Review - Wonder Woman 1984

Wonder Woman 1984 is not, as the title implies, the 1,984th film in the Wonder Woman franchise. Instead, it's the sequel to that film a few years ago everyone loved called Wonder Woman, except instead of being set during World War 1, this film is set in (get this) 1984. Diana, being the seemingly ageless being she is, has continued living since that war, doing her best to help humanity and currently working at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington. However, this peace is disrupted when a mysterious magical mcguffin turns up, which has the power to grant the wish of whoever touches it. As you would expect, there are exactly no terrible consequences to it, but heroes and villains alike are using it to make their wildest dreams come true. It's hardly earth shaking stuff, but importantly, it doesn't have to be. This is a disposable blockbuster and in a year when disposable blockbusters have been so absent, I needed something as well plotted as this. Its plot is predictable, but the structure is rock solid and you'll be happy to go along for the ride whether you worked out what's coming or not.

There's a decent little quartet of performances at the heart of Wonder Woman as well as a tightly plotted story. Leading the way is the titular woman herself, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of her, but she fits this role well. Actually, she fits Wonder Woman well. As a super hero who inspires wonder and awe in all who see her, she's excellent, but I never really gelled with her as Diana Prince. Every time she was out of her costume, I was waiting for her to stop attempting to deliver comedy and start beating people up again. Diana is still mourning the loss of her partner Steve Trevor, who turns up again for reasons you'll have already worked out. Steve is played by Chris Pine and man, Pine is an actor who never misses. He is full of charisma at every turn, but he's importantly also able to deal the emotional moments when they come up. Though I feared the worst when I found out Steve Trevor was returning, his return is handled appropriately and Pine walks the thin tightrope of his character with what seems like total ease.

Making a big step into the world of blockbusters, we find Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva, most famous for her time on Saturday Night Live, though she has done serious roles before in films I haven't seen. With that said, I don't know what role she really has in the film. There's comedic moments at the start, which slowly morph into more serious and dramatic moments as she settles into her role as a villain. I liked Wiig most as a villain, because she commits impressively hard to it, though weirdly her comedic elements were all frustrating. As a comedian, her moments of clear improv were overshadowed by five seconds of screen time from British comedian Asim Chaudhry. However, the absolute king in this film is Pedro Pascal. I know people are loving him at the moment for The Mandalorian (we won't touch this subject, my feelings on Star Wars are well known) but with this radically different villain role, he is getting to have the time of his life. As delusional business man/con artist Maxwell Lord, Pascal is basically playing Donald Trump. It's never too wink wink nudge nudge, but it's just enough to be satisfying and so much fun. He goes on a hell of a journey throughout the film, having to deliver wildly different levels of sincerity and I loved every second of it. Every time Pascal appeared on screen, I got excited, because I knew I was guaranteed to enjoy the upcoming scene. And every time, I did. This would be a good film without Pedro Pascal, but his presence elevates every single moment of screen time he is given.

Not to get too film student-y, but I'd like to talk about the themes of this film now. See, I enjoyed the 2017 Wonder Woman fine enough, but was very frustrated by its ending. It felt like the film was trying to make a point about the evil at the heart of humanity, which it suddenly abandoned in the last twenty minutes to have a massive CGI fight that I had no emotional connection to. WW84 isn't so radical as to completely abandon massive CGI action scenes, but it feels like they take up less time than in the first film and are pretty much all grounded in some sort of tactility. It also doubles down on the "change is inside us" message of the first film, refusing to abandon that within the third act. Like I said earlier, the plot isn't some kind of masterpiece, but everything that is put in is given some kind of payoff. Writing any story for a hero as powerful as Wonder Woman is difficult because their power is totally unrelatable, yet she is forced to make decisions that we, as mere mortals, do understand. They nail this emotional core so well that, despite my best intentions, I found myself tearing up and full on bawling at one point. Emotionally, this film works and it works damn well.

I'm also a really big fan of the eighties setting, particularly how it doesn't just feel like this setting was chosen to cash in on the current boom of nostalgia we've been having. Sure, if you're going to pick a period setting, the eighties are probably the easiest to market, but there's a great thematic purpose for it. This was an era embodied by fictional figures like Gordon Gecko and Patrick Bateman, who tried to fleece the world into thinking that greed is good. Want and desire power all characters, good or bad, in this film, so this backdrop of greed is incredibly effective. Our relationship with history is also important to the eighties and WW84, what with this being a time that was itself nostalgic for the fifties (think of works like Back to the Future and It and you see these cycles of nostalgia clearly). Diana is reflecting on her time in the war, her life growing up and what she wants to do next. This moment is a huge turning point for Western civilisation, so it feels like the perfect spot for her to start considering what she wants the future to be. With that said, I'm not 100% comfortable with the politics of the film. The US president is just referred to as "The President", when this is a time when we all know Reagan was president, plus a message about not wanting more and being comfortable with what you have feels... I dunno, it feels off coming from a giant corporation. I don't disagree with the message, I just question the validity of where it's coming from and I'm sure far smarter people than me will be able to break this down in depth over the next few months.

Despite reservations going in, Wonder Woman 1984 was exactly what I hoped it would be; a big, obvious blockbuster with its heart on its sleeve. The moments where it goes for subtltly drag the rest of the film down, but when it aims for huge emotions like delight, despair and (I'm so sorry) wonder, it hits the very large nail on the head. I have missed big obvious blockbusters and quite frankly this Christmas (if you're able to), WW84 feels like the big obvious blockbuster to share with your family. That's why I'm giving it an