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Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984

Mike Tyrkus

When director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot first introduced William Moulton Marston’s Amazon princess to the DC extended universe (DCEU) and stoked the stagnant franchise with the wildly entertaining Wonder Woman (2017), it led many to believe that perhaps the beloved properties of DC Comics would soon offer their Marvel rivals some worthy theatrical competition. But, alas, Justice League (2017) returned to the dark, dreary doldrums of earlier DCEU films and even lighthearted offerings like Aquaman (2018) and Shazam! (2019) couldn’t shake that stigma or reignite the enthusiasm that Wonder Woman had garnered. Then came Birds of Prey (2020), which continued with the dark DCEU yet managed to breathe a little life into the film series with some well-written humor and fine performances, despite its overall lukewarm reception. Now, comes Wonder Woman 1984. While not a step back, as its still infinitely better than most of the offerings that have been made by the DCEU, Wonder Woman 1984 is somewhat disappointing given just how well, wonderful, the first film was.

In this chapter of the Wonder Woman saga, the story jumps forward to 1984 (hence the title). This find Diana Prince (Gadot) living in Washington, DC, amongst we mortals and working at the Smithsonian Institute by day and saving those in need in her strikingly abundant spare time. She has also befriended a fellow scientist at the Smithsonian, Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), and has reunited with long-lost lover Steve (Chris Pine) via an ancient (and cursed) artifact that grants wishes yet extracts a terrible cost after doing so. But, these extra-personal relationships, as well as her heroic efforts are consequently thrown into disarray when an evil businessman hell-bent on destroying the world in order to better his own business interests named Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) comes into possession of an ancient artifact that may ultimately allow him to do just that. Add into this mix the introduction of Wonder Woman’s nemesis Cheetah (also Wiig) and you have the makings of a slightly overwhelming story that fits right in with the other bloated, somber films of the DCEU, but is wildly unbefitting of this series given the standard previously set by Wonder Woman’s first cinematic outing.

Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman 1984.”

While the methodical approach to storytelling that succeeded so effortlessly in the first film is still present, it is often impeded by the presence of too much of a good thing. For example, there are several scenes juxtaposing characters from the first film (specifically lost-in-time Steve Trevor) into the foreign world of 1980s America (to him anyway). After a couple of jokes, however, this gets old rather quickly and leads one to think that perhaps the film’s 151-minute running-time (though only 10 minutes longer than the first film) could have been trimmed a little if some of these had been excised.

That being said, all involved do an admirable job with their parts and Gadot dazzles again as the titular Amazon Princess. Jenkins also manages to often capture the magic of the first film from time to time despite succumbing to the demand for more CGI action that appears to be driving the DCEU instead of storytelling and character development for some reason.

While its not a bad film by any stretch, Wonder Woman 1984 is a letdown given how terrific the first film was. Yet, it still manages to entertain and succeed on levels that previous DCEU films have failed to far more egregiously. Hopefully the franchise is able to correct its course and Wonder Woman is allowed to embark upon another adventure befitting a hero of her stature.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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