An energetic comeback: Wonder Woman 1984 High Five review

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Wonder Woman 1984 showed us Diana Prince both at her most vulnerable and her strongest in all meanings of the word.

In the much-awaited sequel to the groundbreaking DC movie, Wonder Woman 1984 follows our fierce heroine, played by Gal Gadot, in the vibrant, sleek year of 1984 where she’s kicking ass and saving lives while keeping her identity unknown. But her quiet life living among mortals is disrupted when her past unexpectedly collides with her present. Here is SEA Wave’s High Five movie review.

 

New foes

The newest characters our Amazonian Princess meets are Barbara Minerva played by Kristen Wiig and Maxwell Lord played by Pedro Pascal, who both assumed their roles perfectly. Barbara Minerva is Diana’s invisible colleague while Maxwell Lord is a charming businessman and TV personality. Barbara’s transformation into The Cheetah and Lord’s succumbing to greed was something fun to watch and we hope to see what happens to their characters in the next films.

 

Flawed hero

 Recent years have given us protagonists that have more depth than the usual righteous heroes and heroines fighting for what’s good. In Wonder Woman 1984, Diana Prince’s morals are challenged when her past love, Steve Trevor, mysteriously comes back but soon finds out that his return comes at a price. True enough, Diana has given most of her life to fight for the good, in a world that she seems to remain separate and guarded from. We see her struggle and even show a little selfishness as she bears the weight of deciding between her own lost happiness and saving the world she so fiercely believes in.

 

Costume upgrade

The trailer showed us a preview of Diana’s new armor, but what’s interesting about it is its backstory. The new golden suit of armor – that has wings, by the way – donned by Diana was originally worn by the ancient hero of Themyscira, Asteria, who famously saved the Amazonians from enslavement.

— minor spoilers —

Surprise cameo

If you stayed until the credits of Wonder Woman 1984, you know the surprise that awaited viewers, especially long-time fans of the comic character. Appearing as the legendary warrior Asteria was Lynda Carter herself, the actress who played Wonder Woman in the television series back in the 1970s. Whether we will see her in the sequel or not is not yet confirmed, but we would surely love to see Diana Prince meet the great hero of Themyscira and how she survived the attack of the enslavers of the Amazonians.

 

Newfound power

With the help of her lost love, Diana was able to discover a new ability – to fly. She does this similar to how a plane takes off: by using her lasso to launch her forward, latching onto buildings, planes, and even clouds and lighting. From there, she learns to ride the winds and soars by remembering Steve’s words, “It’s wind and air and knowing how to ride it, how to catch it. How to join with it.” The way it all came together was well-told and the fact that it was Steve who helped her find this strength only added to its impact.

While Wonder Woman 1984 lacks the almost mythical wonder of its predecessor and became a somewhat typical superhero film, it is still worth the watch for its adrenaline-filled scenes and excellent cast, or maybe just as an escape from our harsh realities to a world where good prevails. As of today, a third film has already been greenlit by Warner Bros. Pictures last December with Patty Jenkins returning to direct. Even more exciting news is that a spin-off movie about the Amazons of Themyscira is in the works and will reportedly take place between the events of the first and third films in the franchise. Hopefully, by then, we’ll get to watch these films on the big screen.

We give Wonder Woman 1984, 3 ½  out of 5 waves.

Wonder Woman 1984 is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Watch the trailer below: