Joanna Orban
Copy Editor
Like many a bored college student over winter break, I found time to watch the second Wonder Woman movie, a movie that promised wonder, escapism and superhero antics. As a big fan of the first movie in this series, I was very excited for the sequel, especially considering the fact that it had been pushed back at least twice due to COVID-19.
Needless to say, my anticipation was sky-high when I finally had the chance to watch “WW84”. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
Spoilers ahead.
The Characters
I loved Gal Gadot in this movie, I think she did a fantastic job. There were some genuinely moving scenes in this movie and you could tell that she really cared and understands the character of Wonder Woman who is also known as Diana Prince. Her performance in this movie was one of the best parts. Unfortunately, while Diana shined, most of the other characters weren’t given the same attention. Take, for example, Barbara Minerva, who is played by Kristen Wiig.
Barbara’s story arc was overshadowed by Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord. Lord took precedence over Barbara’s character. The movie would have been much better had the movie decided to have only one villain. It doesn’t matter that Barbara’s alter ego, Cheetah will likely appear in the next movie, she should have been saved for that movie where she would have had more time to develop. I will say, as someone who is a big fan of Pascal’s performance in “The Mandalorian” it was a little odd to see him with blond hair and to actually see him. He did a fantastic job, and like Gadot, made this movie for me.
Finally, this movie brings back Steve Trevor, Diana’s deceased love interest from the first movie. Steve is played by Chris Pine, the supposed underdog of the Hollywood Chrises (I’m team Chris Evans). I am not a fan of resurrection arcs and unfortunately, this movie just cemented that opinion. Trevor’s spirit inhabits a stranger’s body, whose character is credited as Handsome Man. At first glance, this might not seem like a big deal. However, when Diana and Steve get intimate, it isn’t technically Steve. It’s the Handsome Man. This rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn’t get past the fact that neither Diana nor Steve seem to care that this is essentially sexual assault. This fact is glossed over and was my main problem with the movie. Also, they take over his apartment and put him in danger all without a second thought. Dani Di Placido covers this idea in more detail here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2020/12/26/the-warped-morality-of-wonder-woman-1984/?sh=73261ccf3e23.
The Plot
The driving force behind this movie was the characters because unfortunately, the plot was way too convoluted to follow. Let’s break it down. We have Diana who is living in Washington D.C., 70 years after the events of the first movie. She works at the Smithsonian, where she eventually befriends, Barbara. Okay makes sense. However, both of these women come into contact with what is called the Dreamstone, an ancient artifact that supposedly grants wishes. This is where the movie started to get weird. Diana wishes for Steve and he returns in the body of the aforementioned stranger. Shy, insecure Barbara wishes to become more like Diana. As a result of their wishes, Diana and Barbara begin to lose parts of their souls, the things that make them who they are. Diana loses her powers and Barbara loses her inherent kindness. I will admit for the first half of the movie, I thought Barbara had stolen Diana’s powers. I wish this would have been more clear. Eventually, it becomes clear that Diana must give up Steve, her wish, who is causing her to lose her powers. Weird, I know. Their goodbye scene was heart-wrenching though.
Unfortunately, Lord’s subplot caused the movie to become bogged down. Lord is a struggling oilman, who has been obsessively searching for the Dreamstone as a solution to his problem. By seducing Barbara he gains access to her office and steals it. Up until this point in the movie, I was okay with the plot, confused, but enjoying it nevertheless. Everything begins to crumble when Lord wishes to become the Dreamstone, seriously the Dreamstone crumbles. I know, I was confused too. Lord is soon able to grant wishes but has to use other people to have his wishes granted. I was so lost at this point, why didn’t he just keep the stone rather than becoming it? Also, did he eat it, inhale it, or…? I was very confused at that point.
The movie becomes even more confusing when Lord somehow causes a nuclear launch and uses a super-secret US government facility to connect with every screen in the world to grant numerous wishes all the while by becoming the most powerful and richest oilman in the world. There are also a lot of fancy cars involved? Also, the USSR and the U.S. are at war, there’s a wall around parts of Egypt, an Irish man wishes for his wife to drop dead and if you’re not dizzy yet, just watch the movie. It was that messy.
The Setting
Like the title suggests, this movie is supposedly set in 1984, but you wouldn’t know it. For one, other than Barbara and some background characters, no one looks like they’re from the eighties. Poofy hair, scrunchies, massive sweaters they’re all missing. You can’t have a couple of weird aerobic outfits and call it an eighties movie. You could have told me this movie was set in 2004 or 2014 and it wouldn’t have made any difference. The only thing that does firmly set this movie in the eighties is the fact that Ronald Reagan was president. There is hardly any eighties music either, I really wanted a Pat Bentar song during Diana and Barbara’s big fight scene. Although others may think otherwise, the setting added nothing to the movie.
If you’re a superhero junkie you’ll probably like this movie. Unfortunately, it was a miss for me. Hopefully, Marvel’s “Black Widow” movie is better. It’s about time we got some good female superhero movies.
