Wonder Woman 1984 SPOILER Review Thread

[SomeOldGuy]

Fun movie. Too long — could have easily lost half an hour and been better for it — but I love that it went full-on comic book and just took a weird, goofy premise and ran with it. 7/10, will watch again.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Still not sure why Diana decided to eagle up for the final act of the film. She's just doing her gliding and all of a sudden shows up armored head to toe. She has her powers back and is no where near her apartment.

Also Cheetah just doesnt look fully done, Diana is this bright character in a fairly dismal setting and Cheetah blends in a bit to well. She just lacks any real color. Id really like to see her return again though and be one of Dianas failures.

 

[fan4stic]

I was surprised by some aspects, and think that the more Lester things were mostly at the beginning and that that was basically not in the rest of the movie.

You hear things about a Trump analog going for Maxwell, and I wasn't sure if it would do that. But any type of concept they may have done here for that, I thought wasn't a cheap shot take or an easy thing, but more a thematic criticism of greed, desperation and insecurities some people choose to fall to, to me, and how that can lead to chaos. I think the character was portrayed as fairly sympathetic and such and was surprised they took the ending they did for him. though I would've preferred a more dramatic conclusion.

I think more could've been done with Cheetah though, more exploration of her resentments, envy and insecurities. I think the movie having post credits scene where she shows she's trying to find another way to be powerful could've stood to be in it.

I wasn't expecting the Lynda Carter cameo.

 

[fan4stic]

Still not sure why Diana decided to eagle up for the final act of the film. She's just doing her gliding and all of a sudden shows up armored head to toe. She has her powers back and is no where near her apartment.

Also Cheetah just doesnt look fully done, Diana is this bright character in a fairly dismal setting and Cheetah blends in a bit to well. She just lacks any real color. Id really like to see her return again though and be one of Dianas failures.

I was under the impression, she was getting her powers back, but not fully, also along with the wings helping get there faster. I think the suit thing was a bit forced though.

I think there could've been more flair to Cheetah's look.

 

[kguillou]

After all that promoting of Gal in that beautiful looking armor, it amounted to her suiting up for what purpose? To not fight Cheetah and just play defense? Diana didnt even know Barbara transformed so...idk man.

I dont ask for much but the logic in this movie...

 

[Schlosser85]

You hear things about a Trump analog going for Maxwell, and I wasn't sure if it would do that. But any type of concept they may have done here for that, I thought wasn't a cheap shot take or an easy thing, but more a thematic criticism of greed, desperation and insecurities some people choose to fall to, to me, and how that can lead to chaos. I think the character was portrayed as fairly sympathetic and such and was surprised they took the ending they did for him. though I would've preferred a more dramatic conclusion.

I agree.

Re: Maxwell being a Trump analogue, he's not a full-blown one, but there were some moments that were kinda hard to miss, like when he promotes his glitzy image and then you find out he's not making any money and debt is piling up, and especially when he gets called a "loser" and basically says "I'm not a loser, YOU'RE a loser!".

Plus he even ends up in the White House

I think the movie did a nice job of not making Max overly, well, Trump, but there was a couple moments like that where it's like I see what you did there, movie.

Also just the whole theme of the truth and "nothing good is born of lies" and you get the feeling they're sending that, ahem, subtle signal.

 

[xenos5]

Honestly there was just too many things that bothered me and took me out of the movie.

When was it ever brought up wishes could just be rescinded so easily? The guy with the book didn't mention it, Diana just suddenly did it out of nowhere to get her powers back suddenly.

Did Diana fly all the way back to DC (and the lassoing lightning nonsense that made no sense when she was already flying) to get her armor? If she did that then how would she know where Max's Helicopter landed when she suddenly stopped chasing it?

The whole ethical implications of Steve possessing a random guy being completely ignored.

And as for Cheetah WHY did the price of her wish have to be that she loses her "warmth and humanity"? It would've been so much better if she was just corrupted by the power . Her wish just backfired and essentially took the goodness out of her. She might as well be a mind-controlled minion with how much agency her character lacks due to that. Also don't like how her "villain origin (if you can even call her a proper villain)" is extremely similar to Jamie Foxx's Electro another badly written villain though at least he actually became evil of his own volition.

And this might just be but the emotional moments with Steve didn't strike a chord at all with me. The movie didn't earn it for me. It felt like he was brought back for the sole purpose of having those moments because they realized they screwed up by killing Diana's emotional tie to the human world too early. He's already dead, why should I be sad over a ghost going back to where they belong? Or was Diana just gonna live with Steve in the random guy's body for the rest of his life? I'm supposed to root for that outcome?

The whole campy ending where EVERY single person on the planet rescinds their wishes is all too much. Especially when Max somehow doesn't go to prison for the stuff he did... because he cared about his kid at the end? ""Oh golly gee, you may have put the whole world in danger with your nonsense but you love your kid so it's all water under the bridge!" Or did everyone aside from Diana and Max who made a wish go through a memory wipe that wasn't mentioned?

 

[SomeOldGuy]

I agree.

Re: Maxwell being a Trump analogue, he's not a full-blown one, but there were some moments that were kinda hard to miss, like when he promotes his glitzy image and then you find out he's not making any money and debt is piling up, and especially when he gets called a "loser" and basically says "I'm not a loser, YOU'RE a loser!".

Plus he even ends up in the White House

I think the movie did a nice job of not making Max overly, well, Trump, but there was a couple moments like that where it's like I see what you did there, movie.

Also just the whole theme of the truth and "nothing good is born of lies" and you get the feeling they're sending that, ahem, subtle signal.

About Maxwell & Trump, the vibe I got was less that than Maxwell being a version of JR Ewing. The film is after all set in the 80s and the iconic drama of that era was Dallas, which starred Larry Hagman as an oil baron struggling to maintain a sagging empire while family concerns tugged as the battered remains of his heart. There are obvious Trump references but IMO there’s more going on here.

 

[kguillou]

Honestly there was just too many things that bothered me and took me out of the movie.

When was it ever brought up wishes could just be rescinded so easily? The guy with the book didn't mention it, Diana just suddenly did it out of nowhere to get her powers back suddenly.

Did Diana fly all the way back to DC (and the lassoing lightning nonsense that made no sense when she was already flying) to get her armor? If she did that then how would she know where Max's Helicopter landed when she suddenly stopped chasing it?

The whole ethical implications of Steve possessing a random guy being completely ignored.

And as for Cheetah WHY did the price of her wish have to be that she loses her "warmth and humanity"? It would've been so much better if she was just corrupted by the power . Her wish just backfired and essentially took the goodness out of her. She might as well be a mind-controlled minion with how much agency her character lacks due to that. Also don't like how her "villain origin (if you can even call her a proper villain)" is extremely similar to Jamie Foxx's Electro another badly written villain though at least he actually became evil of his own volition.

And this might just be but the emotional moments with Steve didn't strike a chord at all with me. The movie didn't earn it for me. It felt like he was brought back for the sole purpose of having those moments because they realized they screwed up by killing Diana's emotional tie to the human world too early. He's already dead, why should I be sad over a ghost going back to where they belong? Or was Diana just gonna live with Steve in the random guy's body for the rest of his life? I'm supposed to root for that outcome?

The whole campy ending where EVERY single person on the planet rescinds their wishes is all too much. Especially when Max somehow doesn't go to prison for the stuff he did... because he cared about his kid at the end? ""Oh golly gee, you may have put the whole world in danger with your nonsense but you love your kid so it's all water under the bridge!" Or did everyone aside from Diana and Max who made a wish go through a memory wipe that wasn't mentioned?

You summed up so many of my thoughts man. So many “but WHY is this happening??” in this movie. And usually im the type of guy thats happy to just go with s*** in a movie if the vibe and tone is right but this movie just asks you to overlook so much. I have SO many “why?” questions that I dont think the movie has any answer for.

Why WAS Diana lassoing clouds and thunderbolts when she was already flying?

Also I personally had a really hard time sympathizing with Maxwell Lord. We’re supposed to believe he loves his son so much in the end and yet several times throughout the movie he’s like “f*** I gotta babysit him AGAIN?” I couldnt peg his character, did he care about his kid or not?

 

[heatvision38]

Diana wasn't flying flying. She was riding the wind. Using the lasso aided her in gaining momentum.

 

[xenos5]

You summed up so many of my thoughts man. So many “but WHY is this happening??” in this movie. And usually im the type of guy thats happy to just go with s*** in a movie if the vibe and tone is right but this movie just asks you to overlook so much. I have SO many “why?” questions that I dont think the movie has any answer for.

Why WAS Diana lassoing clouds and thunderbolts when she was already flying?

Also I personally had a really hard time sympathizing with Maxwell Lord. We’re supposed to believe he loves his son so much in the end and yet several times throughout the movie he’s like “f*** I gotta babysit him AGAIN?” I couldnt peg his character, did he care about his kid or not?

Oh yeah now that you mention it Maxwell already knew that all wishes had huge prices behind them and outside of gaining power and influence his biggest goal was just subverting the price for the original wish he made to become the dream stone (getting sicker and sicker each time someone made a wish on him). Yet he STILL made his son wish for him despite knowing his son could pay a big price for it. Why would his son be exempt from all the "every wish has a price" stuff? Even if he didn't ask for there to be a specific price from his son the established rules were that you can't wish without giving something up in exchange.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Okay...

I am One hour and fifty minutes into this film.

It started out on the island and I was emotional...

But it has been literally down hill from that intro. I got forty minutes left and I don't see it getting better for me.


This thing REALLY has to stick the landing for myself to give it a passing grade even.

 

[xenos5]

Diana wasn't flying flying. She was riding the wind. Using the lasso aided her in gaining momentum.

Do you have a reasonable explanation for the whole armor thing? If you have one to give I would genuinely like to hear it because it's just soooo confusing.

The only semi-reasonable thing I can think of is that she just somehow summoned the armor to her, mjolnir style (though that would still be bad writing since it was never hinted or shown to the audience that the armor worked like that). Otherwise she would've had to either completely cut off her chase to go get the armor and thus have no way to know where Max ended up going (he never told Diana his destination i'm pretty sure), or she took a stupidly roundabout trip of going all the way to the island all the way back to DC for the armor and then all the way back to the island again as if she's not under a time crunch with chaos erupting throughout the world. So both possibilities are really stupid. It also doesn't help that the armor didn't even help her that much as the wings just got ripped apart in the end. So it really wasn't worth the plot hole it created.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

Not a bad movie but definitely not as good as the first

The tone felt very different. It did indeed embrace the 80s because it really felt like that at times. The plot was all over the place but it was enjoyable for the most part. Excellent performances from Gal, Pedro, and Kristen. Kristen really surprised me because I wasn’t a fan of her casting initially but she pulled it off.

 

[heatvision38]

Do you have a reasonable explanation for the whole armor thing? If you have one to give I would genuinely like to hear it because it's just soooo confusing.

The only semi-reasonable thing I can think of is that she just somehow summoned the armor to her, mjolnir style (though that would still be bad writing since it was never hinted or shown to the audience that the armor worked like that). Otherwise she would've had to either completely cut off her chase to go get the armor and thus have no way to know where Max ended up going (he never told Diana his destination i'm pretty sure), or she took a stupidly roundabout trip of going all the way to the island all the way back to DC for the armor and then all the way back to the island again as if she's not under a time crunch with chaos erupting throughout the world. So both possibilities are really stupid. It also doesn't help that the armor didn't even help her that much as the wings just got ripped apart in the end. So it really wasn't worth the plot hole it created.

No, I have no explanation. When she first started glide flying following letting Steve go, it seemed that was her going after Lord as she covered quite a distance. But then she shows up in the armor which made it seem like she just went back to her apartment. Maybe I missed something.

I do think the story could have used another draft. In fact, I think it may have worked better if the focus was on Lord and the wishing stone and there was no Cheetah in this movie. They could've still introduced Barbara and established her bond with Diana, and saved a Cheetah story for the third movie. That may have helped focus this movie better, imo.

 

[Moncton]

The thing that bothered me the most is the 80's setting has no reason to be there other than it seems Jenkins wanted it set there since she grew up in that era. Why not delve deeper into the cold war ramifications of the era? Why not touch on some topics from the Orwell 1984 book? The first hour seemed like a romantic sitcom.

But honestly the whole wishing stone and bringing Steve back should have been scrapped, I don't think you can expect people to take the movie seriously with those elements.

 

[Sorath]

I don't even know what to say. To be honest I'm actually angry. I'm sick of the piss poor writing. I expected better and they just completely dropped the ball. For one movie just was just boring and dragged on way to long. I kept checking to see how much time was left on it. I had to like force myself to finish the movie. By time it was over I pretty much decided I'm done with DC films. There just so terrible at making them.

The only thing I liked in this whole film was when she flew. It was so much better then Man of Steel, BvS and Justice League.

Either way I'm not wasting my time on WB films any more.

 

[kguillou]

I don't even know what to say. To be honest I'm actually angry. I'm sick of the piss poor writing. I expected better and they just completely dropped the ball. For one movie just was just boring and dragged on way to long. I kept checking to see how much time was left on it. I had to like force myself to finish the movie. By time it was over I pretty much decided I'm done with DC films. There just so terrible at making them.

The only thing I liked in this whole film was when she flew. It was so much better then Man of Steel, BvS and Justice League.

Either way I'm not wasting my time on WB films any more.

Besides the Snyder films you havent liked any of the DC movies of the last few years?

 

[dhandler01]

I am going to write my review before I read anyone else's...

Meh. Not a bad film, but not really a good one either. A weird direction to take and one that gets lost in its own weirdness.

The Good

The Aesthetic is awesome. Really looks like it is taking place in 1984. I smiled quite a bit because I remember that stuff fondly.
The Contest. Best scene in the film by far. The one part that seemed to match the previous film.
Gal and Chris. Still have that chemistry.
Kristen Wiig. Her transformation through the film is the best story.
The love for the characters is still there.

The Bad

Max Lord. Probably got the most screentime and the whole storyline was rather dumb. Pedro Pascal's overacting didn't help. I am all for a campy take like Hackman as Lex Luthor but this was borderline unwatchable. By the end I didn't even care about him or his stupid plan.
Wonder Woman's story. Almost her entire arch. She doesn't seem like a strong willed character and almost seems like a co-star in her own movie. She spends more time whining than she does actually helping. In WW1 she is a hero...in this she feels almost like the damsel in distress.
The amount of action. For a movie this long to feel this long is never a good thing.
The pacing is atrocious.
Zimmer's score.

The Ugly

At times I thought this film was made for HBO Max. Something seemed off. Some of the cgi looked wonky in the same way it did in the first film...which we can forgive once but not twice.
How little Cheetah is in the film. Barbara is in a ton which is good but we saw all of the shots of Cheetah in trailers. Speaking of...
The final fight was a joke. Max Lord's stupid rants lasted longer.
The runtime.

Overall on first viewing a 6. Parts were good but they were few and far between because the movie was so badly paced. I felt they wasted Wiig in almost a criminal way and really I am not sure what the point of the film even was. A major dropoff from the first film, but I will give another shot to see if maybe my expectations ruined it. I respect Patty trying to do something different but it was more miss than hit for me. I love that she honored Donner, but whereas she straddled the line before this time she went whole hog and it was just too much.

6/10

edit: Also, this film would have totally underperformed. Patty should thank her lucky stars for the Pandemic because her clout was going to take a bit of a hit.

 

[Asr]

Just saw it via HBO Max and liked it for the most part, but not a perfect movie. 7/10 for me.

Loved that they introduced more of the comic book roots of the character (i.e. the invisible jet, flying) and the overall heart of the movie was strong. Gadot cemented that she is WW, and Wiig and Pascal were both pretty good in their roles. The return of Chris Pine's Steve Trevor could've been better executed IMO, but it was nice to see him again.

Also the little girl who played young Diana deserves another outing in WW3. Perhaps as pre-teen Diana, given when they're likely to make it.

 

[xenos5]

No, I have no explanation. When she first started glide flying following letting Steve go, it seemed that was her going after Lord as she covered quite a distance. But then she shows up in the armor which made it seem like she just went back to her apartment. Maybe I missed something.

I know that feeling. There very well could've been a cut scene there with how jarring it is.

I do think the story could have used another draft. In fact, I think it may have worked better if the focus was on Lord and the wishing stone and there was no Cheetah in this movie. They could've still introduced Barbara and established her bond with Diana, and saved a Cheetah story for the third movie. That may have helped focus this movie better, imo.

Yeah I totally agree on removing Cheetah. She was completely wasted here and wasn't even evil but just forced to become evil as the price for her wish.

Though I think the dream stone isn't needed either. Maxwell Lord's original powers of mind control in the comics are plenty sufficient to make for a compelling movie. I think Killgrave showed that pretty well in the Jessica Jones series. And it's possible to pull that off without having to go to the same level as creepiness just by focusing more on Diana being isolated by the people around her being controlled and her having to struggle with holding back against them while fighting them.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Lord...

Where to begin...


It just did not work.

The elements are all there ESPECIALLY the cast.

I still like to see Diana and Steve together.

I liked Pascal's needy Max Lord.

I like Wigg's fragile self confidence that sours to anger.


But mixed all together with a whole lot of "What or why is this happening?" elements like the entire 1984 conceit (There is literally nothing in the story that demands this be set in 1984, nor does it do anything to add ANYTHING to the story outside of a built in cheap gag justification for shirtty costuming and haircuts on background characters.) or the whole Steve is "borrowing" another guy's body angle, and it all doesn't add up to anything egrossing or engaging or interesting.


This is all a frustrating shame of a mess, particularly because there are some good scenes where the performers earn their money. The best of which is Diana's second goodbye to Steve that if the movie leading up to it had be emotionally and narratively coherent would have hit like a ton of bricks, Gadot and Pine do it so well... But the entire film before that is an opaque, unfocused mess so... It like so much else falls flat for me.

As for other parts that added to the lack luster and slog like nature of this movie... What was up with Jenkins' choice on how to present Diana's powers and combat prowess? This weird Tango/Ballroom dancing wire-fu combat just looked... Fake. Terribly fake despite the VFX being more than fine. But Diana in movment looked stilted and awkward too often.


Then there are a ton of WTFs that in a better film may not have even registered, but when the movie itself isn't compelling, well... Nit Picks away!

Is the world aware of Diana or not?

So... Diana has clearance to just... Take whatever spare jet is lying around or... What? If so, why did they try to stop her? Can a jet like that just up and make a transatlantic flight? Also... I call absolute bullshirt that Trevor could fly a jet fighter just cuz he flew Biplanes in WWI.

Diana can... Just make shirt invisible now when the plot askes for it? Okay.


Did Diana ever return home between 1918 and 1984? Did she even try? Why not? What of the gods? All gone? I know that's what it said in the first film but... Artifacts they created are still around flexing their divine power so...


And all of this I place squarely on the head of Jenkins who it seems was intent on essentially creating a big budget Lynda Carter WW episode done through the lens of Richard Donner's Superman and... It did not work, but the premise alone was bad becasue the Carter show was never good.


Highly disappointed to say the least.

This is the Quantum Of Solace of Wonder Woman movies.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

The thing that bothered me the most is the 80's setting has no reason to be there other than it seems Jenkins wanted it set there since she grew up in that era. Why not delve deeper into the cold war ramifications of the era? Why not touch on some topics from the Orwell 1984 book? The first hour seemed like a romantic sitcom.

But honestly the whole wishing stone and bringing Steve back should have been scrapped, I don't think you can expect people to take the movie seriously with those elements.

What did this being in 1984 add in specifics or generalities to the movie other than an exercise in pointless "I Love The 80'S' Nostalgia?

 

[Moncton]

What did this being in 1984 add in specifics or generalities to the movie other than an exercise in pointless "I Love The 80'S' Nostalgia?

This film was everything I feared when I saw the first trailer and read Patty's interviews- she liked the first Superman film and grew up in the 80's so she made the exact film she would have wanted to see then and decided to totally disregard what made the first film so great.

 

[dhandler01]

Lord...

Where to begin...


It just did not work.

The elements are all there ESPECIALLY the cast.

I still like to see Diana and Steve together.

I liked Pascal's needy Max Lord.

I like Wigg's fragile self confidence that sours to anger.


But mixed all together with a whole lot of "What or why is this happening?" elements like the entire 1984 conceit (There is literally nothing in the story that demands this be set in 1984, nor does it do anything to add ANYTHING to the story outside of a built in cheap gag justification for ****ty costuming and haircuts on background characters.) or the whole Steve is "borrowing" another guy's body angle, and it all doesn't add up to anything egrossing or engaging or interesting.


This is all a frustrating shame of a mess, particularly because there are some good scenes where the performers earn their money. The best of which is Diana's second goodbye to Steve that if the movie leading up to it had be emotionally and narratively coherent would have hit like a ton of bricks, Gadot and Pine do it so well... But the entire film before that is an opaque, unfocused mess so... It like so much else falls flat for me.

As for other parts that added to the lack luster and slog like nature of this movie... What was up with Jenkins' choice on how to present Diana's powers and combat prowess? This weird Tango/Ballroom dancing wire-fu combat just looked... Fake. Terribly fake despite the VFX being more than fine. But Diana in movment looked stilted and awkward too often.


Then there are a ton of WTFs that in a better film may not have even registered, but when the movie itself isn't compelling, well... Nit Picks away!

Is the world aware of Diana or not?

So... Diana has clearance to just... Take whatever spare jet is lying around or... What? If so, why did they try to stop her? Can a jet like that just up and make a transatlantic flight? Also... I call absolute bull**** that Trevor could fly a jet fighter just cuz he flew Biplanes in WWI.

Diana can... Just make **** invisible now when the plot askes for it? Okay.


Did Diana ever return home between 1918 and 1984? Did she even try? Why not? What of the gods? All gone? I know that's what it said in the first film but... Artifacts they created are still around flexing their divine power so...


And all of this I place squarely on the head of Jenkins who it seems was intent on essentially creating a big budget Lynda Carter WW episode done through the lens of Richard Donner's Superman and... It did not work, but the premise alone was bad becasue the Carter show was never good.


Highly disappointed to say the least.

This is the Quantum Of Solace of Wonder Woman movies.

Good God ALL OF THIS!! Especially the last sentence.