[Review] Wonder Woman 1984(2020) {6/10}

Directed by Patty Jenkins, the film stars Gal Gadot (Diana Prince/Wonder Woman), Chris Pine (Steve Trevor), Pedro Pascal (Maxwell Lord) and Kristen Wiig (Barbara Minerva/Cheetah). With a screenplay by Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham, the film premiered on December 15, 2020, via the DC FanDome virtual platform. It was theatrically released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 25, 2020, and also made available to be streamed digitally on HBO Max for a month.

The plot follows Diana Prince (Gal Gadot ) who is now a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Her new colleague/friend, shy gemologist Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), has been asked by the FBI to consult on a recovered stolen artifact: a citrine rock embedded in a base engraved with Latin words asking those who hold it to make a wish. Diana wishes for her lover Steve Trevor to comeback to life whereas Barbara wishes to be strong, confident and sexy as Diana. It quickly becomes clear that the stone really does grant wishes, because Barbara transforms into a superstrong, charming woman and Diana meets a man who seems to be Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) resurrected in a new man's body. Others see him as a new man but Diana and the audience see the old Steve. Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) borrows the stone from Barbara and goes on to become the most powerful and influential man on the planet. Diana and Steve go on a mission to find the stone and stop Max for good.

Patty Jenkins is behind the camera again, but this time without the confidence. The movie starts out good with a flashback showing young Diana participating in an amazonian olympics held in Themyscira. But the movie loses it's grip as it moves forward. Uninterestingly janky script, a mess of goofy jokes, storytelling clichés and dubious politics are the major reasons of why the movie failed to live-up to the first one. The audience will not find a single good dialogue except the last speech from Diana. There are some emotional moments but even those couldn't save the movie. Action sequences were very poorly shot and choreographed. The use of 'Beautiful Lie' track from Batman v Superman was not necessary at all as it certainly feels out of place. The remaining original score is beautifully crafted by Hans Zimmer. The movie is in the continuity of Snyderverse but it contradicts with a lot of things in her first appearance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which raises a lot of questions and plot holes. Pedro Pascal is misused as the villain Maxwell Lord. Kristen Wiig's Cheetah is wasted. Gal Gadot's performance as Diana Prince fell short in this sequel. It's given that franchises are produced to make bank, etc but the best chapters have life, personality, a reason for being and fighting. A poorly written script from Geoff Johns and Patty Jenkins lacks the epic journey that Wonder Woman took us in her first movie. Geoff Johns should stay away from DCEU and should stick to writing comics only. Wonder Woman 1984 is a prime example of what Nostalgia and Bad writers can do to a plot that has so much potential and as it turns out, the year mostly proves an excuse to pile on side ponytails, fanny packs and nostalgic nods to the kind of Hollywood blowouts that feature cartoonish violence and hard-bodied macho types. The sequel to the 2017 hit finds Diana Prince, a.k.a. Wonder Woman, pining for love and saddled with a movie unworthy of her. If you are a die-hard Wonder Woman fan, then go for it otherwise you can skip it because it has no influence on the upcoming DCEU movies.

Wonder Woman 1984 is now available in selected Theaters and on HBO Max.