Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984
Living up to the original isn’t as easy as it seems
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Sofia Mang, Staff Writer
The highly-anticipated DC Comics movie “Wonder Woman 1984” is a sequel to “Wonder Woman” but was more of a standalone adventure that isn’t connected to the rest of the DC universe. Although it was a good movie on its own, “Wonder Woman 1984” doesn’t live up to the original, lacking in the confidence and influence that branded the first movie.
Centered around the well-known superhero Wonder Woman, the movie documents events that transpire in 1984, after the original movie. Diana (Wonder Woman) has become accustomed to living a normal life in America. Although she may seem satisfied with her current job and life, she is still grieving over the loss of her lover, Steve Trevor, who sacrificed himself in the previous movie, and leads a lonely life. However, when Barbara, her new “geeky” friend, and a mysterious “dream stone” show up, Diana becomes caught up in a new superhero adventure.
The movie focuses on a theme of sacrifice and having to choose between the things most precious to you. The “dream stone” allows the person to wish for the one thing they want the most in exchange for losing the thing that’s most precious to them. It’s a complete gamble, and we see how the power of temptation affects all the characters in the movie. In Wonder Woman’s case, she must choose between Steve, her lover, and her superpowers. As for Barbara, she gains her own version of Diana’s superpowers but instead loses her humanity. The villain takes advantage of the dream stone for her own good and faces the consequences of consuming too much power.
The movie executed its lessons on greed and temptation nicely, which is one thing I can applaud about it. However, there was something underwhelming about the movie in general. There was nothing “iconic” about it that would have left an impression on me. In the original movie, there was the “No Man’s Land” scene, where Wonder Woman ran through No Man’s Land during the war to protect the citizens. In 1984, there was no particular scene like this that stood out or showed Wonder Woman’s power. She was already weaker than in the original because of the contract where she lost her powers for her lover, but she still didn’t feel like the strong superhero we all know and love.
The other aspects of the movie were also weak and underplayed. The main villain was just a normal businessman, and while the movie did show humanity, it didn’t allow Wonder Woman to display all of her power. The first movie’s villain was Ares, the God of War. Fighting against an enemy of that scale allowed Wonder Woman to display the full extent of her abilities and leave a lasting impact on the audience with her fight scenes. Maybe it was because of the odd time period, a place where Wonder Woman’s Amazonian ways wouldn’t fit anyways, but the setting of this movie made everything feel weak.
It may not seem fair to compare this to the original movie as it was supposed to be standalone. However, because this series is already so new, there’s a certain standard set by the prequel that it needs to live up to. Those who were the most eager to watch “Wonder Woman 1984” have most likely already seen the first movie, so they would be comparing the two movies, subconsciously, anyways.
So while “Wonder Woman” provided the foundation for this female superhero to become the core of the DC universe, “Wonder Woman 1984” was disappointing and left the audience underwhelmed with its lackluster performance.
