My Movie Review on Wonder Woman 1984 (Plus, a Bonus) · 2:01pm Sep 6th, 2021

Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?

This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for my 235th film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Wonder Woman 1984". Or "WW84" for short.

Here's the rundown of this sequel:

After helping put an end to World War 1, Wonder Woman continues to perform good deeds as a superhero but keeps her presence a secret. Using her guise of Diana Prince as a secret identity, she has been working at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

However, the year 1984 has thrown a lot of unexpected twists and turns thanks to the discovery of a wish granting artifact called the Dreamstone. Not long after finding the Dreamstone, Diana discovers that her deceased lover, Steve Trevor, is somehow alive; Barbara Minerva, a shy geologist at the museum who recently became a new friend of Diana, has also found herself transforming from a mere recluse to something far beyond anyone’s understanding.

When the Dreamstone is also stolen by a secretly struggling yet charismatic businessman named Maxwell “Max Lord” Lorenzano, Diana discovers that the fate of the world is at great risk thanks to the wishes granted by the stone coming with a price.

With the help of Steve, can Diana stop Maxwell from endangering mankind further and destroy the stone? Or is the world doomed to destruction?

I’d like to be honest, I didn’t know if I was ever going to see this film or make an analysis of it. On one hand, I was interested in checking this sequel out because of how much I loved the first movie. I wanted to have my own opinion on it too. On the other hand, I felt reluctant due to the surprisingly mixed reception this sequel received from both critics and audience.

In the end, though, my family and I later saw it not long after watching the first film around the time I was looking to review it. How we did so was by renting it on Amazon Prime.

I later bought this movie on DVD and Blu-Ray in preparation for reviewing it. Mainly because, similar to the first film, “Wonder Woman 1984” was something I needed to watch twice in order to analyze it.

And you know what?

Even after seeing it a second time, this movie turned out to be better than I expected it to be! I had very low expectations for this sequel, but it literally caught me by surprise in more ways than I expected!

For instance, the direction by Patty Jenkins, the story by her and Geoff Johns, and the screenplay by them and Dave Callaham, were terrific.

Among the many things I enjoyed about this movie was that the filmmakers were clearly wanting to go all-out in making this movie different from its predecessor in terms of the overall story. It honors the first film in terms of the overall tone, yet it manages to stand on its own narrative-wise. The humor that the film contained was entertaining in every way, and I can hardly recall a single moment that didn’t make me laugh. The movie also had emotional and heartfelt moments that were deeply soul-tugging, with the climax in particular packing quite a punch in playing with one’s feelings.

The themes and morals the film had, which were about coming to terms with the truth and how dangerous it is to tread the path of dishonesty, were both very meaningful and well-executed. In this case, because of Diana, Barbara, and Maxwell not coming to terms with reality and using the Dreamstone to get things they desired, they were ultimately paying the price for what they were doing.

The acting, characters, and character development were awesome too.

Just like in the previous movie, Gal Gadot was amazing in the title role. For every moment, she hit all of the right notes with emotion and warmth, and she gave her character a great sense of authority and dignity too. Along with that, she incorporated a newly-found sense of humor that not only fit her character perfectly but enhanced her portrayal as something surprisingly fresh. Diana herself also had phenomenal development throughout the movie.

Likewise, Chris Pine was as wonderful as ever in the role of Steve Trevor. His moments of wit were fun to watch, and he not only appeared to be giving his all but was having a great time being there. The character himself had brilliant development throughout the film, and the chemistry between him and Diana was a blast to see. Something I also enjoyed about Trevor was that he was a voice of reason for Diana, and the way he helped her eventually come to realize that she needed to relinquish her wish was wonderful to see.

And yes, I’m pretty aware of the controversy surrounding Steve’s spirit taking possession of some random guy’s body and the body switch.

I never saw anything wrong with the whole thing, though. I thought that was a really interesting concept for how Steve would come back to life. Whenever I saw Steve sharing screen time with other characters outside of Diana, I often noted that they saw him as Steve too. In a way, it was like Steve was actually able to switch places with the random guy rather than possess his body.

Moving on from that…

The additions of Pedro Pascal as Maxwell “Max Lord” Lorenzo and Kristen Wiig Ask Barbara Minerva/Cheetah were awesome!

Both Pascal and Wiig portrayed their parts with excellent personality and emotion, and it was amazing to see what sort of developments their characters were going through as the film progressed. The best part about the directions taken with Maxwell and Barbara was that they helped the developments of the two characters be far from predictable, and they’re great enough to grapple a viewer’s interest too.

Call me crazy, but I also found myself interested in seeing Barbara appear in a future DCEU installment or more. Mainly because it wasn’t exactly clear as to what happened to her near the end, and I think the character holds a great amount of potential too.

Finally, the music by Hans Zimmer was magnificent.

Despite not being anything like Rupert-Gregson Williams’s score in the first movie, Zimmer’s music was deeply enrapturing. It had an emotional resonance that was powerfully gut-wrenching, and it carried a spirit of its own that aided the score in feeling like the kind a Wonder Woman movie would have.

In conclusion, “Wonder Woman 1984” is a movie that should be given a chance regardless of the reputation it apparently has. Coming from a guy who saw this movie twice, I honestly believe the movie’s perhaps the most underrated installment of the DCEU by far.

So, I rate “Wonder Woman 1984” five out of five stars.

Before I conclude this post, I’d like to share with you guys my latest paint-by-number. The painting in question was completed from July 9, 2021 to August 20, 2021.