Wonder Woman 1984
Now that the dry, mandatory origin story is out of the way, the Wonder Woman team can have some fun — and what better time to let loose than the ’80s?
Piggybacking on the nostalgic charms of Stranger Things and other recent works set during the Reagan era, Wonder Woman 1984 improves on its safe, overrated predecessor with a goofy, entertaining adventure that smartly critiques the setting’s “Me First” mindset at a time when its greedy values are experiencing a dangerous resurgence.
Director/co-writer Patty Jenkins also impressively ups her action filmmaking game, opening with a rip-roaring flashback on the all-female island nation of Themyscira, in which a preteen Diana (Lilly Aspell) competes in a fierce competition against adult Amazons and gets a foreshadowing earful from her warrior aunt Antiope (Robin Wright) about the vital nature of truth.
Fortified by improved special effects, the elevated excitement holds steady in 1984 Washington, D.C., with adult Diana (Gal Gadot) leaping around like a badass, sequined gazelle and foiling automobile accidents and small-time crooks. Thanks to the film’s refreshingly intentional writing, the failed heist leads to various antiquities falling to Diana in her archaeology work at the Smithsonian — including a kitschy gem that purports to grant wishes.
That the tchotchke proves true to its word — resurrecting Diana’s long-departed love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) in another man’s body and turning her new nerdy colleague Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) into her super-powered equal — gives an accurate indication of the hokey fun to come.
Pine, whose lack of comic timing and direction from Jenkins nearly sunk Wonder Woman, is a fish-out-of-water delight in WW84, atoning for those past sins with a montage in which Steve tries on his corporal host’s expansive trendy wardrobe.
Meanwhile, Wiig pulls off frizzy insecurity and product-aided sexy confidence with equal aplomb, but Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) is less successful as antagonist Maxwell Lord, a failed oil tycoon who exploits the jewel for motivations that remain murky until they’re spelled out in the final minutes.
Though the full extent of the totem’s positive and negative powers remain fairly sketchy, the thrilling set pieces that arise as Diana and Steve attempt to stop Maxwell from unintentionally destroying civilization largely compensate for the wobbly mythology.
The humanistic values that Jenkins & Co. bestow upon viewers also mostly land as intended — albeit some in after school special fashion — but when even an initially awkward climactic monologue winds up being more than it seems, it’s clear that WW84 is smarter than the average DCEU film.
Grade: B. Rated PG-13. Starts Dec. 25 at AMC River Hills 10 and the Carolina Cinemark, when it’s also available to stream via HBO Max
(Photo: Warner Bros.)
