Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman 1984 follows the return of Diana (Gal Gadot) who has been living among humanity for many years since the end of World War I. And now in the year of 1984, during the Cold War, Diana rises up against a new threat in the form of two individuals: a mysterious business man named Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) and a friend-turned enemy Barbara Ann Minerva aka Cheetah (Kristen Wiig), and a powerful artifact in their possession that grants wishes, but at a cost. Her new adventure soon leads her to reunite with her presumed dead lover, Steve Trevor, and both of them must work together to prevent total calamity.
Right from the first few trailers I could tell that Patty Jenkins was taking the character and the film itself to a whole new level, with heavily comic book and 80s inspired action that is big and unrestricted. Most people thought it was ridiculous and goofy, but for me, I’m actually glad that Patty Jenkins was able to have more creative control and create what seemed to be a wild ride. I didn’t want something restricted and safe, I wanted this to go all out with whatever it had in store. And guess what… it did… it bloody did.
Patty Jenkins delivered a spectacular sequel that was well worth the long wait. It was never boring from start to finish, and gave me a truly heartfelt and fun story, just like I was hoping for. It’s on a much bigger scale than its predecessor, with much larger stakes, greater emotional weight, and highly stylized to fit the new setting.
And the best part is that, similar to the first film, it doesn’t resort to any cliches or the usual problems of ambitious sequels. This is not a rehash of the original whatsoever, and from the start dives straight into the action. While the first film had a darker tone and setting, this certainly has a much more lighthearted and fun tone to match the 80s setting, yet still retains the core aspects of what made the character so great in the first film, and expand upon her as well as other characters .
Gal Gadot delivers a smashing performance once again as Diana. She felt much more fleshed out this time around, and it seemed like she had much more freedom in this film compared to the previous one, thanks to Patty Jenkins’ direction and the new tone.
But despite having evolved over the years and still being a very strong warrior, she still has flaws and can still be tempted by her own desires. She remains a flawed individual in a certain way and I’m majorly happy with how consistent she is in her own movies. It really allows people to connect with her a lot more, which is always important to have for your lead character. And there were a lot more emotionally heavy scenes in this film, which Gal Gadot perfectly nails down, truly embracing this character, and wow did she really tug at the heart strings in certain places.
Just like the last movie, the world around the characters are also fleshed out, and you actually care about everything and everyone. From smaller moments to big epic moments you have emotional investment into all that is going on.
Steve Trevor, reprised by Chris Pine, is still lovable, and he goes through his own journey in this film that you feel invested in and enjoy. But most importantly, his return doesn’t ruin the impact of his sacrifice in the first film, and the reasoning behind his return also makes sense and isn’t the result of lazy writing. It was a huge risk bringing him back but I think it pays off really well with what Jenkins did with him and how she did it. Also they do pull off a reverse fish out of water thread with him that is fun and similar to the first film, which they don’t stay on too much, therefore avoiding the cliches of that typical plot thread. And once again the romance between him and Diana is handled quite effectively and a bit more evolved now than in the last movie.
Even the villains of this story are characters you actually get invested in, and believe their motivations, due to how explored they are. They aren’t 2-dimensional baddies, which is a seriously significant upgrade over Ares, who ended up becoming a video game villain by the end of the first film.
Pedro Pascal steals the spotlight as Maxwell Lord, giving us a very layered, charming and emotionally driven performance for what easily could have been a cliche evil man in a business suit. He was almost unrecognizable here and he delivers such a dedicated performance that had me hooked. He is somewhat of a relevant villain that ends up actually having surprising motivations that I wasn’t expecting at all. Upon first glance the character could have easily been the most plain throwaway foil, but thankfully he wasn’t, and he may be one of my top villains in the DCEU.
Kristen Wiig also stole the spotlight but in a rather different way. Now for me she’s always been great actress, but there was certainly a lot of pressure on her to become what many consider the biggest archenemy of Wonder Woman, and there was a lot of concern about how she would be portrayed. It looked as if she was going to play another “good person who’s friends with hero turned evil” type role, which in a lot of films hasn’t always been done well. But once again Patty Jenkins proved otherwise, delivering us a solid character with understandable motivations and desires that eventually bring her into conflict with our hero.
It didn’t feel cheesy or lazily put together, and to top it all off Kristen Wiig delivered a seriously awesome performance. She wasn’t an elephant in the room, she felt right at home in this movie, and her dynamic with Gal Gadot was perfect. Even when you know what eventually happens to her, and you see her progressively change physically and mentally, you can’t help but feel sorry for her as she takes this dark turn after being poisoned by greed and lured by power.
And as for when she takes on the form of Cheetah, it actually looks great and terrifying in a good way, unlike what happened with Cats in 2019, which was absolutely hideous. The one on one fight the two have, with Diana donning the badass eagle armor and Barbara in her ferocious form, makes for a really personal, intimate and iconic rivalry moment that feels like it was taken straight out of a comic book. If I have one small criticism to say about the fight I say that it was kinda dark and hard to see at times, and I would have preferred some more light, but that’s pretty much it.
This film dives into more themes and messages compared to the first, covering new ground rather than rehashing things like other sequels would do. Some of them are simple, yet feel relevant and fresh. The biggest among the themes presented is being careful what you wish for. Again, this is a theme that has been explored many times over in other films, but Patty Jenkins was able to explore it in a new refreshing take. There is always a consequence to any desire, and the severeness of those consequences will bite back with a vengeance. This is a theme that affects both the heroes and villains in major ways and shows that neither of them are safe from the consequences of their own desires.
Even in the more vibrant and exhilarating setting of the 80s, the film still retains some serious elements. But even when it does tackle serious themes it does also has the theme of hope and optimism, which is something really needed currently, and I love just how relevant and heartfelt it is in certain ways.
The film takes full advantage of its setting, offering an absolute blast without solely relying on pop culture references, and manages to keep you invested both visually and narratively. Similar to Thor Ragnarok, Wonder Woman 1984 isn’t afraid to embrace its comic book roots with its humorous and sometimes goofy action in the best way possible. There’s even some homages to Richard Donner’s first two Superman films, which I didn’t expect, but I welcomed with open arms. I know it probably might not be appealing to everyone but I enjoy it a lot. And speaking about the action, it is totally kickass in this film, where Diana gets to utilize a lot more power and skills than in the first film, and it ends up being really entertaining and thrilling. It all looked so damn good I just couldn’t stop smiling.
There did seem to be a bit more focus on drama than action in this one, but it didn’t kill the pacing for me and I felt both were really well done. The drama went hand in hand with the action, making the sequences much more personal and invested for the characters and viewers.
The cinematography was excellent, and combined with the visuals, made this perhaps one of most eye pleasing movies of the DCEU so far. The effects and CGI have massively improved since the last film and it never dipped in quality throughout, which I was really glad to see.
And probably one of favorite visual sequences was seeing the fireworks jet scene and then Diana swinging on lightning bolts with her lasso, which truly was as fucking awesome as the trailers promised. It wasn’t silly or dumb, it was badass and fun. If you really don’t like things like that, or can’t accept them, then you probably won’t like this movie or at least some parts of it.
Now about that score by Hans Zimmer. Holy shit, this one is probably one of the best scores I’ve ever listened to from Zimmer in a really long time. It’s inspiring, exhilarating and it completely elevated the whole film in many ways that got me so emotional and pumped up. Seriously incredible incredible work.
Wonder Woman 1984 really is a fantastic and proper sequel that gives us just the sort of escapism we need, not just now but pretty much at any time. I loved everything in it from start to finish and it didn’t disappoint me in any way. It went beyond expectations and it didn’t hold back from going all out. And the fact it was so emotionally gripping in so many areas really surprised me. My only criticism I can say is the length of the movie, but other than that I really loved this. When you have a truly creative artist behind the wheel of a comic book film and that artist isn’t restricted by corporate greed, they can develop something truly masterful like this. Whether you plan to watch it in a theater or from the safety of your home, you are guaranteed a good time. I’m going to give Wonder Woman 1984 an A.
You can find more of my writing on instagram!