There are shades of Lex Luthor from Superman 2 here, which further crystallizes that nostalgia for a more classic type of storytelling. Similarly, Pedro Pascal’s Maxwell Lord is a man tormented by the towering shadow of classic male demands he should be successful, wealthy, powerful, and all at the expense of his requirements as a father. Delaying her transition to a visual effects character allows Wiig’s humanity to shine, even through the layers of fur-print clothing she accumulates. Evil Wiig isn’t quite the all-out delight that you’d hope for, but her measured metamorphosis ensures she’s only transformed into a CGI boss fight when it’s truly necessary.
For much of the runtime, Barbara is a highly likable character with a misguided ambition to match the glamour of Diana, which is a role that Wiig effortlessly takes on. Kristen Wiig’s transformation from Barbara Ann Minerva to classic Wonder Woman archenemy Cheetah comes via a lens that’s frustrated with misogyny and the everyday abuse of women. WW84 is careful to apply similar humanity to almost all of its subjects. This is all explored relatively simply, but the difficult moment that concludes this arc is a powerful payoff. As with so many invulnerable heroes, it takes this exposing of her fears and exploitation of her spirit to truly damage her. Her solitary existence is painful and is beautifully conveyed by Gadot in both intense moments of tears and fleeting, simpler acts. That was, of course, the fabric of Jenkins’ previous film, and so Wonder Woman 1984 builds upon that by examining the loneliness Diana endures due to her supernaturally long life. Love and compassion are her driving force, layered on top of the morality and duty we’ve seen in characters like Clark Kent and Steve Rogers, and that lends an authenticity to her world-saving antics. Many moments from the action sequences could be freeze-framed and turned into a perfect comic book cover, largely thanks to the clarity and colour provided by the daytime lighting and clear angles opted for by cinematographer Matthew Jensen.īut it is Gadot’s emotional performance that cements WW84 as the quintessential Wonder Woman film.
Much like with the Russo brothers’ treatment of Captain America, the choreography team working with Gadot understands how to apply a physical language to all of Wonder Woman’s movements, ensuring every slide, whip, and strike are wholly unique to the character.
Be it swinging from literal lightning bolts or sliding through the corridors of the White House, Gal Gadot’s physical embodiment of Wonder Woman is in top form. For my money, this is the best Diana Prince has ever looked in action. That’s not to say that Jenkins doesn’t pull out all the action stops when she needs to, though.
That’s swapped for something admirably low-key for a modern superhero flick, driven by a morality message that neatly calls back to the mythological cautionary tales that superhero comics owe such a debt to. However, this old-school approach does neatly help avoid the CGI-drenched smashdown that left such a sour taste at the end of the previous Wonder Woman. The use of these older tropes means the plot treads a more traditional path than that of the rest of DC’s Extended Universe movies, which makes for a film that’s deeply classical in structure and lacking in any fresh innovation for the genre. While the central storyline is a love letter to those older superhero movies, wider plot devices also pull from 1980s staples elements of body-swap comedy and nerd-to-cool evolutions are gleefully toyed with, albeit sometimes only for a fleeting moment.
While this style of direction eventually fades into something more contemporary, the homage to that period - particularly 1981’s Superman 2 - continues throughout, permeating many of its ideas and cementing it as a joyful celebration of DC’s film roots. As Wonder Woman swings into action for the first time with a montage of rescue shots that look purposely low fidelity, it becomes clear that Jenkins is emulating the Christopher Reeve era of superhero cinema.