After over a year since the first trailer and after months of delays, due to the Covid19 Pandemic. Wonder Woman 84 finally made it’s debut in North America through Warner Brother’s HBO Max streaming service on Christmas Day. Wonder Woman 84 is the 9th film in the DC Extended Universe. I will say this the sequel is a heroic film filled with hope and optimism that we all need entering 2021. MINOR SPOILERS.
PROS
Like I said the film has a lot of hope, and optimism. Anytime we see Wonder Woman in action we all have a smile watching when she goes out of her way to save lives while trying to catch the bad guy. My favorite scene was the action scenes in the White House, because we see Wonder Woman in a unique situation and how she overcomes some of the challenges while trying to stop Maxwell Lord.
Gal Gadot continues to be the Christopher Reeve and Chadwick Boseman of Wonder Woman. It is difficult to see anyone else in the iconic role. Credited goes to Zack Snyder for casting her as Wonder Woman. She is heroic and brave. She inspires so many people especially children to do the right thing and to be brave. Wonder Woman believes in hope and continues to bring hope as Wonder Woman during a tough year. Geoff Johns who co wrote the story/script with Patty Jenkins used the Richard Donner elements from his Superman and Superman 2 films. The element that he used worked well for Wonder Woman because we see her save people instead of going after the bad guy.
I enjoyed Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva, because we see her character evolves from this low self-esteem character to becoming the iconic confident villain Cheetah that DC fans know and are happy to see on screen.
I love the human elements that was brought into the sequel. The film was a classic be careful what you wish for because you will get it but regret it after. I enjoyed Pedro Pascal as Maxwell Lord because they humanized him compared to the comic books. Maxwell Lord is cheesy in the film with how he interacts with Barbara and Diana, but he did a good job with what he can work with for Maxwell Lord.
I love Hans Zimmer score and I was excited to hear Beautiful Lie used in the film. That was the closes thing to a DCEU connection. The music score is another positive in the film as it hypes the fight scenes involved with Wonder Woman.
CONS
I thought Chris Pine was wasted in the sequel because there is no payoff as to why he comes back. He is just there for some laughter moments because he is a man out of time which we have seen in Captain America.
The film did not have to be two and half hours long. Some scenes dragged longer than it should to get to the point. The script is a mess interims of story that sounded like a good idea on paper but it does not work well on screen. For example people are supposed to grant one wish but somehow can wish a second time without explanation.
If you are hoping for DCEU references or cameos do not expect that in Wonder Woman 84. It does feel like a very standalone film than an actual sequel. For the film to be in 1984 felt unnecessary, because there isn’t anything special or reason behind it. The time period would’ve been better in the present day. Do not expect to see a lot of Cheetah in a her full form. I think some of the audiences will be disappointed.
OVERALL 7.5/10
Despite a messy script the heroism and optimism that Wonder Woman brings over powers the messy script. It is a comic book movie so don’t expect everything to make sense non of the comic book movies in the past did. Wonder Woman 84 is not a great sequel to the first Wonder Woman film, but it is joyful, thrilling, and entertaining movie for everyone to watch while we wait for the pandemic to be over with.
UPDATE: OVERALL 5/10
After rewatching this film. Wonder Woman 84 continues to get worse after a second viewing. The story looks worse and as much as I love Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman this movie tries to make into a modern day Christopher Reeve Superman which it does not work for Wonder Woman. The action scenes hold up good but the story should be forgotten. WW84 is easily the worst of the DCEU films.
My Comic Book Opinion 