WW84 - A Review

DC has faced a lot of trouble over the past decade. They attempted to create a DC Cinematic Universe in 5 years to compete with Marvel's Cinematic Universe which took nearly 15 years (at the time) to establish, and in doing so created movies and characters that were hollow and without any real substance - panned by reviewers and making DC the butt of all comic book movie jokes.

During that span of failure though there was ONE movie that garnered positive attention and made critics and fans say "We want more of this". That movie was Wonder Woman (2017). Fast forward 3 years later - after several setbacks (some due to covid, some due to movie politics) that sequel has finally come out. WW84, the biggest movie to come out directly to a steaming service, faces the challenge of not only entertaining the masses during Covid-Christmas, but also living up to a hype 3 years in the making. Does it succeed?

TLDR: 

WW84 is a fun family friendly comic book adventure that is a "Watch Once" type of movie. It has a good message, has something for everyone, and ultimately gives DC another solid addition to add to it's universe - despite the film itself having no real impact on said universe. Despite some of the cheesy clichés that show up from time to time, and by the numbers plot - there's enough here to get engaged with, and the fact that it's a movie you can stream instead of shelling out 20 bucks gives it value that doesn't break the bank.

This in-depth review is broken down into 3 parts; The story, The Performance, and the Final Thoughts.

The Story:

WW84's cohesion and execution of the plot actually varies between the 3 acts, and if I were to sum up my thoughts on the story alone my response would be "It was fine", which doesn't really provide much insight. So to appease this issue I went ahead and broke down the 3 parts of the film below to better summarize my thoughts and hopefully provide you with the insight that "Fine" doesn't really provide.

Act I :

Of the 3 acts, Act I is very much the worst. The movie opens with an interesting enough scene back in Themyscira showing a young Diana showcasing her naturally gifted talents. The transition from this opening sequence to 1984 is a bit disjointed I felt. Once in 1984 we get glimpses of a typical day of Diana in a sequence of events that remind me more of the 90s than the 80s in terms of film execution. The scenes themselves are fine, full of charisma and humor, but there is one thing that is surprisingly missing from all of the first act. Exposition.

Normally comic book movies are chalk full of exposition in the first Act. It's something that is often thought of as a negative based on how it's executed. The often used cliché is to have various characters say aloud background information that should either be implied or known to the world the film is based in just to get the audience watching the film up to speed. It often treats it's viewers like idiots in doing so however. WW84 decides not to beat it's audience with an overwhelming amount of spoken exposition, which is normally a positive in movies, but in this case I think it hurt the movie's intro a bit.

There are some loose threads that join this sequel to it's predecessor, but we aren't really told why we are where we are. We aren't told why Diana is where she is. The movie drops you in 1984 and expects you to just be fine with it, but aside from the retro appeal, 1984 has no real significance for these events.  1984 the setting is less a character of the movie and more a stylistic choice for the sake of stylistic choices. The year itself has no significance to the story, and if this was any other year in the film I would imagine nothing much would change outside of a few jokes and conveniences.

Act II : 

Act II rebounds from Act I very well. Once the plot starts moving the movie really settles in to delivery terrific action scenes with the right amount of tension, wonder, and excitement. The second act of the movie is very entertaining and engages the audience well-emotional moments bridge scenes of humor and action, the humor hits more than it doesn't (though the best jokes are used in the trailer), and the action scenes are flamboyant and physics defying, sure, but they have a solid amount of tension and do a great job of not making Diana seem like a 'Mary Sue' character. While there are plenty of moments where one must employ a 'suspension of disbelief', the movie rewards it's audience just providing a great time throughout Act II and really keeps the audience engaged for Act III.

Act III : 

While not as great as Act II, the conclusion of the movie still provides more substance than Act I. The movie dabbles in CGI the most during this phase of the movie, though I am happy to say that Kristen Wiig's Cheetah doesn't look terrible (still better than Cats!). The end of the movie really tries to harp on humanity's heart strings to the point of being cliché. The score does well in the third act and while the audience can connect with the struggles of Diana and Maxwell Lord's decisions, the speeches given at the very end are very heavy handed and long winded. I will say though, despite how cheesy and expected the final act plays out - there was a moment that, as a parent, did make me choke up for a brief second. It was surprising and embarrassing, but it just shows that the movie's execution was just all bad here. 

I do wish the third act provided more though. Questions from the first act don't all get resolved, and again the movie being placed in 1984 doesn't really have any significance here. Not only that, the movie does almost nothing to further this cinematic universe. There is a mid-credits scene that may eventually lead to something significant in a later movie, but really just seemed like a final "wink" from the movie to the audience rather than something of more significance.

The Performances -

Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot: 

In 2013 when it was announced that Gal Gadot was being cast as Wonder Woman, many fans and movie critics were in arms. Gal Gadot was not known to be more than eye candy from the fast and furious titles, and her acting range seemed limited. She however proved critics wrong in 2017 by being a solid performer as Diana of Themyscira, and aside from slight nit picks on emotional scenes, was generally applauded for what she brought to the character. I'm happy to say that she not only continues her great performance as Wonder Woman, but improves on it. She brings both a charming charisma to the character - being likeable and friendly while exhibiting the best qualities of humanity - yet still also being very much not human and understanding that she can never truly fit in. She has great chemistry with all the other characters in the movie, save for maybe Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord, and outside of the movies climactic speech which I felt was just too heavy handed and too drawn out, there isn't really much of a misstep made by Gal Gadot in representing Wonder Woman. To keep it simple, I can't wait to see more of Gal  Gadot's portrayal of Diana, and I really can't imagine anyone else doing a better job with the role.

Max Lord: Pedro Pascal: 

Pascal is now more of a name than ever due to his success with the Mandalorian. His character as Maxwell Lord is very much different than the anti-hero he plays in the star wars property. It works. Pedro does a great job of playing a man who has bitten off more than he can chew in the pursuit of "success". While he is the primary antagonist, he isn't much of a villain. Much like all the characters portrayed in this film (except for maybe Chris Pine) he encompasses the very concept of being human. Not being overtly evil or overtly good - he is flawed but at the end is just trying to do the best he can with hand he is given. The biggest flaw in the character comes from the writing. We're not sure why he knows about the McGuffin presented in the film, but he does. His knowledge of this artifact is what kicks off the rest of the plot of the movie but it's never really revealed how he learns of it or knows exactly what to do with it. Writing aside though, Pedro kills it.

Kristen Wiig: Cheetah: 

I wasn't sure how good Wiig would be in this role - but there are some similarities here with Michelle Pfeiffer's role in Batman Returns. It's a character we've seen time and time again, a geeky socially awkward malcontent who idolizes the main protagonist and then when given the same abilities of said protagonist takes a completely different turn (towards evil). While there are certainly some scenes that make us relate to Barbara, ultimately the motives for the transformation just seem weak. She idolizes Diana after spending literally a single day with her, she starts off slowly understanding her powers but by the end of the movie has a mastery over them, and her shift from good to evil is drastic. Wiig does fine in the role, but she's much more of an inconvenience than an obstacle to Diana. I wish we spent more time exploring the contrast between Barbara and Diana rather than the similarities.

Steve Trevor: Chris Pine: 

In the trailers it seemed obvious that the story with Steve Trevor would be that of one reversed his relationship with Diana in Wonder Woman (2017). I'm happy to report it's not really the case, but it's not much better either. The purpose of Chris Pine is to serve as a ladder to regaining her heroism, though it's never really something that we feel she's lost throughout the film. Chris Pine does an okay job of Steve Trevor in this film, though he's not given much to do. In fact, I'd go as far as to say the roles are a bit reversed here with Pine being the Mary Sure. A character who is essentially devoid of any real flaw. Still the movie is at it's best when we have Pine and Gadot together, as the two do a great job of playing off each other.

Final Thoughts -

In the end, WW84 was a decent addition to the DC Films post 2015. The story doesn't have much bearing on the future (or past) of the DC cinematic universe but does further the idea that Wonder Woman in the hands of Patty Jenkins is a winning formula. The 1984 setting is nothing more than a stylized choice and has no real impact on the film, story, or characters outside of it being when the movie takes place. The movie does make it so these events are "permanent" which means they may be brought up again in the future, but giving the events any real thought brings up too many questions that I don't think the movie or any subsequent movies will ever want to truly answer.

Due to Covid this movie came out in an official Streaming format, and I think that really helps it along. I figure the reviews for this film would be much more critical if people were being asked to purchase a 15 dollar ticket, but for half the price you get the ability of watching not just this movie but the other offerings of HBO Max's surprisingly robust library. You can also watch this movie more than once, though ultimately a single watch is all that's really required. 

Ultimately, if you're looking for a good super hero movie to pass the time for you and your family, WW84 is very much that. There isn't anything offensive here nor is there anything profound that carries over. Much like Shazam and Aquaman, it's a solid addition to the DC Cinematic universe while at the same time not relying on that Universe to provide any sort of background or substance. It stands on it's own while also not completely breaking cannon. The runtime does seem a bit long, and there are parts of the movie that I feel could have been omitted without really hurting the overall film - but I never really felt bored watching WW84.

All in all - it's "fine" and in 2020, during covid - "fine" is more than welcome.