Wonder Woman 1984 Thoughts SPOILERS

[Killerbee911]

I want to hear these same arguments when the next Marvel film comes out.
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Why would that happen Marvel makes these really good three arc movies that always have a great mix of action and comedy. The "sameness" that people try to hate on Marvel, well that MCU remembering to play to a general audience who wants to be entertained. Marvel's audience is generally is on same the page as the movie. As you can see from this thread the audience isn't on the same page as the movie.

What people are expecting was over top summer action movie not a drama with good action. Even the worse Marvel movies understand the pacing and action that people want to see, Thor Dark World is an awful movie but it understood the pacing to entertain people. Wonder Woman 1984 is nowhere close to being a bad movie but your expectation was to be a big summer superhero action block buster movie you are going to hate the movie. I laugh when people have these conversations about talking superheroes movie should be high art, when most of the audience just want 2 hours of action, exploding and good spectacle where the good guys wins.

I'm curious to see as well. I feel like people stuck around with the Marvel movies despite so many of the latter half being mediocre because they were already invested and wanted to see it to the end. Well End Game was the end, and now we're on to a new chapter. Are people going to keep coming back when giving mediocre stuff like Civil War, Captain Marvel, and the Spidermans? I sort of doubt it. We'll see!

The funny thing is your post and expectation for Wonder Woman is the exact thing the MCU movies you are being critical of is giving the audience. It is the weirdest thing.

[Castle]

Why would that happen Marvel makes these really good three arc movies that always have a great mix of action and comedy. The "sameness" that people try to hate on Marvel, well that MCU remembering to play to a general audience who wants to be entertained. Marvel's audience is generally is on same the page as the movie. As you can see from this thread the audience isn't on the same page as the movie.
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This theory did not go well on the Feige X books thread. MCU movie goodness should be judge within their own movies only.

I'm curious to see as well. I feel like people stuck around with the Marvel movies despite so many of the latter half being mediocre because they were already invested and wanted to see it to the end. Well End Game was the end, and now we're on to a new chapter. Are people going to keep coming back when giving mediocre stuff like Civil War, Captain Marvel, and the Spidermans? I sort of doubt it. We'll see!

DC is painting themselves into a corner, I admit that my heart dropped a bit when Grace Randolph, the biggest wonder woman fan pundit, said the movie was cartoony and I went, oh, DC is still trying to copy marvel. I am not surprised there seems to be some backlash in the reviews. the critics are still going to do everything they can to keep DC below even when they copy, this is why DC should have just done their own thing.


I am watching the movie tonight, in it all I am sure I will still appreciate Patty Jenkins work as a director, which is the most important thing.

I hope the film does at least try to satisfy me why Patty decided to shift the tone and style away from wonder woman 1, that was pretty perfect juggling the themes and era of world war 1 and a high fantasy concept of a female warrior princess from themyscira

[Agent Z]

Can we please not make this another Marvel vs DC round of nonsense? It's gotten old.

[Jim Kelly]

I don't think it's possible for W.B. to paint itself in a corner. Unlike the Feige Universe, there's never been a consistent universe in the Warner comic book adaptations--it's always shifting from one film to the next. While this used to seem like a flaw, now I think it's a feature. There is always room to move to some other concept with the next movie.

[Castle]

I don't think it's possible for W.B. to paint itself in a corner. Unlike the Feige Universe, there's never been a consistent universe in the Warner comic book adaptations--it's always shifting from one film to the next. While this used to seem like a flaw, now I think it's a feature. There is always room to move to some other concept with the next movie.

W.B painted themselves into a corner with the DCEU. They do still have a strong life line. The Batman, Joker and other films that would not be part of the DCEU.

[Hypestyle]

SPOILERS Ahead

Just saw it and, well, to begin with, it's probably been one of the most enjoyable superhero movies I've seen in recent years.

No, not the best, but definitely it's got a lot of other films from the past few years beat in terms of sheer enjoyment!

WW '84 is actually a throwback to an earlier era of superhero films. It felt a bit like a slicker, more contemporary version of the Richard Lester Superman movies. And there's the DNA of pre-MCU and pre-Nolan superhero fare from the Noughties in ther somewhere too. It's in everything - the characters, the tone, the plot...the whole architecture of the movie.

Gal Gadot is brilliant as usual, and here we finally get to see her as THE Wonder Woman (even if they don't actually use that name in the entire film) in a solo adventure. She's literally Diana out of the pages of a comic-book. And the whole movie is an ode to the Wonder Woman mythos - Themyscera, Steve Trevor, Cheetah, weird mystical stuff...the friggin' INVISIBLE PLANE!!! I love how they found a neat balance between her being a female version of the Donner Superman and her basically being a warrior princess descended from the ultimate God. She's nice and a pillar of virtue, but she's also a badass...and all too emotionally (and at times physically) vulnerable.

Chris Pine was great as Steve Trevor and brought some humor and an emotional core to the film. I also love how his and Diana's love story didn't intrude on the film too much. It played it's part in Diana's arc, and then Steve bows out...and that's the end of it.

Kritin Wiig made for a great Cheetah, and an even better Barbara Minerva. In another major throwback to a bygone era of superhero flicks, she did a great job (intentionally or unintentionally?) channeling Michelle Pfifer's Selina Kyle. And the big message of the movie notwithstanding, I found her a totally sympathetic character for like 90% of the film...I was even rooting for her when she gave a beat-down to that creep in the park!

Pedro Pascal's Maxwell Lord was a joy to watch, and very much an alum from the Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor school of supervillainy (with a dash of Max Shreck thrown in). And I love how they took a character who's totally hammy and campy, upped the hamminess and campiness to infinity towards the end and STILL had it all make perfect sense and actually be 'realistic'! Let's face it, a 'real' person in the 'real' world would TOTALLY have Max's "I am a God" moment if they had the literal power-trip he had...

Now for the big message of the movie - well, it is a tad simplistic, but perfectly in line with the Wonder Woman mythos. After all, this is a character who's signature weapon is a Lasso of Truth...so it's fitting that the climactic moment of the movie is basically her putting a giant (metaphorical) Lasso of Truth around the world and forcing us all to see the light! The truth triumphing over lies, and everything going back to normal once the lies are exposed is a tad too simplistic and over-optimistic...but then, this is the kind of movie that totally owns its optimism up-front. That said, I do personally prefer the more complex moral message of the first movie to this one.

So...what's next for WW on the big-screen? Most likely, we're moving to the present day. I'm guessing a return to Themyscera, and the return of the Gods, might be in order. Maybe we finally get to see Diana embrace the 'Wonder Woman' persona publicaly?

That said, the movie does hint that Diana was active, in some form, during WW2 so...a JSA movie with Wonder Woman as a member? It could happen! One can only hope...

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I'd give the movie a b. I liked the film. I felt that the narrative lagged in parts. There were certain plot holes, to me. But they were not insurmountable.

I noticed the recurring critique of sexist microaggressions by men. Not unexpected from a Wonder Woman movie, of course.

I noticed that Diana does not have her sword or shield this time. Just saying. Curious.

Kristin Wiig's looking the sexiest I've ever seen her. Then again, I've mainly seen her as a comedic actress.

Pedro Pascal works as Max Lord. There's a component of his arc that's a little sappy (is the son's mom alive? If so... where?), but it was seemingly resolved in a respectable way. (no spoilers).

Fascinating to see things resolved peacefully with Max Lord. It didn't end up with a big explosion or somebody falling to his death.

By the time of the climax, with the TV cameras, I was halfway expecting Diana to take a cue from Steve's statement earlier about doing more than just "stopping" him, and that she'd snap his neck on television like that comics crossover from years ago. It would have led to a darker ending, but of course, it would have also been seen as just doing the same thing as the Snyder Man of Steel climax.

As enacted, the ending was arguably more in line with Wonder Woman's philosophical mission of peace.

[Jim Kelly]

W.B painted themselves into a corner with the DCEU. They do still have a strong life line. The Batman, Joker and other films that would not be part of the DCEU.

That Extended Universe was barely ever a thing and it's been dead for some years now. Even when it was alive in the minds of fans (the name for the universe was never official), the continuity kept shifting from film to film. There was never a Kevin Feige to impose his iron will on the direction of the movies.

[Nyssane]

Hollywood really needs to stop putting politics in their movies.

Oof, are you for real?

[Castle]

Oof, are you for real?

I am not a Trump fan and very happy he lost. However Hollywood needs to be careful. I heard small rumours in the summer the villain was based on trump and it spread like wild fire by the autumn.

with all that is going on in the world, people get triggered with any little thing. I don't think this is how Gal Gadot wanted it to play out, why else would she say the villain is not based on trump


https://uproxx.com/movies/gal-gadot-...-pascal-trump/

[Flash Gordon]

Why would that happen Marvel makes these really good three arc movies that always have a great mix of action and comedy. The "sameness" that people try to hate on Marvel, well that MCU remembering to play to a general audience who wants to be entertained. Marvel's audience is generally is on same the page as the movie. As you can see from this thread the audience isn't on the same page as the movie.

What people are expecting was over top summer action movie not a drama with good action. Even the worse Marvel movies understand the pacing and action that people want to see, Thor Dark World is an awful movie but it understood the pacing to entertain people. Wonder Woman 1984 is nowhere close to being a bad movie but your expectation was to be a big summer superhero action block buster movie you are going to hate the movie. I laugh when people have these conversations about talking superheroes movie should be high art, when most of the audience just want 2 hours of action, exploding and good spectacle where the good guys wins.

Movies are not A+B=C.

[Hypestyle]

I am not a Trump fan and very happy he lost. However Hollywood needs to be careful. I heard small rumours in the summer the villain was based on trump and it spread like wild fire by the autumn.

with all that is going on in the world, people get triggered with any little thing. I don't think this is how Gal Gadot wanted it to play out, why else would she say the villain is not based on trump


https://uproxx.com/movies/gal-gadot-...-pascal-trump/

Could the filmmakers have made Mr. Lord a brunette and not blonde-ish? sure. But the blowhard businessman is a well known trope, beyond Mr. 45.
I wouldn't obsess with how MAGA-culture is going to receive the film. They can check it out for any open theaters, or not.. or cancel their HBO Max, lol..

It may be impossible to calculate what the box office "could have been" if not for the pandemic. "Red state voters rebel against WW84, tanking the box office?" Eh... I can't co-sign on that. I'm glad for the run on HBO Max. As far as the political backdrop, Wonder Woman's original comics with her as a Navy yeoman were of course, steeped in World War II's politics, and even after that, cold war era anti-communist arcs in the 1950s and 60s. It's just part of her general backstory.

The US President in the film wasn't explicitly said to be Reagan.. and there wasn't a bowl of jellybeans on his desk, lol, so I'm comfortable in defending that it wasn't meant to bash him..

[Slowpokeking]

That Extended Universe was barely ever a thing and it's been dead for some years now. Even when it was alive in the minds of fans (the name for the universe was never official), the continuity kept shifting from film to film. There was never a Kevin Feige to impose his iron will on the direction of the movies.

I don't understand why they gave up so early. MCU didn't have anyone outstanding besides IM in phase one as well. If they have patience it could have been built well.

[AnakinFlair]

spoilers
I noticed that Diana does not have her sword or shield this time. Just saying. Curious.

Pedro Pascal works as Max Lord. There's a component of his arc that's a little sappy (is the son's mom alive? If so... where?), but it was seemingly resolved in a respectable way. (no spoilers).

Either Patty Jenkins or Gal Gadot gave an interview some time ago where one of them said it was intentional that Diana wouldn't have her sword and shield this time around. Something about showing her as a more hopeful character this time, who tries to preserve life even when the life belongs to the bad guys. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but Diana pulled out some pretty impressive tricks with the lasso this time around, so it worked for me.

In the movie, they kept mentioning how it was Max's weekend with his son. I took it that the mom's alive, they are divorced/separated, and have joint custody of the kid.

[Jim Kelly]

I figured maybe the guy who was president was a guy who had wished he was president and he had just taken over the office the day before. That would explain why Ronald Reagan wasn't there. Ronnie was in Hollywood making BEDTIME FOR BONZO II.

The guy didn't behave anything like Reagan (only resembled him a little)--and I think it's a wash as a presidential spoof (he could have been much worse or much better, but was just sort of in-between).

Likewise, Maxwell Lord is so unlike Donald Trump in so many ways, you would really have to be reaching to say he's supposed to be a slander against Trump. Lord is given much more dimension, so we feel sorry for him by the end.

The movie is too good-hearted to put anyone down.

[Slowpokeking]

Either Patty Jenkins or Gal Gadot gave an interview some time ago where one of them said it was intentional that Diana wouldn't have her sword and shield this time around. Something about showing her as a more hopeful character this time, who tries to preserve life even when the life belongs to the bad guys. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but Diana pulled out some pretty impressive tricks with the lasso this time around, so it worked for me.

In the movie, they kept mentioning how it was Max's weekend with his son. I took it that the mom's alive, they are divorced/separated, and have joint custody of the kid.

I do agree that villains should have development and humanity as well, but it doesn't mean you have to be soft on them. I just watched Downfall Thursday where they made the Nazis humans but also at the same time not whitewash their crimes.

Not to say the execution of this theme was not well done.