Wonder Woman 1984 Review: A Strong and Loud 80s Style But A Less Than Super Super Hero Story

Release date: December 25, 2020
Running time: 150 minutes
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig  
Director: Patty Jenkins

Rewind to the 1980s as Wonder Woman's next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah.

Wonder Woman 1984 is a tough movie to judge because it has all the spectacle of a super hero movie but the substance is lacking.  That is not to say that the film is short, far from it.  It feels like the movie could have been significantly shorter without losing much.  Focusing first on the style, the film is set in the 1980s and has a perfect setting for the time.  The clothes are neon and out there, the technology is recreated including some amazing television commercials, and the Washington, DC area feels fully realized.  Some of that is helped because the architecture does look like it is from the 80s, but it was a smart choice of where to set the film and how to keep it feeling authentic.  And I especially liked how the metro cars didn't need to be updated to look dated, though I'm not sure if the Green Line was in existence in 1984.  And the film has some very good effects, but also some very questionable ones.  There are some scenes with really amazing lighting and sound, but other scenes that feel a little too CG heavy.  But when it works, it works.  There is a scene involving fireworks part way through that will take your breath away.  But there is a fight scene at the end of the film that just feels like CG fest.  It's a tough balance and one that all super hero movies must go through.  I don't think Wonder Woman 1984 was any worse than the standard super hero movie in terms of reliance on CG, but I also expected a little more from this marquee release.

However, Wonder Woman 1984's story leaves something to be desired.  First off, the film is very long, which isn't always a bad thing but this one didn't feel like it had to be.  There is an extended sequence at the start that feels like it could have been completely cut without losing anything.  It starts the film off with an exciting event, but then it goes into another exciting scene and the film didn't relate back to the opening sequence.  And despite the exciting opening, the story feels off at the start.  Wonder Woman's character seems to have changed in this story and the setup for the film just didn't grab me.  Maybe to make this in line with the over the top 80s style, the movie just feels loud at the start for no reason which makes the whole story feel off from the start.  Thankfully the middle of the movie gets more interesting as Wonder Woman deals with some new challenges and she is reunited with Chris Pine.  The two of them have a great chemistry and seeing Pine's character learn about the world is a lot of fun.  However, after this better sequence, the ending is kind of a mess.  There are some character changes and events that happen that felt out of character and frankly did not make sense.  There is also a strange sense of time during the ending with people traveling very far distances in relatively quick time.  And one of the characters who is introduced at the end is an odd one.  It seems like the filmmakers were trying to relate a character to a DC entity, but it just felt strange.  And also, the ending of the film feels ridiculous, a little presumptuous, and also brought back memories of the slightly tone deaf "Imagine" video that went viral at the start of the pandemic for all the wrong reasons.  And aside from this there were several story and plot holes that seemed glaring when putting this movie into the greater DC superhero timeline.  You are going to want to watch this film for its relation to the greater DC timeline, and Warner Brothers should be applauded for releasing this film on HBO Max simultaneously as theaters, but that being said, this movie could have been so much more.  

Wonder Woman 1984 has a strong sense of the 80s with some wonderful sets, costumes, and sense of style, but the overly long film and story issues make this super hero film less than super.  

Rent it.

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following us on our various social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube.   Wonder Woman 1984 Premieres on HBO Max on Friday, December 25.