why 1984? 80's are cool? Tribute to Eric Arthur Blair? I might have missed a fact but why use an 80's setting if there is no reason to do so?
The plot: Without going into the details this is a typical plot for a super hero movie. The problem is: They made the worst out of it you could do. It is just boring and it feels like that there are no main characters. And why the hell would you bring back Chris Pine just to grin into the camera and say "Oh wow I'm back and now I'm gone"?
The villains: Just one example here that really hits rock bottom: Barbara Minerva after her metamorphosis to that trashy cat thing. I mean what is this? "Hey mom can we watch the musical Cats? No we have Cats at home."
Other facts like sound(track), camera etc. are all fine but especially in contrast to the first movie it remains a huge disappointment.
I'd watched the trailer of this movie, and I knew it was gonna be boring. Boy was i not wrong. So lame. Made such a lovable character of the justice league so lame, if you ask me. Just DC things I guess. I had really been looking forward to Flashpoint after Justice League, but after watching this, I'm not getting my hopes up.
Kristen, who played the part of Barbara was really good in the first half, I felt. The makeover, especially. But the transition from semi-villain to full villain was so bad. But that's not on her, it's because of the story. The same old ugly plot of heroes pleading with the villains to do the right thing is really getting annoying now, absolutely ruins any movie. I'd have given it lesser of a rating if it weren't for Gal Gadot. Her looks and accent and costume made me keep it interesting a little bit, but I'm not much of a fan of the acting there. Again, can't really say it's about her, the story was crap. Also the stupid plot about bringing back the old bf Steve, was again a cheap plot. And also, one of the lamest villains I've seen across MCU & DCU
Where do I start? I believe it’s kinda of an unspoken rule that a movie must earn its runtime especially when it’s longer than 2 hrs and I don’t think Wonder Woman 1984 did that at all. This movie did not feel like it needed to be this long and even with that being said it consistently saves time with lazy storytelling. How they bring Steve back, Cheetahs powers, Maxwell Lords powers all conveniently explained with one thing. Which brings me to my next point Maxwell Lord. Just because you hire a good actor doesn’t mean they’re gonna nail the role cause at the end of the day u have to work with what they write and poor Pedro Pascal was written terrible and I don’t blame his performance but I do blame his character more than anything for this movie being bad but Maxwell Lord isn’t the only thing to blame for this movies failure. In case I didn’t make it apparent Maxwell Lord is awful in this movie, and I was actually pleasantly surprised with Cheetah not that cheetah was great but I just figured she’d be awful but Kristen Wig did pretty good. It wouldn’t be a Patty Jenkins film without a fish out of water element and a horrendous third act so let’s bring Steve back and attempt humor from something we’ve only seen a hundred times and even in the predecessor and just make the movie nearly intolerable for the third act. To be quite honest this movie probably gets a bit to much hate because they’re are plenty of superheroes films with horrible villains, lazy writing, and predictable and cheesy storytelling that don’t get trashed on like this movie but that doesn’t change the fact that it seemed this movie went out of its way to be bad. I simply think if you remove Maxwell Lord from this film you have a much better movie. Obviously some rewriting will need to be done because he is a major part of this movie simply Wonder Woman vs Cheetah would’ve been much better even without Steve Trevor.
I feel like the term guilty pleasure isn't cutting it anymore. Not only do I know that this movie is pretty much hated, I even know why. And I agree it has too much plotholes, cringe and bad acting. But I enjoyed it nonetheless, because it managed to work somehow(?!)
Where Birds of pray managed to redeem the film pretty much completely by the end at least for me Wonder Woman 1984 is sadly just ended up been ok film.
It's pure camp. I loved the way they used 80s theme, where people expected throwback to just the colours and clothes they went straight into politics and oil crisis and it was handled with such finesse I'm joking that it felt refreshing to see nostalgia being smashed in the face by "reality" that was turned up to 11. I like the way they returned a character back, I wish they would show it more thought out the movie. Pine is the glue apparently, before he appeared movie was cringy as hell because cheesy just works in this franchise, ok? After the Return cast started to mix together quite well. Their chosen acting styles started to finally fit the movie. The repeat of "fish out of water" also fit well cup and fireworks lines almost woke up my brain again, but thankfully it was lulled back to sleep right until cringy last scene Two "villains" worked great aka fight-fight villain and talk-fight villain. Them not being villains worked too. Hell, even the Speech did! All stuff surrounding the Speech was ridiculously done but the message itself and the scene didn't bothered me. And finally action scenes were fun and creative to watch! I cared about the characters well being in them, random guards included The way action scenes were done on technical level - not. But cgi in the first one sucked too so I'm used to it
Plot is fine. The only problem is that characters just knew stuff and appeared where they need to be the most by the power of said Plot... which is horrible almost irredeemable sin. But on the other hand Pine safed the movie: jokes started to land or at least didn't derail the flow. By the way, the first 30 minutes were the most cringiest rom-com thropes combined with horribly written lines delivery included Lead actor should be able to carry the movie even against Electro's cosplayer... thank god Wig picked up performance after the Wish cause that was painful to watch sadly Gadot needed cast help in alot of scenes. But the Speech worked I swear!
TL;DR idk what exactly made it work for me at the end. I liked characters, cast managed to show up eventually too. Decent amount of creative action scenes. Passing felt just right, it didn't drug. I appreciated the hell out of period appropriate economical and political issues at the front and center of it all.
Proceed with cautions - my brain managed to turn itself off half and hour into the movie. And apparently this is the only way (c) to watch and enjoy it.
If you liked the original Wonder Woman (2017) you will most likely enjoy this. Although the new movie is not as good as the first one.
I think part of the disappointment (at least mine), is that we were made to wait so long till it was finally released - i feel that maybe just maybe if they had released it to streaming a lot earlier the build-up and anticipation for the movie would not have ended up being a slight disappointment.
Anyway - Max Lord is virtually a carbon copy of Trump except Max Lord saw the light in the end and renounced his bad, errant ways very much unlike Trump. They claim this similarity was 'not' intentional.
Also, it would have been nice to see more of Cheetah. By the time the Cheetah incarnation of Barbara appears she disappeared all too soon.
And while I'm at it - they had plenty of time to fix the Cheetah CGI but they did not - sadly we don't see too much of her but what we do see is not up to today's CGI standards and had to be shrouded by night and a lot of darkness.
All-in-all this was a slightly disappointing follow-up, but definitely enjoyable.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
So I was expecting it to be bad, but as it turns out it wasn’t. Wonder Woman 1984 doesn’t have kick-ass action sequences like in the first movie, but it still manages to be charming regarding its characters and the story. Particularly the story was pretty interesting with the stone reminiscent of The Monkey’s Paw, which turned the entire world into a real hot mess by granting wishes with a price.
The villain, Max Lord, is a clear stand-out too. Comical, entertaining in a way but also smart, and in the end, the true troublemaker who spreads the influence of the stone by absorbing it into himself. It was interesting too to have a villain who becomes so strong that Wonder Woman can only make him give up on his powers by appealing to his humanity and heart.
The movie is also reminiscent of the Golden and Silver Age of comics with a more absurd storyline and portrayal of characters, but the actors for the most part played their part well enough to sell the charm of this approach well enough. Steve Trevor also returns once again, and I enjoyed his scenes with Diana and him getting used to the modern world and being amazed by it. (What Marvel should’ve done with Captain America, let’s be honest.)
7.5/10
6.5/10 - I was so excited for this ever since the trailer with that special "Blue Monday" version! I was so excited for the first Wonder Woman movie as well as the concept is so promising. Unfortunately this movie wasn't as good as I hoped. I really hoped that the second movie would be better but it was likely even worse (not sure since I didn't have enough motivation to rewatch the first movie).
The soundtrack was nice but I really missed "Blue Monday". Tbh that song was the main reason I was so excited to watch this (I don't think I've heard it before the trailer).
The intro started off really well and I thought everything could work out this time. A nice short monologue by Gal Gadot, beautiful nature shots, young Diana (she was my hero of this movie!), very athletic Amazons - it was awesome! Young Diana did so well and I can really understand her frustration when her spear was taken away for "cheating" (technically it was cheating but I'd call it improvising).
Unfortunately it rapidly went downhill from then on.
The robbery scene was kinda fun but I wish we'd have seen even more of the robbers emotions (the others still seemed decent). The woman screaming "gun!" was a bit strange - I thought that scene took place somewhere in America but I didn't pay attention and given that reaction I guess not?
Diana "flying" around was nice. I thought of flying when I saw those scenes but then she was literally flying at the end.
Steve's return made things a bit better. It was just grounding the show and it was so cool to get to see his reactions to new developments - I really loved that part. And also many fun dialogues ("Well, shit, Diana." xD).
Diana has some cool new powers like making things invisible and later even flying.
And then came two really annoying characters: Barbera and Maxwell.
They're both so cliche and lame...
Nothing new - I feel like I've already seen these two characters in countless other movies and I'm tired of it! At least the moment with Maxwell and his son at the end was sweet but I basically was predictable as well.
Anyway, this movie was just not grounded at all and so over the top IMO! The world basically ended and then magically recovered...
I would've really preferred a simple adventure story with far less extremes. I feel like I don't need anything special - just give me a few cool/funny/etc. Diana moments. Like those scenes at the beginning with young Diana. That was so nice! Why not try to make a whole movie like that? I feel like I don't need a typical and boring story arc with some mighty villain (or other challenge) that basically any movie uses.
And regarding that mid-credits scene: Who the f** is Asteria??? Should I know her? Probably something from the comics(?) which I never read?
PS: So cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEMIKBiDHeo
PPS: And thanks Amazon Prime for making me choose between 4K and the OV... I obviously chose the latter (even though I love 4K) but why can't I watch the OV in 4K (the 4K version was only available in German :o)?!?
To be frank, and I suppose unpleasant, this film is a mess. The opening scenes not only seem to have literally nothing to do with the rest of the story but also make little to no sense. I did not understand what the ‘games’ were about and why on earth did thousands of whooping and fist-pumping (funny how that evolved in a civilisation cut off from the rest of the world) spectators cram into a huge arena to sit whilst A running, jumping, throwing, riding race took place far away from the venue that they could not see or hear, they got brightly coloured banners to tell them who won though. Not only that but a 12-year-old took part against fully grown women and beat them. I get Wonder Women is supposed to be superior even amongst her peers but this was beating everyone around the head with that message to the point of utter wibbly-wobbly dumbness that the whole film never recovered from. I just did not see the point of the opening part of this film.
The action set piece of the mall-store robbery seemed to be for comic effect although it supposedly had a plot point, but once again dumb and badly staged.
Pointing out the scenes that were badly set up or pointless or Basil Exposition heavy in itself is a redundant exercise but from my point of view there were far too many in WW84.
The film is set in 1984 – so instead of just subtly referencing it at points throughout the film we are in fact battered about the head with it, constantly, and childishly. The reason the film is set in 1984? Presumably so they could make as many lame jokes as they could shoe-horn in and because mobile phones make so many perilous situations superfluous.
I really enjoyed Wonder Women, the same director, the same actors, so why does this film looks like someone who is new to directing and producing made it is beyond me. Gal Gadot is lovely to look at, although a bit too unattainable skinny for my liking, and although she will never be award-worthy her acting was okay, in WW84 it is awful and wooden. Perhaps it was the on-the-head clunkers she had spout to make plot and social commentary points throughout the running time. Funnily enough the sentiments and ideology behind the film probably line up more with mine than agin them. After all men have made countless films where they are the hero and women are either love-interest or worse still not in it much at all, female directors are now still only just coming to the fore, superheroes should stand up for all that is fair and right in the whole world and protect the weak and vulnerable from others and themselves. We know in the real world that is never going to happen and probably never will for the rest of the time that humans exist. Having said that just because the story and motives are a bit hokey does not mean that you can make your film a big pile of unwashed pants. Let us make it grounded in some sort of world we know.
Plots holes are to be found in every film, often not because writers and directors do not realise they are there, but because they need to get to point C from point A to tell the story and they hope that the majority of film-goers will not notice due to the film’s overall strength. If your film is weak and uninteresting and full of plot holes, then everyone falls down them. I got tired of climbing out of one only to tumble down the next in WW84. Wonder Women’s powers, when she did not have them weakened to add more peril, seemed to vacillate between indestructible and then a bit crap, the way the ‘lasso of truth’ was presented in the story actually meant she did not need to do anything else but just fling it about here, there and everywhere from her apartment balcony, it could go a long way and was indestructible. She could literally lasso clouds.
I often say, as I am unoriginal and repetitive, that good actors can hold together a weak film like some strong bonding glue. Chris Pine is a good actor, within his range, likewise Kristen Wiig, although my personal jury is out on Pedro Pascal but in this film they all seem to be coasting. Kristen Wiig is good in comedic roles, the slight underdog or overlooked person and clearly that is why she is cast as Barbara Minerva, including the most cliched and horrible, drop my briefcase full of papers signpost early on, then ever colleague and person she meets being really horrible to her, but as a villain she sort of does not cut it. I am hoping Mr Pascal was told to eat every single bit of scenery and play his character as kids Saturday morning show baddy – he seemed to have escaped the clutches of the Power Rangers only to fall into the path of Wonder Women. If he plays Joel in the upcoming Last of US TV like this let’s hope he gets to play golf early on. There is little chemistry on the screen between Pine and Gadot and although he tries desperately to inject some off-kilter humour in his role a lot of it falls flat. Frankly when they are together in romantic scenes they both look a tad bored.
What you see on the screen is not much better. The battles and set pieces are crashy-bashy which is exactly what you want from your super-hero movies but actually I was hoping for more, which is rare for me, some of the CGI is ropey (no pun intended) to say the least. I also had a problem with it being 1984 we had crazy bum-bag fashions and hairstyle thrust into our face and then other characters seemed to have some rather modern style clothing that did not make them look silly when it suited them. The whole feel of the story was off and odd.
The story, well I can rant on about that, but Gal Gadot summed it up near the end of the film. It is the Monkey’s Paw stretched out over two and a half hours.
Anyone who reads my opinions on films, you know who you are, all two of you, will know that superhero films are not my cup of tea. I understand the feel the makers are going for, the audience they need to appeal to, the atheistic of the stories, but how about using some different size and style brushes other than ‘Flat Size 20’? For example, the end of the story the final scenes, I nearly got diabetes watching it. What world was Diane living in, what city or country, it seemed almost to shot deliberately for laughs, as pastiche. It was not.
Also, and it might have been my Blu-Ray, but all the dialogue seemed dubbed, like the entire film’s dialogue was ADRed and then very badly synched. I was distracted. I wear hearing aids I was hoping they had not gone wrong.
I keep reading and hearing the superhero comic book films are for all ages but more adult orientated than others thing. If that is the case WW84 was written and made for those aged about ten.
I cannot recommend this film.
Wonder Woman 1984, it's fair to say, has received something of a mixed reaction. When the initial reviews came in, the critics loved it, but as more and more set their eyes on the film the enthusiasm waned. Even general audiences have been a little divided, with some appreciating the movie's aims and others taking issue with some of the ideas presented within the screenplay.
Personally I enjoyed it. Whilst it may not have quite reached the heights of the first Wonder Woman, there's plenty to appreciate here. The opening sequence, for one, is stunning. This sees a young Diana Prince competing in a major sporting event in her home land of Themyscira. It's a really breathtaking segment that draws you into the movie from the start, and the accompanying narration by Gal Gadot as the Adult Diana works well with the imagery.
Similarly the opening battle of the film in the shopping centre makes for a thrilling action sequence. I always like it when we see a superhero fight what is essentially an everyday crook for them, as it shows that they have their own mundane days in their field of work. It's not always big universe-shattering events, sometimes it's just a pair of thieves. There's a greater meaning too behind seeing Wonder Woman save a kid being dangled from a shopping centre balcony rather than an entire world or nation. It's a more personal touch, and it helps to ground the heroics significantly.
The bigger threats do come later into the film however, as Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) gets his hands on the mysterious wishing stone, and wishes to become the stone itself. Maxwell is a fun character; he's a TV personality who craves power, and takes it from those who cross his path. He's kind of what I'd imagine an evil Stephen Mulhern would be like, if his TV persona wasn't an act he obviously put on for the cameras. I really like the monkey's paw aspect of the wishing stone, and its human embodiment; the idea that you get what you wish for but at a cost always holds for some great dramatic potential, especially when our hero is granted her wish, at the cost of her powers weakening.
Talking of Diana's wish, this is an element I have seen some critique over. The base of her wish fulfilment involves her boyfriend from the previous film Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) returning from his death - albeit in a different man's body - but as mentioned, the price paid is her powers growing weaker. Some have taken issue with how Steve is essentially using a random stranger as a vehicle, which means that when Diana and Steve sleep together she is essentially doing stuff to his body without his consent. I don't see it that way however. The body, in my view, is the vessel, it's not the person inside. When Diana was with Steve, she wasn't with a random stranger. She was with Steve. Diana wasn't, therefore, forcing herself upon anyone.
The Steve aspect of the narrative is overall a lot of fun. Essentially you get the same fish out of water aspect from the first film, although this time the roles are reversed. This time it's Steve out of his comfort zone, in a different time period he is used to, and it's very entertaining seeing his reaction to 80s clothes or escalators. I'm always a sucker for that kind of fish out of water stuff, so personally I got a lot of enjoyment from watching Steve's perspective on this new world.
I do feel it would have worked better narratively speaking, however, had Steve not been played by the same actor from the previous film. We are told Steve looks different, and that he's a different man - but he spends the majority of the film looking exactly the same, precisely because it's Chris Pine. I get that the film is told from Diana's perspective, so it's essentially what she is seeing, but it does just make you wonder why they even bothered with the Steve Trevor body swap if they weren't going to do anything with the concept. We get the odd glimpses of the stranger - played by Kristoffer Polhala - such as when Steve is looking in the mirror, but the point that in reality he doesn't look the same as the Steve Diana knew isn't really shown to us enough as the audience. In fact, you end up even forgetting that Steve Trevor is using another man's body. Instead of telling us that this is Steve in a different man's body, how about showing us by having Kristoffer Polhala effectively playing Steve Trevor, with odd flashes of Chris Pine instead? In any story the idea should be to 'show, don't tell'. But here it's 'tell, don't show'.
One of my favourite aspects of this film is Kristen Wiig as Barbara/Cheetah, and in a largely straight role for an actor largely known for her comedic roles, Kristen Wiig totally knocks it out the park. She is endearingly awkward as Barbara before she makes her wish, and later shockingly cold when she loses her humanity as the cost for her wish to be like Diana. You really buy into Barbara's wish to possess the strength and confidence of Diana Prince, and it's hard not to agree with her to an extent when she asks Diana why she should be forced to give her newfound strength back. Kristen Wiig was a very solid casting choice for sure.
If the film is let down by anything, it's how surprisingly little there actually is of Diana Prince fighting as Wonder Woman. For a film entitled 'Wonder Woman 1984', Diana actually doesn't do that much vigilante work. Whilst this decision does mean we get some great character moments that help to build further on the relationship dynamics between Diana and Steve, it does mean that most of the action is stuff that was already shown in the trailers or on The Graham Norton Show. The film could perhaps have introduced more moments for Diana Prince to show off her skills, and give us more of the 'Wonder Woman' that the title promises.
On a more positive note, Wonder Woman 1984 has perhaps one of the best mid-credits scenes of any film to date. This features the original Wonder Woman Lynda Carter as the 'Golden Warrior' Asteria, and it's a very cool moment for sure. It does make you wonder if they're planning for Lynda Carter to have a major role in the upcoming third Wonder Woman film, as this mid-credits sequence seems to suggest. Could two Wonder Woman actors collide?
Overall, Wonder Woman 1984 is a highly enjoyable follow-up to the first movie. Whilst it perhaps doesn't feature as much 'Wonder Woman' action as you would typically expect, and the decision to keep Chris Pine as Steve Trevor in the context of the film may seem a little strange considering the body swap concept, it features some truly stunning sequences, and two great villains in Maxwell and Barbara. Wonder Woman 1984 is a film that doesn't quite reach the heights of the original, but it gives it a damn good try.
Please don't be fooled by the poster; the movie isn't as vibrant as it seems. It still looks good, but it did not pop out as much as I expected.
The movie could have worked if the plot was structured and had a logic that made sense. It just felt like ideas that seemed good were thrown in without taking a good look at it.
Some characters did not need to be in the movie for sure. Chris Pine’s character felt super forced, and morally it made wonder woman look not so great. Superheroes have their flaws, but this seemed yikes it reminded me of the ending of the lovely bones and how it's similar and problematic. Kristin Wiggs is a good actor, and it felt like a disservice giving her a character that wasn't fully developed, and if you cut out her parts, it wouldn't make a difference.
Pedro Pascal’s back must have hurt lifting all the weight from carrying this movie; he's genuinely the one redeeming the movie.
It was a straightforward plot, and it's a scenario that shows what would go wrong if The secret by Rhonda Byrne came to life.
Overall, it's not a bad movie by any means, but it could've been so much more, and it is sucks because the first movie was pretty good.
Wow, this movie was really bad. I quite liked the first movie and I am amazed how the writer(s), apparently with Patty Jenkins in the lead, managed to turn this into a boring piece of crud.
The movie is just so boooooring and nonsensical.
Below are my notes when watching this movie (I had to do something while watching it to not get bored out of my mind) which pretty much speaks for itself.
What is it with the stupid beginning? It was just silly lecturing and did not really bring anything to the story.
Those clowns pretending to be robbers. Was it supposed to be funny? Well it was not. Bad start indeed.
25% and this is boring.
40% and this is still f... boring.
A guy used to fly ancient propeller planes can suddenly fly jet fighter planes. And she "forgot" about radar? Seriously?
Flying straight through exploding fireworks and no one saw them nor did the engines get clogged up? And did they not have a world to save instead of sightseeing by the way?
A fighter jet flying from the US to Cairo in one go? Yeah, right!
Finally at 60% there is some action which is of course dragged down by this silly wish stone's impact on Wonder Woman.
And here we go with the illogical emotional bullshit refusing to accept reality.
My God, the bad guy is such an unintelligent and stupid jerk. No charisma whatsoever. The script is really such a juvenile piece of crud that it is unbelievable.
85% and finally some superhero action. Pretty lousy action but at least some action.
Holy crap! Even the finale is boring and dragged out.
This entire movie could have been condensed into a 45 minutes TV show episode, and not a very good one at that.
Patty Jenkins is going on my watch list… for movies that I will avoid!
Pros :
- Challenging Demi-God Antagonist with stakes.
- Good character development. Diana overcame her grief, she taught Steve how to behave in the human world like he did in the 1st movie and she learnt to fly.
- Nice and original scenario overall where the antagonist is not clearly defined and no mcguffin. Sometimes risky. Almost the first gay relationship in a superhero movie that wouldn't have been too overdone.
- Exciting "God complex" scenes.
Cons :
- Actions scenes are cringe sometimes. Cheetah fight scene could have been way better
- Inconsistencies. Anachronisms. Lots of inconsistencies. The full fuel plane scene because steve doesn't have a passeport but he has. Or Diana sleeping with Steve in someone else body. The "book of the mayas" even though mayas didn't write books. The 3rd world war nuclear event before Batman Vs Superman. And Christmas ending. Seriously writers...
- The moral of the story is kinda off. Except for Diana, the world still sucks for everyone at the end (and we are supposed to accept it ?). The world is even worse than before with all the crazy shenanigans.
- "Meh" Ending. Stupid win. Max Lord was almost a God. He could have used a wish for his son instead of renouncing to his power.
É divertido como uma montanha-russa, se você desligar seu cérebro. Gadot é uma montanha de carisma e beleza, Pine é divertido e Wiig e Pascal fazem muito bem com pouco.
Mas Jenkins como diretora tem problemas. As imagens são boas, a ação meio que funciona, mas não há coesão, não há lógica interna. Ele sucumbe ao que ela quer mostrar. Nem mesmo falando de Pine sem motivo aparecendo no corpo de outra pessoa (por que, em uma história sobre uma pedra dos desejos? É o único caso no filme inteiro, os outros desejos são totalmente mágicos), outra: por que Diana nunca se preocupa com o problema óbvio que Steve é mortal? E ela não é? Esse grande problema nunca é falado.
E Gadot não consegue atuar. Simplesmente. Pine salva a atuação dela, basicamente.
A lógica inexistente é melhor mostrada em um detalhe: o voo. Além de desenvolver uma 1ª via com o jato invisível (muito bem) (1), depois o filme mostra não uma, nem duas, mas TRÊS maneiras de Diana voar: ela pode voar por simples confiança (eu acho) (2), então não consigo entender porque ela usa o laço para ancorar / mover o voo (em raios? Nuvens?) (3) e ela ainda ela usa as asas da armadura (4) de alguma forma mais tarde. Onde está a lógica?
E é difícil aceitar que uma personagem tão antiga e experiente seja tão ingênua e tímida em sua vida normal. Ela poderia ser muito mais profunda e rica socialmente do que uma donzela esperando por Steve por décadas. Ficou meio pedestre isso. Como qualquer um sabe, é perfeitamente possível ter múltiplos interesses amorosos na vida (e desfrutar dessa velha paixão de qualquer maneira se as condições aparecerem).
It's fun in a roller-coaster way, if you turn off your brain. Gadot is a mointain of charisma and beauty, Pine is entertaining and Wiig and Pascal do great with little.
But Jenkins as a director has problems. The images are fine, the action kinda works, but there's no cohesion, no inner logic. It succumb to what she wants to show.
Not even talking about Pine for no reason appearing in others man's body (why, in a story about a wishing stone? It's the only case in the hole movie, the others wishes are full magic), and other: why Diana is never concerned with the obvious problem that Steve is mortal? And she's not? This big problem is never talked.
Gadot can't act. Just that. Surely she can looks, but that's it. Pine saves her acting in fact.
The non-existent logic is better show in one detail: the flying. Apart developing a 1st way with the invisible jet (well done) (1), latter the movie shows not one, nor two, but THREE others ways for Diana to fly: she can do does it naturally all by confidence I guess (2), then I can't understand why she uses the lasso to anchor/move the flying (in... rays? Clouds?) (3), than she uses the armor wings (4) somehow later. Where's logic?
And it's hard to accept such an experienced old character being so naive and shy in her normal life. She could be so more deeper and richer than a damsel waiting for Steve for decades. As anyone knows, it's perfectly possible to have multiple love interests in life (and enjoy that old flame anyway if the chance appears).
The most boring, formulaic storytelling ever! This movie doesn’t indicate Hollywood is dead, instead it shows we are way beyond the grave and are just staring at the lifeless corpse of Hollywood cinema being pulled by strings. I don’t know who Wonder Woman 1984 was made for. Is the target audience kids? Because this felt like a children’s movie.
When Anna Banerjee said American superhero movies are blatant propaganda. Wow, SO true! I expect nothing less from a movie that’s an American perspective on the Cold War. Damn, communists! Damn, Russians! 90,000 years later Americans are still psychotically obsessed with the Russians. They are the only villains in US movies nowadays as well, so by that you can’t say in which year the whole movie takes place in, the only thing that pertains to 1984 are the clothes.
There was just so much wrong with this movie:
Gal Gadot is a very beautiful woman but my goodness, she cannot act even a little. It's hard not to think she was chosen only because she's a pretty model type, because it certainly was not due to her acting skills. And does she even have enough lines to justify being the leading character?
Pedro Pascal’s character is the same villain you’ve seen before in every film ever made: business man is overwhelm by his own greed. Oh, and his dad yelled at him for wetting the bed, so.
I hated Kristen Wiig’s character. She is the nerd with glasses that nobody helps but we got a "makeover" scene where she becomes "pretty" because she … takes off her glasses! And then everybody totally falls for her. Gal Gadot was like, "Where is your kindness and humanity, girl?" But Kristen Wiig was like, "Lol stfu bitch, I’m doing hot girl shit now." It’s basically an endorsement of the Joker thesis that it's always the socially insecure outcast who will eventually pose the greatest threat to humanity. But now people don’t have a problem with it because it’s women, so :tada: diversity. :tada: You people will gobble up any "diversity" scraps the Hollywood toss your way.
Other tropes are so cliché are well. The "hero losing her power" - women can only be strong and powerful or have love, never both, or the "using kindness to save the world" – this really is a movie about how we can solve international war and terrorism through … forgiveness. :laughing:
Everything in this movie is black or white, so naturally, we got the "every man is an asshole but we aren’t going to have a real resolution about that" theme. Guys in car nearly kill jogger lady, bad guys want to throw kids to death in a mall – who acts like that?
The dialogue is a hokey displeasure to listen to - "Scientists don’t wear heels" "Some do", "I can save the day but ~you can save the world".
All in all, the plot is so riddled with cliches and idiotic ideas, the characters are either boring or stupidly written, the writing is complete garbage. The movie tries so hard to be relevant and relatable. I don’t have a high tolerance for overly cheesy movies, and I don’t think superhero movies are for me!
Review by wolfkinBlockedParent2020-12-26T23:40:36Z
It was good. earnest still which is great. Gail Simone said she cried three times and I can see it. It has some very successful emotional scenes that don't feel manipulative. The soundtrack was missing TIna Guo's electrio cello which were so distinctive in the last movie. I don't like Kristen Wiig and yet I enjoy everything she's in. It's a weird dichotomy and while I think they went a little hard on the "oh she's unsexy because she's wearing baggy clothes" I think Wiig does an admirable job of being the schlubby Dr. Minerva and being the empowered Cheetah.
I've heard there are negative feeling about the movie but I can't imagine where. The final fight between Wonder Woman and Cheetah looks good CGI wise (RIP Black Panther) though it lacks in choreography. It's directed well enough I never lose track of where WW and Cheetah are in the space but I have no idea why if WW is trying to get into a facility she's spending so much time going in essentially big circles dangled on her lasso. There's a hilarious scene in the white house fight between them where Pine's Steve Trevor is fighting some guards in the background and you can see them essentially dancing as the camera focuses on the main combatants.
I liked the final fight with Max Lord they clearly didn't have the studio force a CGI fight on the movie like with the original movie with Aries. But this was a fight of earnestness and sincerity which is what Wonder Woman is all about. The fact that a TV transmission doesn't count as touching to the point where even the President says "it's just a phrase" made me laugh. I'm willing to buy that he can take your wishes over the TV. I'm not wiling to buy that he's limited to physical contact and this special TV signal counts. I feel like the movie was leaning in the right direction when Max took the TV slot from the faith leader. I figured this would be the start of his I can take your wishes over the TV and it would have snowballed easily.
I think the homage to the invisible Jet was fun and when she learned to fly that was as I already hinted earlier super emotional. The stinger nod to Lynda Carter was excellent.