Reviews

Ok, not perfect by any stretch...

The Bad: The CGI was indeed subpar... the excuse that that's how the Flash would experience the speedforce is clearly an excuse.

The interaction with Batfleck and WW is also weak. Barry's anxiety is endearing unto himself but transferral of that to his superhero peers is lazy writing and, sadly, sets a low bar for the rest of the movie.

More interactions with Barry's mom would have gone a longer way into us buying into his hurt, even though most of us can indeed empathize/sympathize with the loss of a mother... still didn't have much gravitas to the loss.

You've got to come full circle at the end, at least with Batfleck... no hate on who they used at the end but it's still weak writing, especially if DC plans to reboot the Universe... try to plug the holes!

The Good: Keaton is every bit deserving of the role for the sake of the story, even if the Thomas Wayne story would've definitely been better IMO, and could've closed a wonderful circle with Batfleck at the end.

The new Flash suit isn't that bad and the explanation for other Barry's suit is hilarious and understandable.

Getting a peek into other DC multiverse worlds was cool; certainly not a negative when we get to see Reeves' Superman standing shoulder to shoulder with his cousin, Slater's Supergirl. Also Cage's Superman come to life even if for a few seconds was very, very cool. Would've been even cooler if we got a peek at Miller's Justice League... I'm sure there exists enough archival footage for that.

Sasha Calle is amazing as Supergirl! Can't hate on anything she did. Would be great to see her with Henry Cavill though... the explanation for Cavill's Superman not appearing in this film was acceptable though... shame that we have to contend with James Gunn's future vision of DC without Cavill's Superman.

There's as much to like as dislike, and that makes the movie that much more frustrating. DC just always seems to 'get close' but never hits the mark.

I can't see it getting better under James Gunn... hopefully all these financial losses will see him replaced and Zack Synder given his chance to fulfill his vision... though this remains highly unlikely at time of writing.

All in all, decent popcorn flick but could've been so much more and I would've comfortably watched an extra hour to get that satisfaction.

Shame... 6/10.

I must begin by admitting off the bat that it was always going to be difficult to remain objective, given the immeasurable charm that Gal Gadot possesses, and her absolute owning of the character... this coming from someone whose first crush in life is Lynda Carter (great mid-Credits scene btw)

Further, I believe that a good analysis must account for what was the creative team's (Jenkins and company) likely vision for the project. Starting with what I believe is spinning Gal's Wonder Woman into a modern-day Christopher Reeve's Superman (Richard Donner). It is this attempt to have Gal's WW evoke the brightness and hope that exuded from Reeve's Superman that is its saving grace and greatest shortcoming all at once.

It is no secret that Zack Snyder's darkness and edginess has been displaced from the individual DCEU movies but it appears that the over-awareness of same is what has caused a wonderfully filmed project to fall considerably short of what it could have been. As in, too many scenes were longer than they needed to be, often trying too hard to spoon feed a conscience/feeling/emotion that wasn't necessary... the audience wasn't given a chance to think beyond what was presented and this is problematic as it makes for one-dimesional storytelling and no deeper investment in the characters. For instance, while I was expecting to be gutted when WW said goodbye to Steve this time, there was nothing... not even the tiniest of heartstrings pulled. And just to wrap-up on Steve, whose lines and seamless interactions with WW were great, I can't help but address the elephant in the room with respect to WW basically raping someone and taking them away from their life and having to battle with her conscience about releasing him from her wish. In a Me-Too world, this seems a bit too 80s, even for #WW84.

On the 80s, the soundtrack was lacking. Many movies that are 80s-set make the mistake of overdoing the soundtrack almost to the point of gagging but the exact opposite was the case here; there wasn't enough proper music to get the audience there. Sure, the clothes and the lack of mobile phones/devices did part of the job but the 80s have been back for a while and even Pedro Pascal's pseudo-Trump didn't figure into the 80s for most because Trump is (sadly) relevant today. The caricature portrayed did nothing to take us back to the 80s at all. I think maybe a bit more Gordon Gecko would've done the trick.

As far as the story goes, the screenplay is ok but for those who remember the Spider-Woman cartoon from the 80s, the Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) cartoon was a complete ripoff of the very popular Lynda Carter Wonder Woman vehicle and the storylines (while perfectly fine for Saturday morning cartoon fare) exemplified that of a cheap knockoff of said WW television show. The problem here with #WW84 is that it plays, for the most part, like a story for the 80s Spider-Woman cartoon. Again, fine for what that was but one would have expected a more sophisticated story, given Geoff Johns' involvement. I will say though, that it is good for DC to double down on the fact that magic exists in their universe as many of their upcoming projects will rely on this kind of mysticism to propel the DCEU forward (Black Adam, Shazam, Flash, etc.) However, given that DC execs thought it fine to proceed with a 2hr30mins+ runtime, one would think that a bit more time could have gone into the history of the Wishing Stone a bit more to add some gravitas to the consequences that it brought about.

Even when everything was restored to normal, there was no arresting of the two antagonists or even public admonition of the their actions. There is the possibility that everyone may have forgotten what transpired after the wishes were voided but that wasn't cleared up either. If anything, it kinda 'vagued up' the DCEU a bit as other heroes would've been alive when this was happening and usually large-scale events such as this would have impact on a larger shared Universe.

With Gal's WW being positioned as the modern equivalent of Reeve's Superman, the moral at the beginning could've also been better crafted to tie in with the climax. That is to say, little Princess Diana didn't so much lie as she was, at least in my mind, resourceful and figured out how to get back on track. I mean, she made her way back to the same horse on the right track after having been knocked off... where is the cheating in that? If anything, it's a grey area while she was penalized in a very clear-cut manner. I think the message was very wrong for young girls watching out there. There were many ways that the moral could have been highlighted given the dynamic obstacle course and resources at the Director's disposal. Not to take away from the ending, however... I thought the idea of defeating the Big Bad without another physical confrontation was a grand way to end the battle.

I didn't think Cheetah's CGI was bad to be honest. I mean, it's a magic-imbued-Cheetah-woman. The fight was ok. Too much claw-on-wing action but that's just me.

And finally, Kristen Wiig... she really did nothing wrong. In fact, in many ways, this was her movie, and that came with its own set of problems. While being extremely likable as more people can resonate with her character than the ultra-majestic creature that is Gal Gadot, her evolution into Cheetah almost made her an anti-hero in many regards and we needed to hate some people to add that extra weight to the movie. Even Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord wasn't completely unlikable himself. The bit about his son was necessary for the purposes of the climax but having a son weakened his position as a Big Bad tremendously and, quite frankly, made his motivations very predictable which could have been dealt with, again, in a more sophisticated manner.

In trying to showcase Wonder Woman as the DCEU's bastion of hope a la Christopher Reeve's Superman, while attempting to lend 80s authenticity and sensibility, and falling victim to the 'doubling up on super-villains in a sequel' trap, Jenkins and company tried to serve too many masters and ended up with a watered-down version of what could've been a worthy sequel.

The movie could've done with one less villain and more concise, quick-witted storytelling while focusing on the internal struggles of Gal's #WonderWoman as she is still on her path to becoming a hero. We aren't really reminded of this until coming close to the end of the movie, even if she has been operating as a sort of vigilante prior to.

In complete contravention to the Zack Snyder campaign for his Justice League, I would have to sum up my review for #WonderWoman1984 by saying, #ReleaseTheStudioCut, as it seems something shorter and more cookie cutter would've hit closer to the mark.