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Hey Warner Brothers, could I borrow a “Mother Box” from Justice League (2017) to teleport from 1984 back to 1918 when we first met up with Steve Trevor and Diana Prince in Wonder Woman (2017)?
Why start my review this way?
With the exception of the poor visual effects used to depict Aries: The God of War, during Diana’s epic final battle, in the first film, I would have given Wonder Woman (2017) a Spicy, 4.5-5 JoulePepper rating for its enjoyable storytelling, casting, pacing and overall direction. Unfortunately, my review for this film is the opposite.
That was the past, WW84 is now…sorta! While the visual effects were on-point this time around, this original story, written by director Patty Jenkins, just falls flat. In contrast to the well developed, more grounded 2017 story that makes you feel like you are in a 1918 period piece, this 2020 “comic book” film forces you to suspend disbelief, taking the view out of the his hollow tale, multiple times. While many parts of the film were enjoyable, I left the theater with neither the feeling that this film was set in 1984, nor than it was anything more than a bad super hero film, from that same over the top, decade.
To be fair, the casting was excellent. Gal Gadot IS Wonder Woman / Diana Prince! Even though I grew up with Lind Carter (1975-1979) in the lead role, Gadot owns the dual character role in every way. The supporting cast of Kristen Wiig (Cheetah), Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) and Pedro Pascal as the film’s main antagonist, Maxwell Lord, who perhaps, stole the film with a stellar performance.
As I am in based on of Singapore, I was fortune to catch the film in IMAX instead of on HBOMax. The widescreen cinematography did not disappoint, especially the opening sequence in Themiscyra (Wonder Woman’s hidden, invisible island) and in the amazing pursuit sequences that were shot in the Middle East.
While the location shots, visual effects and cast worked well, the story and disjointed direction just didn’t cut it, for me. Perhaps my expectations were just too high, as I saw Aquaman (2018), Wonder Woman (2017) and Man of Steel (2013) as the best of the Jack Snyder DC Expanded Universe, to date, giving me higher hopes for this sequel, as a I do, for the next installment in this trilogy. All of that said, I regrettably give this film, 2.5-3 JoulePeppers – it’s between Warm-Cold. Sorry Diana!
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BTW: Don’t forget to stay for the End Credits scene!
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