 Is it just me, or are DC films the undisputed champions of the "mixed review". The first 'Wonder Woman' seemed to be the most positively reviewed while basically everything else ends up being a fun ride with some great visual effects, but with little substance. People love them just as much as people seem to hate them, and some, like myself, aren't exactly fans, but understand some of the appeal. This is one of those truly medium entries into the DC library. A friend of mine gave it a one-word review of "meh", and I have to say, I'm right there with him.
The film opens sometime in the past where a young Diana Prince (Lilly Aspell) participates in an athletic competition for the Amazonian women on Themyscira (the hidden world where the Amazonians live). This part of the film is pretty awesome, and could easily be watched a a clip before going through the first (and far superior) film; it sets up Diana's overall character. I won't say much about it, but it's a lot of fun, a good point is made, and it makes you think of Diana's actions as a hero the first time around. It's a very entertaining section of the film, and Lilly Aspell is one of these young actors I would suggest keeping an eye on for years to come - she delivers enough that you can really route for her, and in such a short window of time. After a peek at Diana's youth, we Fast-forward to 1984, where Diana works as a senior anthropologist as the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. In the meantime, she fights crime as Wonder Woman throughout the city. One day, at work, she meets an insecure brainiac named Barbara Ann Minerva (Kristen Wiig), who looks up to Diana, and even envies her. Barbara is asked by the FBI to examine a relic that appears to be simple plastic, but apparently has the ability to grant wishes. Barbara makes a wish to be more like Diana, and Diana unknowingly makes a wish to see her deceased lover, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) again. Diana gets her wish (kind of) as Steve returns in the body of another man, but more interestingly, Barbara inadvertently becomes more like Diana than she could have imagined. Meanwhile our villain is a wealthy oil tycoon named Max Lorenzano (Pedro Pascal) who is after the stone (dubbed the "Dream Stone") to not only save his failing oil company, but go power hungry and wish to become the embodiment of the Dream Stone itself. This way, he has the power to not only grant wishes, but take whatever he wants. Each wish comes with a cost, however, and there's a bit of a Money's Paw thing going on through the film. While the first film easily remains DC's best modern title (at least in the 'Justice League' Universe), its follow-up isn't terrible, but fairly bland. If 'Wonder Woman' is a fresh, cold, glass bottle of Coca-Cola, '84' is a bit more like an unrefrigerated can of Coke you got from your basement stash - it's tolerable, but it's just nowhere near the same. A lot about this is very reminiscent of older superhero movies, and 'Batman Returns' was a title that kept springing to mind. I find Barbara's journey here very drawn from Michelle Pfeifer's Catwoman. Hell, she even becomes Cheetah Girl, and gets manipulated by a rich tycoon named "Max". This is where my mixed emotions about the film really come into play. The fact of the matter is, this is a movie entitles 'Wonder Woman 1984', so for it to play like an oldschool superhero movie does make a lot of sense. That said, however, it still feels like a somewhat lazy excuse to go back to nostalgic roots instead of giving us a worthy follow-up to such a great predecessor. 'Wonder Woman' is DC's bread and butter, and though the film wasn't necessarily bad, it wasn't quite what it could have been. I can't say I was thoroughly disappointed; this wasn't like watching 'Batman & Robin'. But it might be in the same realm as... well, 'Batman Returns' - it's okay, but it has nothing on the previous film. It's just average at best, and certainly not the heroic film the first one was. 3/5
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