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Acting
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Directing
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Story
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig
Director: Patty Jenkins
Running Time: 151 mins
Wonder Woman 1984 is an American film and the sequel to Wonder Woman. Decades after her adventures during the First World War, Diana Prince must fight to save the world from chaos and destruction after a mysterious ancient stone with the ability to grant wishes appears in Washington D.C.
I loved this film so much. DC Comics have been on the right track in recent years with a move from drab superhero films to bright, fun blockbusters, and Wonder Woman 1984 is the culmination of all of that hard work. Though a fairly simple and arguably overlong film, this is pure, unadulterated superhero joy throughout, prioritising fun, action-packed entertainment over convoluted comic book lore from start to finish.
Highly reminiscent of the original Superman starring Christopher Reeve, Wonder Woman 1984 is a film that just wants to have as much fun as possible, no matter what. So, while its immediate predecessor may have seen Diana Prince fight off enemies in a fairly more gritty and down-to-earth style, this sequel breaks open the toybox with a seemingly infinite supply of utterly delightful superhero excitement.
Everything about Wonder Woman 1984 is bright, fun-loving and so wonderfully innocent. From its humour to its action and even the colour of Diana’s superhero outfit, this movie is perhaps the most purely enjoyable comic book blockbuster of the 21st century.
Though the story admittedly takes a while to get into gear, the opening two sequences of this movie are so much fun, and hark back to a more innocent, fantastical view of superheroes like in the days of Christopher Reeve’s Superman.
As comic book movies have come to dominate the box office, we’ve been looking for new, supposedly fresh angles on classic superhero stories, but it’s not often that we get a movie nowadays which just wants to tell that classic story in as enjoyable a manner as possible.
Despite an undeniably slow-moving first act, Wonder Woman 1984 bursts into life in the second act, with a thrillingly entertaining story of globe-trotting goodies and baddies, all culminating in an utterly preposterous but brilliantly enjoyable action finale that just keeps getting better and better.
This movie isn’t trying hard to be relevant to the modern day, or even to the laws of reality, but it’s exactly that which will make Wonder Woman 1984 a timeless classic of superhero cinema. Simplistic it may be, and completely detached from reality it certainly is, but that willingness to just let loose and have fun makes the film so enormously likable.
Gal Gadot is once again outstanding as Wonder Woman, and without doubt the best hero in the DC Extended Universe by a long way, while Chris Pine delights in a smaller but still thoroughly enjoyable supporting role. Kristen Wiig is a surprise too, while Pedro Pascal is the real stand-out as the film’s main antagonist, with just the right balance of menacing greed and comic book villainy to fit this film’s fun-loving atmosphere to perfection.
Coupled with gorgeous visuals and excellent CGI effects throughout that only add to the film’s bright-eyed take on superhero cinema, it would take the coldest of souls to find something to genuinely dislike about Wonder Woman 1984.
Director Patty Jenkins led the way forward for DC with Wonder Woman three years ago, and now with this sequel, Jenkins has once again cemented herself as an immensely talented filmmaker, always putting the audience first and telling the fun, enjoyable story that we all need, and that Wonder Woman really should be.
Overall, it’s fair to say that Wonder Woman 1984 is a far, far cry from the drab beginnings of DC’s Extended Universe with Man Of Steel. Blissfully simplistic yet endlessly entertaining, the film’s unrelenting imagination and desire to have fun will set it out as a timeless classic of superhero cinema, featuring another spectacular performance from Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, and more incredible directing from Patty Jenkins. So, that’s why I’m giving Wonder Woman 1984 an 8.0.
