Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - A Colossal Misfire | Intricate Films
There’s no easy way to say it... Wonder Woman 1984 is a colossal misfire. Thrown haphazardly into the theatres as a last attempt to revive a decaying franchise, this may very well be the final nail in the coffin for the wildly inconsistent DCEU. Hopes were high for the film as its predecessor was one of the strongest entries, but the end result is a car crash, one you would gladly turn your eyes away from.
Wonder Woman (2017) was funny, exciting and involving. It
knew how to create sympathy for its characters in a world of danger and
mistrust, quickly establishing its central dynamic and making the most of its
time and budget. While it was nowhere close to being perfect, the one thing you
cannot fault the film for, is its pace. WW84 starts wrong and it's all downhill
from there. Opening with an unnecessary, overlong prologue (which is just an
Amazonian Olympic game, but with none of the worldbuilding, plot development or
even the tiniest bit of interesting set pieces to even justify its existence in
the film). The film has the bright idea to have a second prologue, with a tone
that differs drastically from the rest of the film to add cherry on the flea
ridden cake. 15 minutes into the film, I let out a long sigh. ‘It's gonna be
one of those films.’ I wish I was wrong.
As the title so clearly establishes... the film then
properly begins in 1984, which begs another question, ‘Why? Why 1984? Surely it
must have a proper reason to set the film in that very specific year.’ WW84 cares
for no such sentiments, it’s a story that could have been done in any year, or
any superhero for that matter. Nevertheless, the film brings us to the central
conflict... a McGuffin stone that grants wishes to those who hold it but
cursing them in return. The direction the story takes is painfully predictable.
The moment you see the mousy Barbara (played by a totally out-of-place Kristen
Wiig) you know what she would wish for. A slight breath of fresh air comes in
the form of Max Lord (played by Pedro Pascal, whose increasingly bad decision
in choosing scripts worries me). He is charismatic and sympathetic, clearly
establishing his goal and weakness. There was a much more interesting arc this story
could have taken, had it focused on his descent into madness alone. Alas, the
film’s massive budget entails a loud action sequence or two.
Watching WW84 is similar to listening to a story told by a
hyperactive child ;The narrative shifts all over the place, the characters
switch from country to country in a matter of minutes and none of it makes any
sense, Wonder woman herself gets more and more powers as the script requires
her to, and many of them never make a comeback or were previously established.
Steve Trevor (played by Chris pine) comes back from his grave and you wish he
was at least given the mercy of dying in a good movie. His chemistry with
Diana, feels extremely out-of-place (and creepy, if you know how he came back
to life). The humour is almost non-existent, the colour palette is boring...
But less so than the film itself.
In an attempt to juggle with the serious question of ‘how
much are you willing to sacrifice to get what you want’ and the fact that this
is still a superhero movie, it drops the ball. Patty Jenkins proves to be a decent
director, though her intense action sequences in the first are replaced by
bland set pieces. But her inexperience in writing really shows. WW84 overcompensates
by making the threats seem non-existent, and gives us no reason to ever be
concerned or invested. Even the big plan of the villain makes no sense. The
film wants to wow us with the characters, laugh at the dialogue and still be at
the edge of our seats, but it's too lazy to spend enough time to do any of
this. Gal Gadot is as charming as she was when we first met her, and if there's
anything about this film that works, it's her.
Most of the criticism towards the first part was directed towards its weak third act, which throws out the humanist question at its core in favor of a direct, more physical threat. (and a disastrous CGI abomination of a final battle). I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but WW84 has not learnt anything, Finishing the film with an abhorrent double whammy of both an atrocious final fight where you cannot see anything and capping it off with an immensely unsatisfying ending monologue which magically solves everything. When the sound and music all dies out and you wonder what went wrong, you really wish for the wishing stone and erase all memory of this dumpster fire.
- Arvind Narayanan
Intricate Meter : 3/10
The Important Characters & Their Casts :
* Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
* Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
* Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva / Cheetah
* Pedro Pascal as Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano
* Robin Wright as Antiope
* Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta
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