It took only a few hours into the new year for my heart to completely broken.
I love Wonder Woman. I love Gal Gadot as Woman Woman. I thought the first film was one of the greatest movies in film history and hands down the best comic book hero film to date.
WW84 was supposed to be the summer’s blockbuster, then the fall, then Christmas Day box office champion. At least here in Canada, none of that happens, and the film was eventually released on demand instead. We waited for New Year’s Day to rent it and to be honest, we could have waited even longer.
The opening 20 minutes were pretty great. It was fun watching a young Diana compete against adults in hopes of winning a crown in their version of the American Ninja Warrior games. Don’t let the opening fool you though, it may be the best part of the movie because it was all downhill from there for us.
The bad guy and girl were so lame, they didn’t even have their own powers. Barbara (Kristen Wiig) was a good girl gone bad. Since Wiig is a brilliant actress in her own right, no offence or anything, but come on, was there no other actress in Hollywood available for the role? In what other superhero movie does the main character fight someone who is 47 years old, looks the least bit athletic. She only gains her power as the movie progresses and then turns into a cheetah? It was so hard to tell since CGI makeup was god awful that it is hard to believe this is a WW movie. (Think Cats, if you’ve seen it)
Then there is this con man, Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal), who gets ahold of a Dream Stone and tries to take over the world. After gaining control of all the oil reserves on the planet, he continues to strive for more, ultimately taking the United States Presidency. Then while on the cusp of taking over the world, Diana messes with his plan by giving a heartfelt speech. THAT’S IT! That was the way writer and director Patty Jenkins decided to bring down the bad guy. A speech! It was so anti-climatic, it was painful to watch, it absolutely sucked. This particular story of Wonder Woman is definitely not the same one you know from before.
Honestly, the only aspect of the story they got right was the reintroduction of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), the love of Diana’s life. Although their reunion was awesome, it was so gut-wrenching to watch it crumble again. Diana is at her best with Steve by her side. The best part of Steve coming back in the modern-day was he was able to introduce us to the famous invisible WW jet, and he taught Diana how to fly. After they repeat goodbyes, Diana runs through the streets of D.C. crying her eyes out and then leaps into the sky to practice flying. It was amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. The musical score by Hans Zimmer made the scene even better. This particular moment was one of the lone highlights for sure.
In the end, we were so disappointed in WW84 since the build-up was epic. The wait wasn’t worth it, and neither is the $30-40 you may end up spending on it. As a massive fan of the character, I can only hope and pray they do better with a third film. 3/10
Ten Stars or Less 