Wonder Woman 1984
Gal Gadot finally returns as Wonder Woman in a mediocre shambles that refuses to make
sense.
What a Gal!
Wonder Woman
may be able to save the world, but can she rescue the multiplex? Probably not. Even
being the only superhero of the year, her presence in a ho-hum express ride
saddled with far-fetched antics and a jaded premise is unlikely to up her ante.
Following the mandatory prologue – in which a young Princess Di (Lilly Aspell) learns
the importance of truth – the film cuts to 1984, for some reason. This was the
year of the first untethered spacewalk, the nomination of the first woman as a
vice-presidential running mate, the Tory conference bombing in Brighton and the
release of James Cameron’s time-bending The
Terminator.
Diana Prince
is now working as a senior anthropologist at the Smithsonian in Washington, putting
her knowledge of several hundred languages to good use. But, in spite of her
natural grace and preternatural beauty, she is a lonely soul. She is still
pining for the one love of her life, Steve Trevor, the World War I pilot who
died at the end of the last film. So imagine her surprise when he materialises
in the form of another good-looking hunk (Kristoffer Polaha) at a fund-raising
reception. Asked how on earth he got there, he replies: “I don’t know.” Well,
that’s the truth for you. Now this should be the fun part. There’s a
dressing-up montage in the tradition of Pretty
Woman, in which Steve – now played by Chris Pine – dons a variety of silly
ensembles. He also marvels open-mouthed at the wonders of a moving staircase, breakdancing
and modern art, but soon pretty much takes everything in his stride. He even
gets to master the controls of a high-speed military jet – just like that.
If this
makes Wonder Woman 1984 sound rather
silly, you ain’t heard nothing yet. The movie’s villain is a Trump-like
narcissist who pines for world domination and so turns himself into an ancient
artefact that can bestow anybody one wish of their dreams. So be careful what
you wish for. Accordingly, WW84
plunges into Aladdin territory where
the semantic paradox takes everybody by surprise, including the villain,
Maxwell Lord, played with smarmy, cackling glee by the Chilean-born actor Pedro
Pascal. Lord – lording it to the max – not only has his eye on the White House
but, as he keeps on reminding everybody, he used to be a TV personality.
As Wonder
Woman, Gal Gadot retains her infinite poise and gives the impression that she’s
above all this nonsense. But the gravity-defying stunts, unstinting CGI and
dog-eared narrative tropes cannot save her. Yet, having pocketed $20
million from Netflix for the upcoming action-comedy Red Notice, Gal Gadot might yet be rescued from the multiplex.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen
Wiig, Pedro Pascal, Robin Wright, Connie Nielsen, Lilly Aspell, Amr Waked, Kristoffer
Polaha, Natasha Rothwell, Ravi Patel, Oliver Cotton, Lucian Perez, Gabriella
Wilde, Shane Attwooll, Wai Wong, Colin Stinton, Lynda Carter.
Dir Patty Jenkins, Pro Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins, Gal
Gadot and Stephen Jones, Screenplay
Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns and David Callaham, Ph Matthew Jensen, Pro Des
Aline Bonetto, Ed Richard Pearson, Music Hans Zimmer, Costumes Lindy Hemming, Dialect
coach Roisin Carty.
DC Films/Atlas Entertainment/The Stone Quarry-Warner Bros.
151 mins. USA/UK/Spain. 2020. Rel: 16 December 2020. Cert. 12A.