Wonder Woman 84 movie review

Wonder Woman 84 movie review

"The best comic book movie of 2020"

4/5 Reviewed by Adi Mursec

It’s been a tough year for movies and overall to most people too due to Covid-19 but one thing that did cheer me up a was the announcement HBO Max made when they said they would release the movie online on Christmas Day and in some cinemas in the UK even earlier, although most cinemas in the UK have remained closed.

Saying that you can’t go off box office ticket sales which I’ve seen many websites slating saying the movie only made so much money in its theatrical release when it’s not right to compare the movie like that. I imagine this was a big hit to the cast and crew who worked hard for year to get the movie made.

I’m a big fan of the DC movie, I think they have been pushed around a lot by WB and post production edits, thankfully HBO Max has brought Zack Snyder back to remaster them and make things right again. A good example of this would be Batman Vs Superman, the original release had a story that was all over the place but the ultimate edition did rectify most of that with the extra scenes cut from the movie.

The first Wonder Woman movie was a huge success, nobody really expected it to get the reception it did with it being the first time we saw her on the big screen in her own movie and that set the expectations very high for the sequel.

Although I don’t think Wonder Woman 84 had the action and emotion the first one did it’s still a very good movie. I think some of this was maybe down to watching it at home, you just don’t get the full effect of a movie like this at home, a TV just can’t compare to the Imax experience.

Casting wise I thought they did very well. Pedro Pascal plays the main villain Maxwel Lord, Pedro being part of the biggest movie and biggest TV show with the Mandelorian makes him a pretty big name in 2020. He goes from a desperate business man to another man corrupted by greed and godlike power. Overall he delivered the character very well, it was far from his comic book incarnation from what I can remember but for the movie he delivered it all.

We also get to see Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva / Cheetah who was amazing in the movie. I really like how she helped bring in a few jokes and you saw her character evolve from the nerdy victim to power consumed Cheetah, my only problem is how hard it would be for her to return in any future movies.

One thing I loved was the 80s feeling about the movie, it was part of the modern DC cinematic universe but easily bridges the Christopher Reeve Superman movies with the way it’s filmed and has that tone and humour baked into it. I liked how it also brought in the fashion from the original Wonder Woman TV show so there was really something for new and old fans.

It’s got the the point where I’d find it hard to imagine someone else playing Wonder Woman now other than Gal Gadot. She’s done really well representing the character and working so hard to bring her to life in the movies. She didn’t have a big acting background before being cast in Batman Vs Superman but she’s running with some big stars now and I hope she keeps playing the character for a few more movies.

Bringing Chris Pine back for the second movie was a good move too. His Steve works well with Diana in the movies. Also bringing a character back from the dead isn’t easy but they did it pretty smoothly.

Special effect wise they kept it modest but also managed to show us something new too, they way they managed to put Wonder Woman’s invisible jet in the movie was very creative and worked well, there are a lot of things that don’t translate well from comics to movies as you can get away with things being too believable in comics and if they just threw her into some invisible jet it wouldn’t have worked but making it so she could cloak things give it some character development and a nice surprise to fans.

She can also pretty much fly now too which was a bit reminiscent of some of the movies where we’ve seen Superman learn to fly. There is a big where she flys with Steve and it reminded me a bit of when Christopher Reeved Superman gets interviewed by Lois Lane and takes her flying, the amazement in their eyes really was well done.

A year or so ago I felt like watching some 90s horror movies and came across one produced by Wes Craven called The Wishmaster.  It was about a dark demon who was trapped in a stone, when the stone was broken his power was released and he went around making people wish for things which would usually end up killing them. He was responsible for destroying civilisations throughout history an and people were always left wanting to take back their wish. With each wish he got more powerful.  I know the whole ‘ be careful what you wish for’ thing has been used in a lot of movies I couldn’t help connect these two as the villains had so much in common, it could have been a sequel.

Another thing I think could have helped would have to be use more of an 80s soundtrack, they did incorporate a few tracks and maybe they wouldn’t have suited the tone but it would have been fun. I like how the Cobra Kai TV show has done theirs with 80s musing used throughout and it worked for Guardians of the Galaxy to help transport you to the decade.

I think the next movie I think we will see Wonder Woman in will be Zack Snyders Justice League followed by possibly a cameo in the Flash movie and the rumoured Justice League 2.  At the moment unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a Wonder Woman 3 in production and Patty Jenkins is going to be busy working on Rogue Squadron with Disney for a few years but who knows, if this movie does well they might have no option than to do another sequel.

Overall a really fun movie. maybe not as strong a story as the first but it’s still a lot of fun to watch and I’m so happy they managed to release it on Christmas day in a very challenging year.

Posted by Adi Mursec on December 26, 2020

Meanwhile...

Wonder Woman 84 opening in UK cinemas 9 days before US release in 2020

In a surprise Christmas announcement to fans WB/DC have said Wonder Woman84 will in fact get a 2020 release date.

Mayling Ng thrown from horse while filming Scorpion King

Wonder Woman actress Mayling Ng thrown from horse during the last week filming the Scorpion King movie, walks back on set a few days later.

Watch Tina Guo performing the Wonder Woman theme

Watch that epic Wonder Woman theme being performed by musician Tina Guo along with the extended version of the tune.

Wonder Woman movie review

Sharing some thoughts on the 2017 Wonder Woman movie. Gal Gadot has really made this role her own and shown us just how epic a good female superhero movie can be.

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