Wonder Woman 1984
This should go without saying, but there will be spoilers so turn away now if you don't want them. Everything I say will be subjective, my own opinion. If you have a different one, that's perfectly fine. If you want me or anyone else to care, express it respectfully or don't express it at all.
I'll start by saying exactly what I think of this movie, as you may hear me repeat throughout the forums. Wonder Woman 1984 was average, almost as uncompelling as the likes of Marvel's The Incredible Hulk or Spider-Man: Homecoming in my eyes. It doesn't matter what angle you look at this movie from, it was uninspired and bland. The acting was okay (with a couple of exceptions,) the characters were unrealistic, the visuals were out of the early 2000s and the actual plot had nothing that set it apart from the pack.
Characters
I hold to this day that characters make or break a movie, and for movies, acting is a major part. I'd say that the characters in Jenkins's flick were the equivalent of a layer of tape that had been put on and ripped off so much it only stuck with noticeable effort, and the acting was a second layer of tape that mostly made it easier to identify the mess of the first layer.
Diana, our protagonist, was not handled well. From beginning to end, she was one of the least active members of the main ensemble of characters, and her arc through the movie is hard for me to understand, even as I type. She was far from the worst member of the main cast; I'd give that honor to Barbara Minerva. Her arc was botched, unfinished, and borderline hackneyed. Even after she made her wish, it seemed she was still perfectly fine and lost nothing until, out of nowhere, she became a bad guy. She never got back the good inside her until Diana forced it back onto her; at least, I think that's what happened, because we never see Minerva redeemed, apologize, or face retribution.
Steve was only in the movie for plot convenience and to push the theme, which the movie failed at miserably. Max Lord was definitely a great antagonist, though, and after first watch I'd say he's almost as good as General Zod or, for the Marvel fans, Killmonger. His arc actually had believable elements such as the factor of loving his son, his motivation was good, and the way he used his wish was creative. Speaking of Steve and Max in the same paragraph makes me think of the acting, and both Chris Pine and Pedro Pascal did fantastic jobs with what they were given, immersing me whenever they were on screen, though not enough to cover up Steve's uselessness. Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig did fine, but there were moments it was just... too obvious they were acting.
As far as characters go, I'd say the movie was a 6/10, but if not for Lord, I'd have to be generous if I gave it a 5/10.
Story
For those who may not know, there is a structure to a story. I won't explain it here, but Wonder Woman 1984 followed story structure about as loosely as it could get away with, and didn't add any fresh or special elements to make up for it, nor was its theme unique or, for that matter, executed satisfactorily.
Starting off with the beginning of the movie, Diana as a child was competing in a sports event. She dominates the competition for most of the inspiring and exciting run. However, when she gets distracted, she falls off the horse she was riding on and falls, meaning she may lose her lead. However, there's a path to keep in the lead, which could still let her win. She takes this path but is stopped before she can win. Here we are directly told the theme is about truth. This can be seen as logical enough, but until the very climax I didn't see how the theme was relevant. I could palpably see how they tried to force it through Steve, but they failed miserably on that front anyway.
Barbara and Diana's relationship became way too solid in way too short a time, to the point they were telling each other life stories within 12 hours of first seeing each others' faces. The wishing stone was an interesting way to cause the initial incident, but it seemed a bit too convenient for me that it could fall in Barbara's hands, then into Maxwell's. Then they figured out some information about the stone by some random dude in a garage who wasn't even acknowledged before or after that scene. They also never addressed the effects on the man who Steve had "possessed" or, as mentioned, what happened to Minerva. Maxwell's wishing powers did offer some interesting conflicts, but it couldn't carry the rest of the flaws of this story where every scene seemed to be its own separate thing. Do I even need to mention that Wonder Woman was weakened for plot convenience?
I'd give the story also a 6/10.
Visuals
The main difference between the visual aspects of the Wonder Woman sequel and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films? Raimi's films were actually made in the 2000s, but were better.
I will say, I am fairly certain I saw what Jenkins was going for. The movie had below-average CGI so it could have a lot of creative action scenes and usage of Diana's superpowers. The issue is that, unlike cartoons such as Spectacular Spider-Man, this isn't a cartoon. I went to see a live action film, not half live-action, half-animation. At least Godzilla and the Transformer movies make it look real or appealing. There were far too many visual errors with Wonder Woman, making it downright impossible to not get distracted while watching. Every time someone was sent flying, every time someone made an impossible movement, it was far too obvious that it wasn't real. Immersion couldn't be broken because I never had it.
The camerawork was also annoying. At times, I couldn't keep track of the movie for the way they used the cameras, even in their only good action scene, the car chase. As per usual, they couldn't bother to make full body CGI without using lighting so dark that a blind man would have his condition's understanding from the audience.
I'll give the visuals a 5/10 overall, but I'd say even a 3/10 would be lucky if we compared it to earlier DCEU projects. Justice League alone is inferior.
Conclusion
I give this movie a 5/10. I couldn't give it higher if I wanted. If I go to a theater, the only time I should think of the word "movie" is if I'm in the restroom. I thought the word far too many times far too consistently, meaning I couldn't emotionally attach myself. Pedro Pascal was carrying this movie like Atlas carried Earth, if the Earth had its insides, the Pacific Ocean and three continents removed.
Thank you for reading my review.
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