WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
As you can guess based on this blog, I am a massive film lover – so it really does take a lot for me to find a film that I dislike. I understand that the first Wonder Woman film was rushed in order to be ready in time to be released before Justice League so I had high hopes that the second film would be better given that more time would be spent on it. For once I’ll get to the point right away, I was disappointed…
The Storyline
This is actually the one and only place that the first film wins out for me. Wonder Woman actually has the feel of a superhero film – a real good vs evil story. Alright, there’s the love interest (Steve Trevor – an actual DC character…had to check, thought he was made up for the film) but they don’t focus on that side of it too much. Here is where Wonder Woman 1984 falters. So much of the film is focused on their relationship that there’s a whole scene about her showing him 80s Washington. Who cares? I wanted to watch a superhero film not a romantic comedy.
The Fight Scenes
(Sighs audibly) These really could have been better. With such a hard hitting piece of instrumental music being used – which I notice is toned down in Wonder Woman 1984 – so much more could have been done here. If I had to pick, possibly the best fight scene is in the White House…until the slow-mo. Please don’t get me started on the slow-mos. It’s bad enough that Gadot’s fights in the first film look sped up let alone the slow motion looking like a CGI double. Did she not spend enough time training for this role?
Use of CGI
As I’ve mentioned it above, this seems to be the next best stop on our ‘What’s wrong with Wonder Woman?’ tour. I’ll hold my hands up and say that at least the scenes of the Amazons on horseback and the actions that follow look much better in the second film than the first. However, the failings in this sense for Wonder Woman can be put down to the fact that it was rushed (not making an excuse, it’s a known fact) but there’s no excuses for the second film. Especially when you look at Aquaman which came out two years prior and all the MCU (that’s Marvel Cinematic Universe for anyone who doesn’t know) films that have been released around it.
The Character as a Whole
I was very vocal at the time of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman announcement because I did not, and still don’t, believe that she was the right fit for the character. My opinion wasn’t in any way swayed by quite how posy they made certain shots of her. (Woo, she’s a model – we get it!) In addition to this, for what is supposed to be a strong Amazonian woman who girls reading comic books around the world have idolised and I’m sure aspired to be like – they actually made her quite emotionally weak.
In Conclusion
As I said from the offset (for the first time EVER!), I was seriously disappointed with both of these films. The second one more than the first because I really hoped that it might save itself from the failings of its predecessor but I was sadly let down. It is actually because of films like this with in the DC Universe, that I have been swayed more towards the MCU even though I had always been a DC fan.
