I’m a sucker for superhero movies so I knew I was bound to watch Wonder Woman 1984 at some point, regardless of the mixed reviews I was seeing online. I was at the cinema during the holiday season to try to catch Disney/Pixar’s Soul instead but the movie was sold out and I didn’t want to waste my trip so I got one of the remaining tickets left for WW84, cautiously optimistic. If you accept the premise that WW84 had intentionally allowed obvious CGI and awkward cinematography as a throwback to 80s styles, then the movie is actually an entertaining filler flick in the DC lineup, and that’s not always a bad thing.

Diana Prince has moved past WW2 and is now in the 80s, still healing from the loss of her lover Steve Trevor. She works in the Smithsonian at DC where she comes across the Dreamstone, a stone that grants one wish to every individual. It’s obvious what she wishes for, and of course, there is always a sinister power that also wants to abuse the great boon, setting up Diana for a conflict.

The storyline, while originally intriguing, quickly turns into a cliché exploration of the costs involved with chasing our desires. Perhaps it’s meant to be emblematic of the allure of the 80s where everything seemed achievable in the capitalist West, but even so I was left uninspired. Even Diana’s character development is conventional – she learns to give up her heart’s desires in favor of the “truth” (in actuality, in favor of duty), but this does not come across as much of a big deal.

I had mixed feelings about the technical aspects of the film. The cinematography, costuming and music while clearly 80s-based were also inconsistent. I did not necessarily feel completely immersed in the period and that made me still feel like an outsider peering in on the story.

What makes up for all of it however, is Pedro Pascal’s Max Lord. Punching in with the right comical expressions and really filling the character well, it’s ironic that in a movie touted to be a celebration of feminist values, it is the male villain that stands out. Wiig’s Cheetah is reductive and ironically a boring trope of the vengeful woman, while Gadot’s Wonder Woman does not really demonstrate any serious growth in this episode. They could look to ScarJo’s Black Widow or even Aja-Adanna’s Shuri on how to balance action, intellect and intimacy through cinematic expression.

All in all, there’s not much gain from watching WW84 but it’s also not a horrible movie, so worth watching for whatever fun you can get out of it.

All in all, here are my ratings for the movie:

Cinematography: 3/5

Screenwriting: 3/5

Musical Score: 4/5

Acting/ Performance: 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5