!Minor Spoilers Ahead!
When con-man turned businessman Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) stumbles upon a powerful artifact that grants powerful wishes, his desire for riches takes a terrible turn. Now armed with this power to grant wishes (and take what he wants in return), Maxwell Lord seeks world domination, leaving Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) as the only one who can stand against his evil goals.
Wonder Woman 1984 is a sequel to the acclaimed 2017 movie Wonder Woman. Now almost seventy years since the events of the first movie, Wonder Woman struggles to cope with the loss of her love, Steve Trevor. But now through the power of the wish, Wonder Woman receives Trevor back, although in a different body (still played by Chris Pine). However, the wish always takes something and so Wonder Woman begins to lose her powers. And so she has to make a choice between her love and her power to save the world.
Wonder Woman 1984 offers a compelling story that is different from most of the superhero movies that have been released recently. Instead of focusing on some monster villain like Thanos or Darkseid, this movie focuses on a lonely man and single father whose ambition overwhelms his judgement. That being said, this sequel lacks some of the hard hitting action that makes superhero movies so entertaining.
The movie also provides an interesting backstory to the super-villain Cheetah (played by Kristen Wiig). Wiig does a great job playing the quirky Barbara Minerva, but then she allows herself to show the character’s darker side by the end.
However, the slower plot, the odd and somewhat forced inclusion of Steve Trevor, and the lack of a threatening villain puts this sequel lower than the original. But for fans of superheroes and Wonder Woman in particular, it is still a movie worth checking out.
*written by Brennan Kress
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