Wonder Woman 1984

    When it comes to DC superhero movies it's like flipping a coin. The movie could be bad (Justice League) or it could be good (Wonder Woman). With Warner Bros at the helm you never really know. Wonder Woman had a lot going for it, a stellar cast, and a great origin story from the previous movie.

    The cast included Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Chris Pine returning as Steve Trevor, and Kristen Wiig as Cheetah. The movie even had Pedro Pascal as the villain, Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano. With a star-studded cast, I had high hopes for this movie. 

    But to my disappointment, the movie didn't live up to its predecessor. When it comes to superhero movies people tend to love them because of the action, storytelling, and how accurate it is to its comic-book counterparts. That's the reason why Marvel has been so successful and leaving Dc Comics in its dust. Wonder Women 1984 had a good amount of action, but it lacked in multiple areas. 

    To start the story was lackluster and didn't appeal to me. The movie is set in 1984 (obviously) about 70 years after the death of Diana's love Steve Trevor. It seems as though she has been coasting through life all alone and without a real purpose. Then one day a mystery artifact shows up at the museum she is working at. The person hired to analyze the artifact, also known as the dream stone, is Barabara Manerva. It is later revealed that this artifact grants wishes but requires something in return. Diana inadvertently wished for Steve Trevor back and in return have up her powers. 

    In my opinion, the return of Steve Trevor didn't make much sense. While I get that they wanted to use his character as a way for Wonder Woman to move forward with her life and meet new people. It made the movie feel like a romantic drama. 

    While there was a good amount of action scenes, they weren't as good as they should have been. Toward the climax of the movie, Barbara Minerva used her wishes to become a fierce alpha and warrior. Thus gaining new abilities and the appearance of a human/cheetah hybrid. With these new abilities, she dukes it out with Wonder Woman to keep her from stopping Maxwell Lord's power trip. Because if Lord were to be stopped Minerva would lose her powers. But this huge fight scene was a disappointment. With such low stakes, the scene didn't feel as important as it should have. The fight was also really short and almost felt too easy to wonder women which made the scene almost boring. 

    The bright spot of this movie would have to be the acting of Pedro Pascal. His portrayal of Maxwell Lord had every bit of my attention in most of his scenes. It's safe to say I loved his take on this character. Pascal plays Maxwell Lord a businessman/conman trying to gain power and wealth so his son doesn't have to grow up like he did. After failing once again to acquire wealth and power he searches for the dream stone. Once he finds it he seduces Barbara and steals it from her office. He then wishes to become the dream stone. And with this new power intends to dominate the world.

    But sadly the ending of the movie seemed very anti-climatic. Diana was able to talk Max down and make him realize that his desperate need for power wasn't as important as the love he had for his son. It felt as though Warner Bros was trying to take a page from Marvel's book by trying to make the villain seem more relatable so the audience could sympathize with him. But even with Pedro Pascal's amazing acting, it falls short. 

    Even though I wasn't a huge fan of this movie there were still some enjoyable moments that made me feel like I was watching a superhero movie. The Easter eggs and references placed throughout the movie were a good addition as well. So if you're a superhero fan I would recommend you watch Wonder Woman 1984.