Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Directed by: Patty Jenkins | 151 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, Lilly Aspell, Amr Waked, Natasha Rothwell, Ravi Patel, Oliver Cotton, Lucian Perez, Gabriella Wilde, Kelvin Yu, Stuart Milligan, Shane Attwooll

It’s always a shame when a movie disappoints. It indicates that the expectations of the public have not been met. In the case of ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ that is extra sad, because this film also suffered from the corona crisis. This blockbuster was postponed and missed a cinema rotation. Too bad, but on the other hand not annoying for people who want to see this superheroine movie on the silver screen because they can now keep their money in their pocket. This movie isn’t that good…

‘Wonder Woman 1984’ centers on Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman (a charismatic Gal Gadot). This superheroine lives an anonymous life and tries to forget her late love Steve Trevor (an unnecessary role for Chris Pine). When she hears of the Dreamstone – a relic that makes dreams come true – she wishes her great love to come to life. The financially troubled charlatan Maxwell Lord (a grimace Pedro Pascal) also preys on this stone. Meanwhile, shy and nerdy Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig) also takes advantage of the magical object and turns into the monstrous Cheetah. However, the Dreamstone has a dangerous side and takes its toll on all users.

Director Patty Jenkins has unfortunately failed to make a worthy successor to ‘Wonder Woman’ from 2017. That is due to a number of factors. The first is the story. ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ tries to be lighter and more comical and Jenkins fails quite a bit. It was decided to set the story in the 1980s. The sole purpose of this is to go wild with perms, shoulder pads and neon colors. Pine is a great example of this, because he is mainly used to walk around dressed in strange clothes. He is the comic relief and has little depth, while his return should be emotional (Wonder Woman’s deepest wish was to get her lost love back).

Also the origin of Cheetah does not deserve a beauty prize. After her wish to be just as strong and confident as Diana Prince, Barbara (Wiig with glasses and ugly leopard leggings) portrayed in a caricatured way is transformed into a tough lady with a stylish outfit without glasses. Jenkins does not get beyond clichés and has very little to say. In the first Wonder Woman solo film, Jenkins touched on the impact of wars and introduced a goddess to humanity’s shortcomings. That resulted in a beautiful, sensitive film that also had a few solid action scenes. The successor is mainly stuffing. The action scenes are far too short and not nearly as memorable as in the first part. The final fight with Cheetah is characterized by swaying camera movements, bad GCI and an unclear setting. The brawl is so dark that it’s hard to follow the fight.

‘Wonder Woman 1984’ lacks a heart. This is clearly a movie that came about because a first part was very successful. This production comes across as a rush job, while that was not the case. A lot of time has been set aside for this film, but it doesn’t show up well. Gadot has to rely mainly on her charisma and warmth and not on her acting. Her charisma makes you love to look at this lady and see her as an empathetic superheroine. However, it is not enough to captivate the full running time – 150 minutes is far too long for a film that has so little to say. What remains is a failed film that never manages to strike the right chord. ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ is not funny, exciting, spectacular or charismatic. With tighter direction, better acting and a more consistent story, this would have been a worthy successor. In its current form, this is a long-winded and superfluous comic strip adaptation.