Wonder Woman 1984

Wonder Woman 1984 is out in select theaters and streaming on HBO Max today. So far it seems to be polarizing audiences in its ability to live up to its predecessor. Some had fun with it, while others were completely turned off by its campiness.

The story here is simple. We meet up with Diana (Gal Gadot) in 1984, where she's spent quite a few decades grieving over her lost love Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) while occasionally saving the day here and there. Through work, she meets Barbara Minerva (Kristen Wiig), an awkward loner who quite literally wishes she could be as cool as Diana. Little did she and Diana know, she happened to make that wish on an actual wishing stone that their organization had obtained, a stone with power to grant wishes but to take something in return. So Barbara is granted with Diana's power at the cost of her humanity. Meanwhile, Diana too makes a wish on the stone which brings her lost love Steve back to her. But the stone has captured the eye of a broke mogul named Max Lord, who steals the stone for himself and then wishes to become the stone. Diana must save the world and stop these wishes from destroying mankind from itself.

While the plot is pretty silly, it's almost trying to mimic the simplicity of action/adventure films of the era in which the film is set. The 80's weren't really known for complex plots in blockbuster movies, so I have no issue with the cheesiness and often cartoon nature of the film. Would this have been the sequel I wrote for Wonder Woman? No, it would not. I definitely think there were other decades that would have been a lot more fun to explore and see her save the day in, but seeing Gal return in the role here set in the 80s and having so much fun is just fine with me. Pedro Pascal hams it up while Kristen Wiig is surprisingly great (a lot of people felt she was miscast for the role.) Chris Pine is charming and he and Gal continue to have great chemistry.

Wonder Woman 1984 as a whole, but especially it's incredibly earnest ending, is almost a test of a viewer's cynicism and ability to endure suspension of disbelief. For some, it will be too much to handle and they'll laugh it off, for others it will be just another comic book movie and they'll be able to enjoy it just fine. I'm among the latter in that I believe Wonder Woman 1984 is harmless popcorn fun, and not something to take too seriously.