Well, my fellow nerds, are we tired of retro throwback media yet? I will admit, although I should be, I’m not quite there yet. It probably has something to do with the current year being so…bleh. I mean, right now, who wouldn’t want to go back to a time that we could freely go out and hang out with friends and watch a superhero movie? I’m sure even some of the most critical of you would watch the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern if it meant you got to go out and watch something…anything. Because of everything going on in the world right now, the film industry has been hit with delay after delay. This movie was originally going to be released on June 5th, but got pushed back. Thankfully, Warner Bros has made it so they won’t be delaying any more films and releasing everything both in theaters and on HBO Max. While we benefit from this, it is most unfortunate for the filmmakers and actors, as it has cost them quite a bit in backend residuals. One of the first anticipated films that will come of this is Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel to my favorite DC film in the past decade.
After a lovely flashback to Diana’s childhood in Themyscira, we are thrown right into the glory of the early 1980’s. Diana (Gal Gadot) has long since settled into her life in the outside world as an art historian at the Smithsonian institute. Much like the first film, she is naturally gifted in everything she does whether it be her mundane human job, saving the day as her superhero alter-ego, or even gaining the (unwanted) attention of everyone around her. Unfortunately her new work colleague, Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig) is not so fortunate as she is painfully awkward and mostly ignored by everyone. When the Smithsonian acquires a mysterious ancient gem that can seemingly grant a single wish of whomever holds it, both women are granted what they desire most. Unfortunately, the gem was already targeted by failed oil baron and commercial personality Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), whose greatest wish is to become the gem itself. Now Diana must deal with the chaos created by Lord’s ambition to grant everyone on Earth’s wish while trying to achieve ultimate power for himself.
If that sounds like a lot of plot description, well, its a LOT of movie to go through. Director Patty Jenkins recently lamented over the seemingly rushed third act of the first Wonder Woman film. This time, with a running time of 2 hours 31 minutes, she should definitely have been able to develop the plot as much as she wanted to. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if it resulted in a good film. Instead of really developing the plot better, much of the extra length felt like it was artificially expanding the plot for no real benefit, much like a pair of 1980’s shoulder pads. At the same time some aspects are not explained enough such as the mechanics of the wishing gem, or the ultimate fate of Minerva (which IS important if you are a fan of the comics.) While this film is pretty good at something I call “letting emotions breathe”, it leaves out simple superhero mechanics such as how Diana can go from normal clothes to her full Wonder Woman regalia in a matter of seconds. Even Superman needs to be shown running off and changing from time to time.
Retro throwbacks have been the rage for a few years now, and while Wonder Woman 1984 is certainly capitalizing on this trend, it does so in a way that feels different than most. Instead of going “Hey! Remember this music/movie/video game?”, this move more shouts to the audience “Hey! Remember what superhero films were like in the 80’s and early 90’s?” Despite the modern visual effects and the pretty costumes, I really did feel like I was watching a superhero film from 30-40 years ago. This was an era in which the villains were entertainingly hammy instead of menacing, the heroes were less brooding and more confident in their identities, and the audience is expected just to believe every magical element presented to them rather than have it explained logically. Wonder Woman 1984 really hits all of these checkmarks. One of my favorite parts is Pedro Pascal’s larger than life portrayal of Maxwell Lord. Honestly, I do miss the more humanly flawed villains like him. Also, it may not suit our modern sensibilities, but I actually kind of appreciate how “perfect” Diana is as a character. I know its practically a sin these days to make someone verge that close to a “Mary Sue”, but if anyone should be that awesome, why not have it be Wonder Woman?
While I was pleased with Wonder Woman 1984 being an accurate retro throwback film without being patronizing, it committed just a few too many sins by modern movie standards for me to find it wonderful. Still, despite its flaws and overly long runtime, it remained an entertaining movie throughout. I would even say that it would have definitely been worth checking out in theaters if it were safe to do so. I can’t say it alone is worth paying for a streaming service, but it certainly is worth a watch if you were going to pay for the service anyway.
