Wonder Woman 1984 review

The pandemic robbed us of basically an entire year of movies, but here comes Wonder Woman 1984 right at the end of 2020 to at least give us some salvation. 

But instead of watching it on an IMAX screen, I watched it on my phone on HBO MAX. Not the ideal experience. I will never not prefer the big screen. 

I'm sure this soured my enjoyment of the film a little, but WW84 is really just an okay movie. And okay for this movie feels like a pretty big disappointment.

Film starts great. There's a fun prologue featuring a young Diana competing in some sort of Themiscyran Olympics. Then there's a dandy sequence as we cut to 1984 and see a montage of Wonder Woman running around and stopping bad guys. It's got just the right old fashioned gee whiz kind of tone.

But man, that strong start is just a tease. The next hour plus is almost entirely action free, and instead it's all about the main story involving this mystical rock that grants wishes and this guy Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal aka The Mandalorian) who wants it, and also how making wishes affects both Wonder Woman and her gal pal Barbara (Kristen Wiig). 

The former's wish brings back Chris Pine's Steve Trevor, the latter's turn her into her own superpowered being and eventually the villain called Cheetah.

Okay. It's just not that compelling. It feels very slight and sloppy. The stakes just aren't there.

Lord is a pretty weak villain. He is blatantly modeled after Trump. A two bit TV star and so-called businessman with megalomaniacal tendencies, a short fuse, and a stupid hairdo. But he isn't threatening or interesting. He's just a ninny, a whiner, and the film really has to convolute itself to explain why he isn't easily dispatched.

Wiig is much better. Her character motivations are a little strange, but Wiig makes her goofy and likable early and at least imposing later on. I wasn't sure about the casting choice but it's a risk that pays off.

Probably my biggest issue is that there is maybe 1 actual action sequence in the first 90 minutes. I don't need wall to wall action, but come on. Then the last act gets a lot more action heavy.

I also didn't like that, with the way the plot unfolds, this is one of those superhero movies that doesn't even have their superhero BE a superhero for a good chunk of the movie.

Gal Gadot is still a gem. I don't mean this as an insult, but she is like the female Arnold Schwarzenegger. Neither are tremendous actors, but they have such a great presence and star quality.

WW84 is not a bad movie  It's just a messy one that comes in with great expectations and falls short.