Wonder Woman 1984

One of the happy memories i have of my childhood in the 80´s, is the comic book store we had down at a street called Trädgårdsgatan in my hometown. The comic book store was owned by a young guy, who also worked for his parents in their super market store. So he only had the comic book store opened certain days in certain hours, because otherwise he could not have 2 jobs and make it work. Every time we went down there to the comic book store, we would spend hours there going through comics. We always ended up buying some comic books, and even some music CD´s as well ( i remember that this is where i bought the Queen album Innuendo ). The comic book store owner knew i had 2 favourite comic book characters, and that was The Hulk and Conan The Barbarian. Since i have already read some of the comics of The Hulk that i have bought there before, i decided to look for other comics instead. One of them i remember finding was the 1987 comic book version of Wonder Woman. I know that i have heard of Wonder Woman in the 80´s, but i was more into Marvel comics at that time. But as i had a look at a comic book of Wonder Woman, i could see why she was beloved. I never bought any of these comic books, because i was collecting Conan The Barbarian instead. As the early 90´s entered i did get to see the 70´s TV series Wonder Woman with actress Lynda Carter, playing the comic book character. I don´t remember how many episodes i watched, but i enjoyed the show for what it was. DC Comics have since then brought on several comic book characters to the big screen, and there is especially one film that surprised a lot of people, and that is the 2017 film version of Wonder Woman. This was definetely the best film adaptation from a DC comic book character we have seen made into a film, and actress Gal Gadot was absolutely fantastic as Wonder Woman. I saw this film in cinema three times ( that does not happen very often ) because i enjoyed this film so much. So when i heard that Gal Gadot would return in a sequel called Wonder Woman 1984, i was beyond excited. Wonder Woman in the 80´s sounded like the greatest idea in a very long time. After this film was delayed in cinemas, i finally watched this film at HBO Nordic. Is this the Wonder Woman sequel that we all have waited for, or is this even worse than anyone expected?

A young Diana participates in the athletic event on Themyscira against older Amazons. After falling from her horse, Diana sheet by taking a shortcut, but misses a checkpoint. Antiope ( Robin Wright ) removes her from the competition, explaining that cheating is not allowed, you must be honest in everything you do in life. In 1984, Diana Prince ( Gal Gadot ) works at the Smithsonian Intitution in Washington D.C. while secretely performing as Wonder Woman, to help people in need. New museum employee Barbara Ann Minerva ( Kristin Wiig ), a shy geologist and cryptozoologist, is barely seen by her co-workers, and she envy Diana. FBI asks the museum to identify stolen antiques from a robbery that Wonder Woman recently foiled. Barbara and Diana notice one of them, later identified as Dreamstone, contain a Latin inscription claiming to grant the holder one wish. But they have no idea, what powers this stone has, until it is taken by failing businessman Maxwell " Max Lord " Lorenzano ( Pedro Pascal ).

I think a lot of people worldwide have been excited to see the result of this sequel, considering how good the first film turned out to be. Now, i know it is difficult making a sequel become as good as the first film. I would be happy if the sequel would be good enough to be entertaining at least. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman 1984 is not the sequel i was hoping for, and there are several reasons why this sequel does not hold up to the same level as the first film. Let us begin with the story set in the 80´s. Considering that they could have done so much with 80´s influences, we only get bright colors, some funny hair styles and colorful sets. And this is one of those things that i feel could have been taken to a higher 80´s level, with real 80´s nostalgia instead of just colorful clothes. There are a few funny 80´s details, such as the breakdance scene. But there could have been so much more added here, considering how long this film is, at a playtime of over 2 hours and 20 minutes. I also feel that the superhero image of Wonder Woman is much more pale in this film, compared to the first film. Actress Gal Gadot is not to blame for this, she is as always wonderful as Wonder Woman, but she is not given a lot to do here for such a long film. I can honestly say that she at least bring some highlights when we get to see her kick ass, just as we are used to see Wonder Woman do. Another problem is the evil character Max Lord, played by actor Pedro Pascal. He is funny in some scenes as a sleasy business guy, but as a threat towards Wonder Woman, you would need a much more powerful villain than him in a film like this. Actress Kristin Wiig is actually a highlight in this film as Barbara Minerva, she knows how to do a nerd character in a charming way. She should have been the main villain, in the whole film. What about the action scenes? There are a few good moments, but when you watch a Wonder Woman sequel you want some epic action scenes, and we don´t get that here, unfortunately. I would not say this is an awful film, there are a few fun moments to be pleased about. But with so many great actors involved in this project, and a talented director such as Patty Jenkins, it feels like this film lost it´s way during production. If you loved the first film, just watch this sequel if you are a fan of the franchise. Otherwise i would suggest that you skip this one.

Rating: DD