2.5 stars
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Lucian Perez, Lilly Aspell, Robin Wright and Connie Nielsen
Rating: PG-13, for fantasy violence
Available via: HBO MAX
By Derrick Bang
The sophomore curse has struck again.
At 151 minutes, director Patty Jenkins’ second shot at the Amazing Amazon overstays its welcome by at least a half-hour. The script by Jenkins, Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham hasn’t anywhere near the depth to sustain such length.
On top of which, while Pedro Pascal may be a pop-culture sensation as The Mandalorian, he makes a truly terrible primary villain here. His Maxwell Lord is a burlesque Trumpian megalomaniac: absolutely not worth Wonder Woman’s time (or ours).
Wonder Woman 1984 review: A lacklustre sequel
When Gal Gadot swings, swishes, slides and sashays into a fight, and slings the bad guys with her lasso, she remains a delight to watch. However, the story takes too long to get around to fights worth fighting for, wasting its first punches and precious screen time on two-penny, amateur robbers.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Updated: December 24, 2020 11:31:48 pm
Wonder Woman 1984 has hit Indian theatres.
Wonder Woman 1984 cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal
Wonder Woman 1984 director: Patty Jenkins
Wonder Woman 1984 rating: Two stars
Three years ago, director Jenkins and actor Gadot established a winsome Wonder Woman who warmed hearts as much as she torched the bad guys. Gorgeous as she was, Diana Prince was also vulnerable, who loved and lost. Wonder Woman 1984 (there seems no real reason to go to 1984 except that it brings in “the Soviet Union”) doesn’t have the freshness of
“Wonder Woman 1984” is neither the best thing under the tree nor a prime candidate for regifting. It’s a moderately diverting sequel. That means it’s also a distinct drop down from the 2017 origin story.
Patty Jenkins return as director, co-writer and producer for “WW84.” Her hectic follow-up shares some welcome traits with the first one: sincerity, an agreeable sense of scale in its first half, and an intriguingly grave Gal Gadot teamed once again with Chris Pine’s ardent flyboy Steve Trevor.
But the plotting is all over the place, leaving Diana Prince (aka WW) a little lost in it all.
Review: With big villains and bigger hair, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ is a gloriously overstuffed sequel
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
The lessons of “Wonder Woman 1984” are a bit like the movie itself: familiar, direct and winningly sincere. “No true hero is born from lies.” “Greatness is not what you think.” “Beware what you wish for.” There’s a prosaic quality to these cautionary statements, which might have elicited an eye-roll in less assured hands. But here, as in the enormously successful “Wonder Woman” (2017), the director Patty Jenkins and her star, Gal Gadot, have mastered the art of cornball conviction. If what you wish for this season is high spirits, earnest emotions and the unironically delightful sight of Chris Pine in a fanny pack, well, consider it granted.
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