A nonsensical plot and characters overshadowed audiences from the substantial character development of Diana Prince and her journey in immortality as Wonder Woman.
The anticipated sequel to Patty Jenkins hit Wonder Woman; Wonder Woman 1984, falls short of its predecessor with a weak story following Max Lord, played by Pedro Pascal. While Pascal delivers a passionate performance, his character comes across as odd to the viewer. Adding in a second villain, a long-time enemy to Wonder Woman, Cheetah, played by Kristen Wiig, takes a backseat to Max Lord.
Before the horrendous CGI Cheetah dashes across the screen, audiences get to see Wiig in a new light as she transforms from the awkward Dr. Barbara Minerva into the confident predator in heels. If the story had stayed with one villain, maybe audiences wouldn’t have missed some of the significant aspects of WW84.
It’s unfortunate that Wiig had to share the villain spotlight at all because her transformation from funny girl to badass is something that should be celebrated.
Wonder Woman 1984 plays a valuable role in the character development of Diana Prince. After the first standalone Wonder Woman film, fans questioned where some of the comics’ classic attributes were, like her ability to fly and her invisible jet. WW84 fills these gaps as an extension of her origin story. We see little Diana in Themyscira competing with the other Amazon women to left an essential lesson from Antiope.
Diana is a God who will spend all of eternity walking amongst man. We see her in a vulnerable state of loneliness as her friends have all grown old and passed away. Before meeting her partners in the Justice League, Diana does her duty to protect, but you can see she is missing that spark in her life. Gal Gadot embodies Wonder Woman in such a passionate way; she can deliver a scene of emotions on her without speaking a word.
When you take away the messy plot, you’re left with part two of how Diana embraced being Wonder Woman to the full extent. Her ability to cloak the jet and make it invisible as Zeus did for the Amazons. Steve Trevor taught Diana to truly fly.
While WW84 didn’t live up to the first film, it accomplished growth in a beloved character in the DC universe.
