Wonder Woman 1984 – An Inconsequential Mess

This is a spoiler free review for Wonder Woman 1984.

God, this is hard to write. We really want to tell you that this film was as good as the 1st one, but sadly, this ain’t true.

As a DC fan, there’s nothing worse than having to watch yet another film from the DCEU that not only fails to meet expectations but tanks completely.

At least Joss Whedon’s Justice League & David Ayer’s Suicide Squad had something bright about their films, or even at least some epic moments that will be remembered for a while (I mean, Suicide Squad gave us Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, and even has an Oscar to its name for Best Makeup & Hairstyling).

But no, Wonder Woman 1984, has nothing memorable to it. It doesn’t have even one scene that you can say “Whoah, that was great”. What you really say every few moments during this film is “Really?” or “Hahaha What?!”.

Don’t get me wrong, Gal Gadot is still the perfect actress for Wonder Woman, but even she couldn’t save this film.

As a quick summary, Wonder Woman returns and now she faces the Cheetah & Max Lord, a man with Genie-like powers. Yeah, it’s Wonder Woman versus a man that found a rock that grants wishes & he wished to have the powers of the rock, so basically, he wished for ‘unlimited wishes’. Oh and in this universe, you can simply say ‘I renounce my wish’ and things will reset or disappear. As easy as that.

Not even the film’s tone is consistent. For moments it feels as a romantic drama, then as a massive 80s nostalgia trap with comical action, only to later switch and try to become a regular action film, and then switch back and forth with its tones to whichever the screenwriters please.

And if you were wondering why the same team that did a great job with the first film delivered this mess, then we’ve got to tell you that this ain’t the same team. The writers’ room was composed of an all-new team led by Patty Jenkins, & it was clear that this wasn’t the correct choice. She only directed the first entry, and she did so wonderfully, and that gave her the agency to take over the creative control of Wonder Woman 1984. But clearly, this decision backfired.

The plot felt inconsistent, while the theme was explicitly explained throughout the course of the film, making it feel cringy & over-the-top. The film feels like a constant lecture about the truth and that cheating is wrong. I mean that as a theme is great, and even the ‘unlimited wishes’ plot can be entertaining if done right, but the cringy & inconsequential take on both made this film feel like a drag during its eternal 2 hours & a half runtime.

And not only the theme & plot felt like this, but also every characters’ decision felt that it had no logic or real thought behind it and was ultimately inconsequential. Everything in this film became as chaotic as the world this film presents during the 3rd act.

Not even Wonder Woman’s powers were consistent, not within the film and neither within what has already been established at the DCEU (you can always give your hero new powers that she has already had in the comics but in BvS & JL you have already shown that she completely disappeared for 100 years and that she can’t fly or make things invisible in the future. I guess she just forgets about it…). This only generates confusion and lowers the audience’s ability to care for Wonder Woman since we never really know what can she be capable of and what can hurt her. Her powers dial down or up depending on what the plot needs her to be. When you watch it you’ll know what I mean.

The only good things about the film were the performances & Zimmer’s score. Gal Gadot is still the perfect Wonder Woman, Pedro Pascal really kicks it up a notch with what little he was given & Pine is the one that shines the most. The film has its best moments when he’s on-screen.

The fans, Gadot & Wonder Woman don’t deserve this film, which isn’t even a good action film. Its CGI during action scenes felt wonky as hell. Something was off, as if the action style they chose varied constantly. I don’t know if it was the lighting, or that it felt as if the characters had no real weight and were just floating through their environment, but it didn’t felt right. It was entirely a different feeling & style to what we saw in the first film, which had amazing action setpieces.

Score: 4/10