Wonder Woman 1984

Like the countless movies and TV shows before, “Wonder Woman” knows exactly what it needs for everyone to enjoy it: Taking place in the 80s.

Johnny Oleksinski mentioned in his review, “The clothes! The hair! The personalities! Wham! Compared to our bland, monochromic decade, the ’80s were the Land of Oz. And a wallop of flair is just what this DC hero franchise desperately needed.”

The first film took place during a time in human history that isn’t really looked at: World War I. A plagued Wonder Woman went to the trenches and dealt with a straight hour of smoke and soot. Squint and you possibly can see the protagonist.

Oleksinski said, ““Wonder Woman 1984,” by contrast, is visually dazzling with kaleidoscopic color and buoyant action sequences. The plot, thank Ares, is no longer so self-serious, even if it is a bit knotty.”

Oleksinski continued, “Amazonian Princess Diana (Gal Gadot), who does not age, still looks catwalk-ready in her new life as a Smithsonian scientist in 1984 Washington, DC.” She looks at rare artifacts there, and is surprised to see an ancient wishing stone with Latin words arriving at the museum.

Not realizing how powerful the object can be, she wishes that her late boyfriend Steven Trevor, reprised by Chris Pine, would come back to life. He does! Her shy colleague Barbara, played by Kristen Wiig, asks the stone if she can be more like Diana. Oleksinski noted, “Considering Gadot is a former dancer turned Miss Israel turned combat trainer turned Hollywood A-lister, I can hardly see why.”

Then a loser named Max Lord, played by Pedro Pascal, steals the rock. Oleksinski mentioned, “He’s a failed businessman and TV personality who’s attempting to make a buck by hawking “oil-rich” plots of land that actually contain no oil. He wishes to become the wishing stone itself, thus turning him into a sinister genie crazy on world domination. Pascal makes Lord into an unhinged psycho who could’ve been a bad guy on “Dallas.””

Oleksinski noted, “By the way, it’s nice to see the talented Pascal take off his “Mandalorian” helmet for a couple of hours. That thing must be getting stinky.”

After Barbara makes her wish, she changes into Cheetah, a friend of Diana’s who later becomes her enemy. Oleksinski noted, “It’s some of Wiig’s best film acting since “Bridesmaids,” and she’s finally found a major project she easily fits into. The actress brings just enough comedy style to her bookish nobody, and finds real ferocity as a feline femme fatale.”

Oleksinski continued, “In the last film, Wiig probably would’ve stuck out like a tux in Florida, but director Patty Jenkins has embraced humor this go-around.” When Steve tries on a pair of parachute pants, he doubtfully yells, “Does everybody parachute now?!” Pine also is funny when he tries out his first escalator.

Sadly, the one problem I think will bother a lot of people is the length. Patty Jenkins doesn’t include a lot of enjoyment in the two and a half hour runtime, and the final fight is not even the best one the movie shows. Oleksinski credited, “There is a far more gripping car chase through Cairo midway through, and a Cirque du Soleil-like flashback to Diana’s Amazon training at the start of the film.”

However, Jenkins is way better than most of the men directing at the Marvel Studios currently. The best part of “Wonder Woman 1984,” released on HBO MAX yesterday, is when Diana finds out her new superpower. Gadot’s helpless look and the charming movement of the camera all over her as Hans Zimmer’s powerful score increases is amazing.

Despite the good action scenes, great acting, emotional moments, Gal Gadot killing it in the role, Chris Pine back, Wiig doing good as Cheetah, I do have some problems. For one, Gadot is not Wonder Woman for a lot of film but for a few parts, which is a surprise, considering this is a Wonder Woman sequel. Another is that Pascal is just like how Jim Carrey was in “Bruce Almighty.” I feel that maybe Jenkins could have reworked this film a little bit, but overall, this is a good sequel, even though the first one is better. Do give this a watch because this is one of the better DC movies. Since people are avoiding going to the theaters, and this was theatrically released, if you have an HBO MAX account, see it on there.

There is a surprise mid-credits scene that you need to see, since they are planning an Amazons film and a third Wonder Woman movie.

Thank you for joining in on tonight’s review. Stay tuned tomorrow to see what film I will review next in “Disney Month 2020.”