Wonder Woman 1984

By Ephraim Belnap

3.5/5 

Directed by: Patty Jenkins

Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, Kristen Wiig

Available for streaming on HBO Max

            

While not hitting the the same highs as its predecessor, WW84 tells a pleasant, moving morality tale with only a few issues. 

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It’s 1984, and everyone wants everything! This forms the background of WW84’s souped-up character study. While other period films linger on the music or the fashion, Jenkins focuses on the avarice. With a mystical Dreamstone promising “everything you ever wanted”, we’re forced to watch as the cast struggles not with a nebulous villain, but with their own bad instincts. 

“It’s the monkey’s fist,” one character intones. “You get what you ask for, but you lose your most valued possession.”

“That’s ridiculous,” another responds. “What you value most is what you ask for.” 

The ability of the creative team to pivot from a World War I action epic to an ‘80’s-era  superhero parable shows their grasp of the material. While Batman fits nicely into the modern action genre and Superman is usually a coming-of-age metaphor, Wonder Woman doesn’t fit so well into a story niche. The one they seem to have settled on is a morality tale, where Wonder Woman serves as a moral exemplar, and then is placed in situations which challenge her beliefs. That Gal Gadot is more warm and expressive on average than our stone-jawed protagonists get to be makes her well-suited for this. 

We get an outstanding supporting cast in Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal, who play the film’s villains, Barbara Minerva and Max Lord. Minerva starts out as an imposter syndrome-riddled doctor who, when she falls afoul of wishes, starts turning into an alpha personality as confident as she is deadly. Wiig's public image of "relatable yet A-list" make her perfect for this. Pascal, by contrast, plays against type as a villain; a conniving businessman who takes the Dreamstone for himself and finds his world collapsing as he starts overdosing on everything. 

The weakest link in the cast is ironically Chris Pine, one of the biggest marketing draws. He’s brought back in this film by a theoretical resurrection, but the means by which this happens is so dodgy-looking that it colors his appearance and the wider film indisputably. There’s no room to talk about it here, but suffice it to say that it's drawn some ire, and is probably the one big flaw in the film. 

But aside from that, it really is wonderful. The music is lovely, the world is beautiful. Everything about it seems precise and well-chosen, from the hairstyles to the wardrobes to the way extras react. Like its predecessor, it cuts through the mire of gender dynamics to create a world we all like. There are smaller complaints; it can feel a shade long, the odd special effect looks dodgy, some moment can feel inauthentic. But while not hitting the the same highs as its predecessor, WW84 tells a pleasant, moving morality tale with only a few issues. It’s available to view on the HBO Max streaming service, which can be used for a seven-day free trial period before payments kick in. A hearty recommendation to all.