3 years after the success of 2017's Wonder Woman, our Amazon warrior princess returns to the big screen with Gal Gadot reprising her role as the titular heroine in Wonder Woman 1984. With the film taking place 66 years after the events of its prequel, Wonder Woman faces new threats caused by an ancient artifact that grants people wishes, albeit with a sick twist in the process. As she journeys through the film, she gains even more understanding on what it means to be a hero and the sacrifices one has to make in the process. Let's dive in.
REVIEW (SPOILER ALERT)
Introduction: While the first film followed Diana's first venture into man's world back in World War I, the sequel instead focuses on her continuing heroic adventures while grieving for her deceased lover Steve Trevor (played by Chris Pine). By this point, she's a veteran superheroine, saving people from danger and stopping crimes, all while trying to keep her secret identity. While the scale of her activities is fairly small, things are about to get out of hand very fast, as the Dreamstone, an ancient mystical artifact that grants the wish of whoever touches it, ends up in the wrong hands. This is the general gist of the film and Diana must work to prevent things from getting any worse, with the help of some unlikely allies as well as having to fight against new foes.
Film vs comics: The screenwriters have taken liberties in adapting the Dreamstone from the source material. In the comics, it's a powerful weapon created and used by supervillain Doctor Destiny to challenge the Justice League while in the film, it's an ancient artifact created by the Duke of Deception. What is similar though, is that both versions of the stone allow the wielder to bring dreams (or in the film's case wishes) into reality, functionally warping the very fabric of reality.
Another big difference is in the film's two antagonists, Maxwell Lord (played by Pedro Pascal) and Barbara Minerva aka Wonder Woman's archenemy Cheetah (played by Kristen Wiig). In the comics, Lord is the metahuman son of a successful American businessman and was the former leader of Checkmate, a global peacekeeping organisation that oftentimes uses questionable methods to achieve its goals. He's traditionally a Justice League villain but has treaded the fine line between heroism and villainy many times, even having been part of the Justice League's staff at one point. In the film, Lord isn't his real surname, having changed it from his original Mexican one of Lorenzano. The film also paints him as a struggling businessman who's trying to keep his oil business afloat while taking care of his son Alistair (who replaces his daughter from the comics). Embittered by his abusive childhood and having been constantly looked down on by others for being poor, a Dreamstone-empowered Lord now has the power to take whatever he wants from anyone.
In the comics Maxwell Lord is a powerful telepath, able to override a person's will through mind control, even Superman's. Initially, his powers revolved around persuasion, which allowed him to influence others but not make his will absolute. In the film, Lord is instead the living embodiment of the Dreamstone, which allows him to grant others wishes upon making contact with them and also allows him to take whatever he desires from them. He was able to do this without limit, allowing him to grant wishes on a global scale and sending the world into chaos. Before gaining this power, the completely human Lord was already naturally very persuasive, having goaded Barbara into giving him the Dreamstone, so that was a nice nod to the character's comic book iteration. One thing the film decided to adapt directly from his comic counterpart is the weakness that comes with his powers. Whenever Lord overuses his powers, he will get nosebleeds and in severe cases, bleeding from other facial orifices. This is also present in the film, with the Dreamstone's powers taking a toll on Lord's ailing body, although he fixes this problem by taking away other's health.
As for the character of Cheetah, in the comics Barbara Minerva was transformed into her cheetah form and granted powers by an ancient plant god whereas in the film, she's first given superhuman physical attributes rivaling a weakened Wonder Woman before finally being turned into her cheetah form by Maxwell Lord, who grants her wish of becoming an apex predator unlike any human. Interestingly, cheetahs aren't actually apex predators, unlike other big cats like lions or jaguars so, yeah guess Lord doesn't know his ecology. Both in the comics and film, Barbara starts out as Diana's friend and eventually turns on her. In the comics, she feels betrayed by Diana, who she thinks abandoned her while in the film, we see that she joins forces with Lord, protecting him from Diana so that she doesn't lose the benefits granted by the Dreamstone, even if it's at the expense of the world.
Pros: The best part of this film (and also the prequel actually) is by far and away Wonder Woman's theme. The goosebump-inducing masterpiece of a soundtrack composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams, which samples Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's composition from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is truly amazing. Let me tell you, when that theme first played in this film, I was so hyped. I'm no professional musician but there's just something about that soundtrack that's just so awesome. It really gets the blood pumping and it'll definitely go down in history as one of the greatest superhero soundtracks of all time.
Apart from that, there're a lot of things to like about this film. It's super fun and entertaining to watch, and most importantly, it doesn't get bogged down by any worldbuilding. First off, the performances by Gal Gadot and Chris Pine are superb. Just like in the prequel, their chemistry is sizzling and even though it's not really Steve Trevor in front of Diana, you can feel every ounce of emotion and love pouring off her when she looks at him. It's funny how in the first film it was Steve who was showing Diana the way around man's world but this time, she's the one who's bringing him around the world of 1984, where he's quite literally a man out of time. This leads to some funny moments, such as our hero not understanding the fashion of the era or trying to use an exercise bike to actually cycle to Diana and of course, who can forget the scene that made everyone laugh in the trailers, where Steve thinks that a regular trashcan is an art piece. These interactions are very cute and really "sell" the couple, making the film that much more enjoyable. This amazing chemistry is also the reason why it hurts so much more to see Diana make the tough call and lose Steve again.
I also like the idea of the "truth vs lies" aspect of the film. Being a heroine empowered by truth, Diana has always fought for that and that was a big part of the previous film, where she becomes disillusioned with man's world because of the war. So in Wonder Woman 1984, it's interesting to see that because she's bought into the concept of lies by wishing for Steve to come back, she starts to lose her powers, having drifted away from the truth. The screenwriters did a good job of weaving that idea into the film and it makes Wonder Woman just slightly more relatable to viewers because even with all her powers, her humanity shines through. She doesn't want to lose Steve, not after decades of yearning for her lost lover but in order to save the world, she makes the sacrifice and gives him up once again. The superhero business never gets easier, even if Diana's a veteran, and they have to constantly sacrifice their personal happiness for the greater good. That selflessness is something that we've come to associate with Wonder Woman and this part of her is brought across faithfully in this film.
I mentioned earlier that there're some changes from the source material in terms of the antagonists' origins and I think that's it's actually a good call on the screenwriters' part. For starters, Maxwell Lord's character would end up being too tied up in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)'s worldbuilding because of how deeply his comic origin is linked to the Justice League and even to some extent the Suicide Squad. So having his film origin be that of a rags-to-riches businessman who just wants the best for his son would allow moviegoers to enjoy his character a lot more, especially because it's potentially quite relatable to many. As for Cheetah, it's definitely better not to go with her comic origin because that's way too messy and there's just not enough time to develop that, so truncating the core elements of Cheetah's backstory into the short time we have was the best we could get. These changes from the source material aren't bad at all and instead add a lot more depth to the character without confusing viewers.
Cons: Unfortunately, Wonder Woman 1984 isn't without its flaws. As much as I enjoyed this film, I liked the previous one a lot more. The biggest reason for this is the lack of Wonder Woman herself in the film. Personally, I think this is in huge part to the story that director Patty Jenkins wanted to present, being more about Diana coming to terms with being a hero and losing Steve as compared to her heroic adventures. That's why we get so many scenes of our heroine as alter ego Diana Prince as compared to as Wonder Woman. It's a shame though because it would've been really nice to see more of the dynamic action scenes that we got in Wonder Woman because they were grand works of cinematography and really showcased the power of Diana on screen. Of course, throughout most of this film she ends up being depowered as we go along so I can understand why the action scenes are few and far between.
I also wish we got more Cheetah. To be completely honest, I expected this to happen but we didn't get many scenes of Barbara in her cheetah form, probably because it wasn't the main idea that Jenkins was trying to push but maybe also for budget reasons. This then makes it an even bigger shame that the scenes with Cheetah are shot in very low light and are also one of the few action scenes in the film. This makes it very hard to focus on Cheetah herself and it's a little disappointing because being the first time we see a live-action Cheetah, it would've been nice to get more close-ups. It's also a shame that she gives up her powers at the end of the film. Being Wonder Woman's archenemy, Cheetah has a lot of potential for future films, especially if we get the Legion of Doom in future. However, she's functionally useless now. The only thing I can think of is her resenting Diana for taking away her short moment of glory and so eventually she gains back her cheetah powers through other means, deciding to hunt down the Amazon. I doubt they'll go this route, especially with the tone of the DCEU going forth but it's fun to think about.
In the same vein, I'm also a little disappointed that we didn't get a more conclusive end to Maxwell Lord (and Cheetah as well). Lord is a fairly big DC villain and he could tie in to a lot of the DCEU, especially Suicide Squad because in the comics, Checkmate is very closely related to that ragtag team of antiheroes. Unfortunately, he also gives up his powers at the end of the film for the heartwarming reason of saving his son. Again, that fits the idea that Jenkins was pushing forward but I do wish we had seen what happened to his relationship with his son after. It would've been nice to see him find his footing again and start afresh. It's a shame that we won't see more of this great villain but in the grand scheme of things, it was necessary for him to disappear.
Miscellaneous/little touches: I wasn't sure what to call this segment so I'll just talk about some Easter eggs and references to other films. Wonder Woman 1984 is the first DCEU film to be a direct sequel to another and I think that says a lot about the star power of the character. In the first film, we met Steve Trevor's feisty secretary Etta Candy, who in the comics is Wonder Woman's close friend. Of course, she's long dead in this film but we do we see a photo of Diana with a much older Etta, with the former having not aged a day. There's some other pieces of the past in Diana's apartment, such as Steve's watch and some other newspaper clippings and photos of their gang's WW1 adventures.
Other characters from the comics were also part of this film as small references. One of them is Simon Stagg (played by Oliver Cotton), depicted in the film is one of Maxwell Lord's investors who gets arrested for tax evasion after Lord wishes for him to disappear. In the comics, Stagg is an integral part of the superhero Metamorpho's origins, being the indirect cause of his transformation. I doubt that we'll see Metamorpho in the films so soon so yeah, it's just as interesting tidbit for comic fans who recognised Stagg. Our other small character reference was with the Duke of Deception, who's referred to in the film as Dolos, the god of treachery and mischief. In the comics, he's Ares' most trusted disciple, a demigod of deceit and manipulation with illusion casting abilities. He's a pretty small Wonder Woman villain and probably won't have a future appearance in the DCEU.
One of the cooler references in the film was the introduction of Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane. In older comics, Wonder Woman couldn't always fly so she had to use her Invisible Plane to get around, which was made invisible through Amazon science (however that works). In the film, we see that Diana hasn't learnt how to fly, resorting to using her Lasso of Truth like a grappling hook, jumping really far or sitting in a fighter jet piloted by Steve. When they steal from a jet from the Smithsonian and are on the run from security, Diana uses some magic she learnt from her father Zeus to cloak the jet with invisibility. I definitely wasn't expecting something as cheesy as the Invisible Plane to appear in the DCEU but it's a nice little nod to the comics and it elicited a chuckle from me when it actually happened.
Another interesting reference was the Golden Eagle armour that Diana dons in the final battle against Cheetah. The trailers already made it known to us that this was going to be a thing in the film but interestingly, this armour was also present in the comics as Gold Armor gifted to Diana by fellow Amazon Pallas and was used by the heroine when she had to go against powerful villains. In the film, the armour was described as having been worn by the great Amazon warrior Asteria (more on her later), who supposedly sacrificed herself to protect her fellow Amazons from the attacks of men, allowing them to escape to Themyscira. The film shows us that the armour was capable of withstanding the blows of ordinary weapons forged by man so it's a nice detail to see that it's unable to fully protect Diana from Cheetah's attacks, which slowly wear down the armour and tear it apart. Clearly, the mystic nature of Cheetah's powers are enough to counter the armour's defenses.
Now we get to the craziest and most jaw-dropping Easter egg in the film. In the mid-credits scene (yes there's only one post-credit scene don't bother waiting for a second), we see someone who looks like Diana, clad in a blue cloak walking through a Christmas market. In a display of superhuman strength, she stops a lamppost from falling over and saves some children before carrying on her way but a woman stops and asks for her name. Honestly, I was just expecting to see Gal Gadot's face so my mind was completely blown when lo and behold, the mysterious woman is revealed to be none other than Lynda Carter herself. Lynda freaking Carter aka the original Wonder Woman from the '70s live-action TV series. As it would turn out, she's made an awesome cameo as Asteria, the Amazon warrior I mentioned in the previous paragraph. I guess she didn't really sacrifice herself and has been living in man's world ever since then. Asteria then says the line that Diana did when trying to hide her superhuman prowess and I thought it was really cute and funny to have this scene in the film. I like that DC isn't bothering to make the mid-credits super important or integral to the future of the DCEU and it's just a nice little tidbit we get at the end, it's very refreshing.
Just on a side-note, Asteria doesn't have much presence in the comics, having only appeared/been mentioned twice. In an Elseworlds story, Asteria is part of another universe's Justice Society and while we don't get any information about her backstory/origin, she's probably the Wonder Woman equivalent based on her physique. The other mention of her is in a more recent comic, where Diana reveals that Asteria was "an ancient sister who fought against the gods", which is a little more similar to what we got in the film. Anyway, it's a nice little thing that was put into the film.
The last thing I'll touch on in this segment is Wonder Woman learning how to fly. While Diana is gifted the ability of flight by the Olympian Gods in the comics, in the film she only figures out how to fly while grieving after losing Steve a second time. While soaring through the sky, she remembers what Steve told her earlier about "riding the wind" and just like that, she masters flight. It's such a mind-boggling thing and it feels a little forced in just for the sake of getting her to fly but it's really more of a metaphor for Diana coming to terms with her life as as hero and the sacrifices she has to make.
The future of the DCEU: The interesting thing about Wonder Woman 1984 is that you don't need to watch any other DCEU film to understand what's going on. You'll be able to get the gist of it even if you didn't watch Wonder Woman. I appreciate that aspect very much and it further solidifies the direction that the DCEU has decided to go with. Unlike the rival MCU, which took its time to build up years and years of stories before finally creating its proper shared universe, the DCEU really jumped the gun by forcing a lot of connectivity down viewers' throats and that left a sour taste in many people's mouths. This is why I mentioned the problem with worldbuilding in previous paragraphs. Because they were so focused on building the universe as quickly as possible, they lost the chance to tell great stories. With the failure that was Justice League, it was evident that the DCEU needed to go in a different direction because the shared universe idea wasn't working as well for them as it did for the MCU because of a lack of buildup.
This is why I'm generally quite happy with most DCEU films post-Justice League because they're not super steeped in continuity. While they do exist in the same universe, they're no longer so focused on connecting to one another, instead the individual directors and screenwriters can focus on just crafting great stories and allowing viewers to enjoy seeing their favourite characters on screen. This is something that's especially prevalent in Wonder Woman 1984 because honestly, if you took this film out of the equation, nothing would be affected in the DCEU and that's ok because this film was thoroughly enjoyable and very entertaining to watch. Rather than worry about connecting to other films, Jenkins could just focus on the story she wanted to tell, which was more about Diana and her struggles as a heroine. I do think that this is a formula that works and if we carry on this trend, the DCEU could see a huge boom in success.
There's also an unnamed Wonder Woman 1984 sequel already in the works as well as a spin-off for The Amazons, which will take place after the events of the first two Wonder Woman films but preceding the third. There's a lot of potential with the Amazons of Themyscira and we could potentially delve into more of the Olympian Gods mythos, maybe even bringing in Wonder Woman's father Zeus (who we got a little bit of in Justice League). We've already seen Ares in the first film and we know that Zeus plays some role in Shazam! so The Amazons could tie-in to a lot of the DCEU. Even if they don't continue with worldbuilding, it's still a project that could expand a lot on Wonder Woman's backstory training with the other warriors and whatnot.
Final thoughts: With COVID-19 having delayed this film's release for more than 6 months, fans are no doubt excited to see the return of the world's most popular superheroine to the big screen. This film had big shoes to fill, especially because most people (myself included) consider Wonder Woman to be the DCEU's best film. With the weight of an entire cinematic universe resting on her shoulders, Gal Gadot had to deliver an astounding performance as Diana Prince, our Wonder Woman, and she certainly did. Long story short, after the underwhelming experience that was Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984 is the DCEU's return to form. It's entertaining to watch and doesn't get bogged down by any worldbuilding. While I didn't like it as much as the first film, I think it was a good call on Patty Jenkins' part to focus more on Diana's character development as a hero rather than on her fights with villains. Don't worry about what the DCEU has to offer in the future, just treat this film as the journey of the world's greatest superheroine and I guarantee you, you'll be sure to enjoy it as much as I did.
I give Wonder Woman 1984 a solid 8/10. Thanks for reading.
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