Wonder Woman 1984 Movie Review - Action Lassos Heart

In Wonder Woman 1984, it's the 1980’s and super-powered Diana Prince (Gal Godot) works in Cultural Anthropology and Archeology at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. She lives quietly alone with few friends, still mourning lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and surrounded by mortals who demand to “have it all”. She’s got her full powers but only secretly does anything heroic. When a strange artifact that proves to grant wishes is discovered, all heck breaks loose as villain Max Lord (Pedro Pascal) tries to control it and formerly meek gemologist Barbara Minera (Kristen Wiig) uses a wish to “be like Diana” to turn into a hot, confident but increasingly evil supervillain called the Cheetah.

The huge Amazon competitionCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Diana as a Tween

On the Amazon island of Themyscira, tween Diana Prince is the youngest participant in a difficult competition that showcases Amazonian powers. Her mom Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) worries about her. It’s an impressive and crazy obstacle course that the young warrior girl is winning until an accident causes her to take a short cut. Her trainer Antiope (Robin Wright) tells her she cheated and “no true hero is born from lies”. She’s not ready for the world outside yet but she will be. The disappointed tween doesn’t want to accept defeat and cries.

Tween Diana is the youngest Amazon competitorCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

1984

In Washington, D.C. joggers about to be run over and brides about to fall off bridges are suddenly saved at breakneck speed by a mystery woman. This is of course Wonder Woman secretly doing her thing. Most of the time the grown-up Diana works with antiquities at the famous Smithsonian Museum.  A television huckster selling shares in Black Gold Cooperative is Max Lord, a slimy pitchman telling his audience that they deserve it all, everything they want and investing in his firm is the way to get it. Diana as Wonder Woman foils a robbery of some ancient artifacts from the back room of a jewelry store. At home Diana is alone with photos of lost love Steve Trevor.

Max Lord runs an illegal schemeCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Meet Minerva

Meek, plain, ignored, badly-dressed gemologist Dr. Barbara Minerva meets Diana at work. Barbara greatly admires the confident, beautiful woman. When Barbara is asked by the FBI to identify a strange crystal artifact recovered from the robbery, Diana helps although Barbara says it’s citrine and not worth much. Diana can read the Latin on the base, something about making a wish. Not thinking it would ever work, Diana secretly wishes she could see Steve again. The two women become friends and as Barbara walks through a park and is attacked, it is Diana, sans Wonder Woman gear, who saves her. Later, Barbara goes to the museum, looks at the crystal and wishes she were like Diana, strong, sexy, cool and special. The next day everyone who ever ignored Barbara thinks she is hot and important!

Barbara meets Diana at workCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Max and the Gala

Oil share salesman Max comes to the museum and agrees to donate a huge amount of money. He secretly wants the crystal and flirts with Barbara to get his hands on it. We see that his company isn’t doing well at all. He has loads of overdue bills and is trying to convince his young son Alister that he isn’t a failure or a conman.

Max flirts with Barbara to get the DreamstoneCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

At a big gala to celebrate Max’s donation, he takes the crystal, called a “Dreamstone” from a now very hot Barbara promising that a friend of his can tell them more about it. Meanwhile, a guy Diana has never seen before confronts her at the gala, saying things that only Steve would know and suddenly he IS Steve. They hug, kiss, walk and talk. Did her wish come true?

Diana and Steve are reunitedCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

True Love….Again

Diana goes to where Steve is living. When he looks in the mirror he is this other guy but she only sees Steve.  While Max wishes to actually be the wish-granting Dreamstone and Barbara wakes to find that she is super strong, Diana wakes beside Steve who is eating crackers in bed.

Once meek Barbara is now a hottieCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

How did this crystal bring her boyfriend back…in another body? While Max wishes away a man who threatens his operation, Steve tries on a load of new 1980’s outfits, most of which Diana nixes as just too weird. Diana takes Steve to the Space Museum where, as a pilot, he is thrilled like a little kid. Max goes to his office where phones are ringing and his formerly “dry” wells are coming in bigtime!

Steve tries on some lame '80's outfitsCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Where is the Dreamstone?

After learning that Barbara loaned the Dreamstone out to Max, a miffed Diana with Steve, sneaks into Max’s headquarters looking for it. All they find is the base which did not disintegrate when Max wished to “be” the stone.

Max wants to become the wishing stoneCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

They also find various drawings of it. Max had been searching for it. On the base is the language of the Gods. Diana asks Barbara to find out where the stone/crystal is originally from. Some Gods make powerful objects like her Lasso of Truth and some objects carry evil with their power. Max Lord should not have this power. They follow him to Cairo in a jet they steal from the museum that Steve has to quickly learn to fly. His love of flying impresses Diana.

Steve and Diana steal a jet to fly to CairoCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Tough Revenge

Meanwhile, Barbara runs into the guy who tried to mug her in the park earlier. With her new powers she is able to beat him up badly, to her satisfaction. In Cairo, Max steals an Emir’s security team. Diana and Steve spot them on the road. Max lets them know that now he actually is the wishing stone. After an action-packed fight, Max gets away.

Wonder Woman and Steve fight Max on the road in CairoCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Barb has learned that the stone is at least 4,000 years old and has popped up through history in various civilizations that then fall. Further investigation shows that it was an evil and powerful Mayan God who created the wish stone but that it takes something loved and valuable from everyone who wishes on it. Diana has been feeling weaker. Is wishing for Steve’s return taking her powers?

Is Diana weaker because of her wish?Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Give Up Our Wishes?

In order to reverse the destruction, everyone must take back or renounce their wishes and give back what was given. This would mean Steve would disappear and Barbara would lose all her new confidence and power. She is not gonna let that happen!

Barbara doesn't want to return to her more nerdy selfCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Since Max is now the stone, Diana reasons that killing him might solve everyone’s problem. Max has realized that he will be more powerful if he grants everyone on Earth their wish. He can do this by using a world-wide satellite broadcasting system. He will go on international TV and ask everyone to make a wish.

Chaos

The many weird wishes throughout the world cause severe chaos and near war. How can Wonder Woman stop this? As she and Steve grow even closer, she shows him the golden armor of ancient Amazon super warrior Asteria. It can make her almost invincible.

Wonder Woman wears Asteria's armorCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

She’s still getting weaker as Barbara gets stronger and allies herself with power-crazy Max. As the world is on the brink of nuclear war, a shattered Diana realizes that she will have to renounce her wish and give up Steve to regain her full power and that Barbara has become a super-villain. Can Wonder Woman don the armor of Asteria, beat Barbara and stop Max from destroying Earth? Will this involve getting everyone on the planet to give back what their wishes gave them?

Can Wonder Woman save Earth again?Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Wrapping Up

Wonder Woman 1984 has a great action opening with a creative, effects-packed competition among Amazons on Themyscira Island when Diana Prince was a tween. Hope you enjoy it because you won’t really see Wonder Woman in action for about an hour!  When you do, action focuses on her Lasso of Truth. No shield or sword in sight this time around.

Wonder Woman uses her lasso of truth....a lotCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The film is too long, too melodramatic in parts and has a hokey premise… a wishing rock? That great chemistry between Gal Godot and Chris Pine is back and provides some tear-jerker and romantic moments but for the most part, although he does participate in the action/fight scenes, Steve Trevor is tagging along with Diana/Wonder Woman as she is researching and searching for something or somebody without using her powers. Or, we are stuck with making wishes, having them come true then needing to reject them to survive. It’s like a wishing well threw up all over the unfocused movie. Yes the message of being careful what you wish for and that greed destroys is workable but hardly unique.

Gal Gadot and Chris Pine have great chemistryCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The tribute to the “gimme everything” 1980’s is fun as are the era-appropriate costumes. It’s also a nice switch from the first WW movie to have Steve Trevor be the stranger in a strange time/land this time. Chris Pine provides some humor as his Steve is fascinated by all things ‘80’s: leg warmers, Pop-Tarts, fanny packs, parachute pants, jet planes etc.

Diana is a knock out in her '80's gownCourtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

It’s satisfying to see Pedro Pascal’s face a bit more than in his gig as “The Mandalorian” but he seemed to me oddly miscast as the power-mad villain who is most of the time way over the top then suddenly, after Wonder Woman talks him down, gives it all up for the love of his young son.  It’s the usually comic Kristen Wiig who is most impressive as the meek and put down gemologist Barbara Minerva who wishes she were “like Diana” and slowly morphs into a confident hottie then a bitter, power-mad supervillain.  You go girl! Of course I did think of Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy character in Batman dud Batman and Robin.  She also was, at first, a plain and meek scientist turned powerful hottie.

Many scenes go on too long just because they are pretty… like Diana and Steve flying through the middle of a fireworks show. We don’t really get why Barbara Minerva just turns into a human cheetah when she opts for ultimate power over helping to stop chaos on Earth. Why a cheetah? This origin story isn’t really explained here and, for those not familiar with the Cheetah character, it needs to be.  

A real saving grace is that Wonder Woman 1984 provides a strong dash of hope and faith in the overall human ability to sacrifice for the greater good that we certainly need an abundance of right now! Diana sacrifices a lot, as does Steve. Even villain Max backs down a bit for his young son. We must have faith in ourselves and others to survive. We can admire that and maybe forgive some of the film’s flaws. We award 3 stars. Keep watching the credits for a very cool cameo that involves Asteria.

Wonder Woman 1984 Movie Rating: 

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

See Wonder Woman 1984 in some theaters and on HBO Max starting December 25^th